Following nearly annihilating the world, the families have become allies’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward ruin more so than ever in recent history. This happened following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian atomic weapon bases were under construction on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade encircling Cuba. What followed was nearly two weeks of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril was clear. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, casting humanity toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel dimension to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the American side thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people have the potential to be friends or can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it moved closer to disaster. However, the threat of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. 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 is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Max. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend