‘After almost annihilating the world, our relatives are friends’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian nuclear weapon sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days of unbearable stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a series of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting humanity toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new element to the story. It is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders that, over two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the American side thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest each other to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or can become total enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally could watch nearly in real time as it crept towards disaster. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp