‘After nearly annihilating our planet, the relatives are allies’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity veered nearer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance plane discovered that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to establish a naval blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight of unbearable anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series involving worldwide nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting mankind into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, in volumes, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What was the American side planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people detest each other and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans can be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Disaster

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it edged towards disaster. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated the naval vessels as well as destroyed our primary naval force. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp