Following almost destroying the world, the relatives have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world veered nearer toward annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. The ensuing period was almost a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series of global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, thrusting civilization into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented repeatedly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were Washington thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of global relations.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to question: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept towards disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Later on, however, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp