‘After almost destroying the world, the families have become allies’: a thrilling audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world veered nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft identified that Soviet atomic weapon sites were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period was almost 14 days of unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained palpable. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting civilization into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, through volumes, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the figures who, over 13 days, controlled the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians considering? What were Washington considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other and go against one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation came closer than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative picture of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn