‘After almost annihilating the planet, the relatives are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world edged nearer toward destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance plane discovered the fact that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed constituted almost a fortnight of unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series involving global atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have followed, casting mankind toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in books, films, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do people detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that humans can be friends or can become complete enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Disaster

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide could watch almost in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become friends, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to grasp