‘After almost destroying our planet, the families are friends’: a thrilling audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity edged closer to destruction than at any other point during modern times. This happened when an American surveillance plane found the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks filled with impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained obvious. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series of worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting humanity toward total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men that, over 13 days, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were the American side considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate one another and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after these events, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always wonderful and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so balanced , well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn