Following nearly annihilating our world, the relatives are allies’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world veered closer to ruin more so than ever during modern times. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to enact a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger was palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have followed, casting mankind toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces an unprecedented dimension to this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other to the point they confront each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that humans can be friends or can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, people around the world were able to observe nearly in real time while it edged closer to catastrophe. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels and sunk America's primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva learned about it through the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn