‘After almost annihilating our planet, the families are friends’: the gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the planet edged nearer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This occurred after a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian atomic weapon installations were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight of unbearable anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained clear. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade of worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes could have followed, thrusting mankind into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new dimension into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders who, over 13 days, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What was the American side thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to question: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "We see this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Disaster

What is striking regarding this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally could watch nearly as it happened while it crept closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, though, that view would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most significant thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "That is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend