‘After almost annihilating the world, our relatives are friends’: the gripping audio series from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired after a US surveillance plane found that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period was almost 14 days filled with extreme stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger was palpable. If Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging mankind into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures that, for 13 days, held the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or can become total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding this event was that, because it unfolded so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them were advocating action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt globally. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living 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 grasp