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

In the month of October 1962, humanity came closer to ruin more so than ever during modern times. This occurred after an American surveillance plane discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were under construction on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a naval blockade around the island. The next phase constituted nearly 14 days filled with unbearable stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, casting humanity into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new element into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was Washington thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals can be friends or else can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost in real time as it moved closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, and Nina learned about it through the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our families have become allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp