‘After nearly destroying the planet, our relatives have become allies’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world edged closer to ruin more so than ever in modern times. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft identified that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase was almost 14 days of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, over 13 days, controlled the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were Washington planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that humans can be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens globally were able to observe nearly in real time as it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always wonderful and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "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 prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend