Following nearly annihilating our planet, our families are allies’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity edged nearer to destruction than at any other point during recent history. This occurred after a US surveillance plane discovered that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. What followed constituted almost a fortnight filled with extreme tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction of global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes could have ensued, thrusting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the figures that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What was Washington considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "How can nations detest one another and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What is remarkable about this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that view would not be held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most significant thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union 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 optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn