‘After nearly destroying the world, the relatives have become friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This transpired after a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The next phase was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a series involving global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging mankind toward total oblivion.

The October crisis has been covered endlessly, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented perspective into the story. It is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the leaders that, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were the United States considering?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to question: "Why do individuals detest each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be allies or else can become total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals globally could watch almost in real time while it edged towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have obliterated our aircraft carriers and sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. In the years to come, though, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most significant thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend