‘After nearly destroying our planet, our families are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity edged nearer toward destruction than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened following the discovery that an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed was almost two weeks of impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. If Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade of worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes could have followed, plunging civilization toward total destruction.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension to this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, over 13 days, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

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

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to question: "How can people detest each other to the point they oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else can become complete enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Brink of Disaster

What’s notable about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

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

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn