Following almost annihilating the world, our families have become friends’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the planet veered nearer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired after a US reconnaissance plane discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. The ensuing period was almost two weeks of impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series involving worldwide atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging humanity toward total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new element to the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men that, over 13 days, held the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people hate one another and go against one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that people can be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as attorney. "History shows this over and over when countries have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What is remarkable about this event is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people globally could watch almost as it happened as it edged closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following 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 Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend