Following nearly destroying our world, the relatives have become friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity came closer to ruin more so than ever during the contemporary era. This transpired when a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian nuclear missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed constituted nearly two weeks filled with unbearable tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting humanity into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin planning? What was Washington thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in global relations.

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

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch nearly in real time while it moved towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of destruction was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would 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 symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend