Following nearly destroying our planet, the families are friends’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world came closer to destruction than at any other point during modern times. This occurred when a US surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade encircling Cuba. What followed constituted nearly two weeks of extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging humanity toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a novel element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians considering? What was the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the show is its endeavor to question: "Why do individuals hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals can be friends or else can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened as it crept closer to disaster. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've sunk our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view was not held by all Russians. "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 so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR to appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend