‘After nearly destroying our planet, the relatives have become allies’: a thrilling audio series from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world edged closer to ruin more so than ever during recent history. This happened when a US surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Russian atomic weapon bases were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase constituted almost 14 days filled with extreme tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, over 13 days, held the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were the American side thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the show is its attempt to question: "How can individuals hate one another to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals around the world could watch almost in real time as it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend