‘After almost annihilating our world, the relatives have become friends’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world edged closer to ruin than at any other point during modern times. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile bases were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The next phase was almost two weeks of unbearable tension.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril was clear. Should Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series of worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging humanity into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures who, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What were the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can people detest one another to the point they confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to fight."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost in real time as it moved towards disaster. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for 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 similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most significant aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend