Following nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends’: the gripping audio series from John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity came nearer to destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred after a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade involving global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging mankind toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, through books, films, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel perspective into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders who, over 13 days, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What was the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations detest each other to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it crept closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels and destroyed America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors in their governments demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative version of events.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, however, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend