‘After nearly destroying our world, our families are friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity came closer toward annihilation more so than ever during recent history. This happened after a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian nuclear weapon bases were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series involving global atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel dimension to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men who, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that humans can be friends or can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable about this event was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the danger of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, after almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp