‘After nearly destroying the planet, the relatives are friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world veered closer toward ruin more so than ever during modern times. This happened after a US reconnaissance plane identified that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of American soil. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a naval blockade around the island. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks of impossible tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging humanity into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a novel perspective into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to explore: "How can people detest one another and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe nearly in real time while it moved towards armageddon. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted an alternative narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great moment it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn