‘After almost annihilating our planet, the relatives are allies’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet came closer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance aircraft found that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat was clear. If Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade of global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity into total destruction.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What were Washington considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show lies in its attempt to question: "How can people hate each other and go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, though, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend