Following nearly annihilating our planet, the families have become friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward annihilation more so than ever during recent history. This occurred when a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The next phase constituted almost two weeks of impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a series involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging mankind toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, in books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it moved closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, however, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend