Following almost annihilating our planet, our families are allies’: the thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the planet came closer toward ruin more so than ever in modern times. This transpired after an American surveillance plane identified that Russian atomic missile sites were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks filled with unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade of worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting humanity into all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, through books, films, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, for 13 days, held the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were the American side planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations detest each other and go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people globally could watch almost in real time while it crept towards armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 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," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend