‘After almost destroying the world, the relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world edged nearer to annihilation more so than ever in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. In response, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling the island. What followed was almost a fortnight filled with impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril was clear. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series involving global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging civilization into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the American side planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest one another and confront one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be complete enemies," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe almost in real time as it moved closer to armageddon. Even so, the threat of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after these events, and Nina being taught about it through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that view would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend