Following almost destroying our world, our families are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world edged closer to annihilation more so than ever during recent history. This transpired after a US reconnaissance plane discovered that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly two weeks of unbearable anxiety.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes would have followed, casting civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, through volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel dimension to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was Washington planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can people detest each other and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans can be allies or can become total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally could watch almost in real time while it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those 13 days in October, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a positive thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp