‘After almost destroying the planet, our families have become allies’: the gripping audio series from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity came closer to ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This occurred after a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The threat was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging civilization toward all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel dimension into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the American side considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate one another and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be allies or can become total enemies," states Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is remarkable regarding this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged closer to disaster. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed our naval vessels and destroyed America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp