‘After nearly annihilating our world, our relatives are friends’: the thrilling audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired when a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Russian nuclear missile bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days of impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was palpable. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction of global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have ensued, plunging mankind toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a novel perspective to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Russians planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this over and over when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time while it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. In turn, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend