‘After almost annihilating our planet, our relatives have become allies’: the thrilling audio series from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world veered closer to annihilation more so than ever in recent history. This happened when a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear missile bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase was nearly a fortnight of unbearable anxiety.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril was obvious. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear attacks and counterstrikes could have followed, casting civilization toward all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men that, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What were Washington considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do people hate one another to the point they confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals globally could watch almost in real time while it crept closer to armageddon. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have destroyed our naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn