‘After almost destroying the world, our families have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward ruin more so than ever in recent history. This happened after an American reconnaissance plane found that Soviet nuclear missile sites were under construction in Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger was palpable. If Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, through volumes, films, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel dimension to the story. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was Washington planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "Why do nations hate each other and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that humans can be friends or can become total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is notable regarding this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals globally could watch almost as it happened as it edged towards armageddon. However, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that view was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend