Following nearly annihilating our planet, the relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered nearer to ruin than at any other point in modern times. This occurred after an American reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was almost 14 days filled with extreme stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a novel perspective into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to explore: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that people have the potential to be friends or can become total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding this event was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept towards armageddon. However, the risk of destruction came closer than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would've sunk the naval vessels and destroyed America's primary fleet. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp