‘After nearly annihilating our planet, the relatives are allies’: a thrilling audio series from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This occurred when a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were under construction on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days of impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a cascade involving global atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new element into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to explore: "How can people hate each other and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is notable regarding this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world could watch almost in real time while it crept towards armageddon. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Later on, however, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend