‘After almost destroying our planet, our relatives have become friends’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity veered closer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane discovered that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase constituted nearly a fortnight filled with extreme tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting mankind into all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new element into the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people hate one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete enemies," remarks Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this over and over when countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What is notable about this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch nearly as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp