Following almost destroying the planet, our relatives are allies’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, humanity veered closer to annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This transpired when an American surveillance plane discovered the fact that Russian nuclear missile bases were being built in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed constituted almost a fortnight filled with impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, casting civilization into total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a completely new element into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, over 13 days, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was the American side planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

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

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would've destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative version of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are always fine or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to grasp