‘After almost destroying our planet, our relatives have become allies’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This transpired after a US surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a naval blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period was almost a fortnight filled with impossible tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was obvious. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a series involving global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting humanity toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented element into the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the American side considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "Why do people hate each other and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that people can be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Disaster

What’s remarkable about this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world could watch nearly in real time while it edged closer to catastrophe. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along immediately and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp