Following nearly annihilating our world, the families have become allies’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward ruin more so than ever during the contemporary era. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft identified that Soviet atomic weapon installations were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting humanity into total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, in books, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new perspective to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures who, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

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

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its attempt to question: "Why do individuals hate each other and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or can become complete enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged closer to disaster. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate when many advisors around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. 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 symbol of hope.

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

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, after almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend