‘After nearly annihilating our planet, our families are friends’: the gripping audio series from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward destruction more so than ever in recent history. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade encircling the island. The next phase was almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a series involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting civilization toward all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through volumes, films, and television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new dimension to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men who, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be friends or can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries have gone to war, highlighting the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is remarkable about this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch nearly as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view was not shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend