Following almost destroying the world, our families have become friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world veered nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Russian atomic missile sites were being built on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was almost a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, plunging humanity into total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new dimension into the story. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What was the American side thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that humans can be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this over and over when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it edged closer to disaster. However, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've destroyed our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp