Following nearly destroying our world, the families have become friends’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet veered closer to ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The next phase constituted almost two weeks of extreme anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a cascade of global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging civilization into total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new dimension to the story. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were Washington thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to question: "Why do individuals hate each other and oppose one another?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that people can be allies or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly in real time while it crept closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after these events, with Nina learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We aren't the first," smiles 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."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend