‘After nearly annihilating our planet, the relatives are friends’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet edged closer toward annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This happened after a US surveillance plane found that Soviet atomic missile installations were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted nearly 14 days of unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat was obvious. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting humanity into total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the figures that, over 13 days, held the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the American side thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people detest each other and oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that people can be allies or can become total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch nearly in real time while it moved towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would've destroyed the aircraft carriers and sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which painted an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that interpretation 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 America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend