‘After almost destroying the world, our relatives have become friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity edged closer toward annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian atomic weapon bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to enact a naval quarantine around Cuba. What followed was nearly a fortnight of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a cascade of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes could have ensued, casting civilization into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men who, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to explore: "How can people detest each other and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, people worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "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 wonderful or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend