‘After nearly destroying our world, our families are allies’: a gripping audio series from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world came closer to destruction than at any other point during recent history. This occurred when an American reconnaissance plane discovered that Russian nuclear missile bases were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to enact a naval quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days of extreme stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series of global atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting humanity toward total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What were the American side planning?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they confront one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened while it edged towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn