‘After nearly annihilating the planet, our relatives are friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered nearer to ruin more so than ever in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane identified the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around Cuba. What followed constituted almost a fortnight of extreme tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting humanity into all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, through books, films, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new perspective to the story. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Russians thinking? What was the United States planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can people hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that humans can be friends or can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly in real time while it edged closer to catastrophe. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our naval vessels and destroyed our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it via the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend