‘After almost annihilating the world, our relatives are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer to ruin than at any other point in recent history. This transpired after an American surveillance plane found that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The next phase constituted nearly 14 days filled with unbearable anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, plunging mankind toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new perspective to the story. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, for two tense weeks, held the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the American side planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to explore: "Why do people detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that humans can be allies or have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, people worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction came closer than most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've obliterated the naval vessels and destroyed our primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate when many advisors around them were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina learned about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are always fine and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp