‘After almost annihilating the planet, the families are friends’: a thrilling audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet edged closer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred when a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril was clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging humanity into total oblivion.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a novel dimension to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders that, over two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What was the American side thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans can be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate when everyone around them was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative narrative of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend