‘After almost destroying our planet, our relatives have become allies’: the thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world came closer to destruction more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet atomic weapon bases were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted nearly a fortnight of unbearable tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a cascade of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, plunging mankind toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented dimension to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the men who, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were Washington planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to question: "How can people detest one another and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that individuals can be friends or can become complete adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens around the world could watch almost as it happened as it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes 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 against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk America's primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend