Following nearly annihilating the world, the relatives have become friends’: a gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired when a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were being built on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade encircling the island. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks of impossible stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained clear. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade of worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new element to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to explore: "How can people hate each other to the point they oppose each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this over and over when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide could watch nearly as it happened as it moved closer to catastrophe. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation would not be held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp