Following nearly annihilating the planet, our relatives are allies’: the gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world veered closer toward ruin than at any other point during recent history. This transpired after a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The next phase was almost 14 days filled with impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging humanity toward all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought an unprecedented dimension to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the figures who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was Washington thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

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

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be friends or can become total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative version of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to learn