‘After almost destroying the world, our families are allies’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world came nearer toward annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly a fortnight of impossible tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes could have ensued, plunging humanity into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians considering? What were the American side thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.

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

"It struck me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now an author and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What is striking about this event is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost in real time as it edged towards armageddon. Even so, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn