‘After nearly annihilating our planet, the families have become friends’: a gripping audio series from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity came nearer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane found the fact that Russian atomic weapon installations were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly two weeks of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, in books, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented element into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What was Washington planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to question: "How can nations hate one another and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular the fact that individuals can be friends or else have the potential to be complete enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s striking about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide could watch almost as it happened as it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles from Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, however, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. 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.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend