‘After nearly destroying our world, our families have become friends’: a gripping audio series from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin more so than ever in modern times. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase was nearly two weeks filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained clear. Should Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series of worldwide atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, casting civilization into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel element to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to question: "How can people detest each other to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that individuals can be friends or can become total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it moved closer to disaster. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Subsequently, though, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why this series seems so urgent is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp