‘After nearly destroying our planet, the families are friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, humanity came closer to ruin than at any other point in recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The danger remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented element to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What was the American side planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "How can people hate one another to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that humans can be allies or else have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was the sense of optimism.

The Different Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America 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 symbol of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world 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 find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to learn