‘After nearly annihilating the planet, the relatives have become friends’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile bases were being built on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. What followed was nearly two weeks of impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a cascade involving global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, casting humanity toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, through books, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the figures who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate each other to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event was that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different version of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend