‘After nearly destroying our planet, the families are allies’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world came closer toward ruin more so than ever during the contemporary era. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft found that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed was nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat was clear. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction of global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting humanity into all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new element into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the American side thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else can become total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept closer to armageddon. Even so, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp