Following almost annihilating our world, the families have become friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged closer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft identified that Soviet atomic missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of unbearable tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat was obvious. Should Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity toward all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders that, for 13 days, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians planning? What were Washington considering?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can people detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as attorney. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is notable about this event is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe nearly in real time while it edged closer to armageddon. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and sunk our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors in their governments demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global 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 the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend