‘After almost annihilating our planet, our families have become allies’: a gripping audio series from JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin than at any other point in modern times. This transpired after a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed was almost 14 days of impossible tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting civilization into total oblivion.

The October crisis has been examined endlessly, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were the American side planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic of global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that people can be friends or else can become total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s remarkable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals globally could watch nearly as it happened while it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels and destroyed our primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Perspective

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend