Following almost destroying the planet, the relatives have become friends’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This happened when a US surveillance aircraft identified that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine encircling the island. The next phase was almost 14 days of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained clear. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting humanity into all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the leaders that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do individuals hate one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this over and over when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s striking regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn