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

In October 1962, the world veered closer toward destruction than at any other point in recent history. This occurred after a US surveillance plane discovered that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period was almost two weeks of impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, plunging humanity toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders that, for 13 days, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people detest each other to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is remarkable regarding this event was that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch almost as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed our naval vessels and destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of America 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, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend