‘After almost destroying the world, our families are allies’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet veered closer toward destruction more so than ever in the contemporary era. This happened after an American reconnaissance plane found that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks of extreme tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade involving worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes could have followed, thrusting civilization toward all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What were Washington thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations detest each other and go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that people can be allies or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged towards disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important naval force. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view was not held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason why this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp