‘After almost destroying our world, our families are allies’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer to annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This happened following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon sites were under construction in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days of impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting mankind toward total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

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

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do individuals hate each other and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Disaster

What is notable regarding this event was that, because it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated the naval vessels and sunk America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend