‘After nearly destroying our planet, the relatives have become friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity veered closer toward destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired after a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly two weeks filled with extreme tension.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat was palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a cascade involving global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting mankind into all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new perspective to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Russians considering? What was Washington thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest each other to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, people globally could watch almost in real time as it edged closer to armageddon. However, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they succeeded in 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 Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn