‘After nearly annihilating our world, our relatives have become friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity came closer to annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This happened after a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear missile bases were under construction on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase constituted almost two weeks of extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade of global nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging civilization toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What was the United States planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals detest one another and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding this event is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide could watch almost as it happened as it crept towards disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels and sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are always wonderful and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Later on, however, that view would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend