‘After nearly annihilating our world, the relatives have become friends’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity came nearer to destruction more so than ever during recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. The next phase was almost two weeks of unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril was clear. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging humanity toward total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, through volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented perspective to the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to question: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What is striking about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk our primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp