Following almost destroying our world, the relatives have become allies’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the world veered closer toward destruction more so than ever during the contemporary era. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed constituted nearly two weeks of impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained clear. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade of global atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, plunging civilization toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What’s notable about this event is that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch almost as it happened as it moved towards armageddon. However, the danger of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Later on, however, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn