‘After almost annihilating our planet, the relatives have become friends’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet came nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This occurred when an American surveillance aircraft identified that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade around Cuba. The next phase was almost a fortnight filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained palpable. If Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a cascade involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging humanity into total ruination.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in books, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the American side planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular the fact that individuals can be friends or have the potential to be total adversaries," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What is remarkable about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the aircraft carriers and sunk America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend