Following nearly annihilating the planet, our relatives have become allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This occurred when an American surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade around the island. The ensuing period was almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging humanity into all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought an unprecedented perspective to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, held the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Disaster

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to disaster. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after these events, with Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn