Following almost destroying the planet, our families have become allies’: a thrilling audio series featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer to annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Russian atomic weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting humanity into total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to question: "How can nations detest one another and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that individuals can be friends or can become total enemies," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable regarding this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people worldwide could watch almost as it happened as it crept closer to disaster. However, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our naval vessels and destroyed America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so balanced and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

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

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn