Following nearly annihilating the planet, the relatives are allies’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet came nearer toward destruction than at any other point during recent history. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were being built on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval quarantine around the island. What followed was nearly 14 days of impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series involving global atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging civilization toward all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the American side planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to question: "Why do individuals hate one another and confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this over and over when countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch nearly in real time while it edged closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted an alternative narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a positive thing," she continues. Later on, however, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend