‘After nearly annihilating the world, our families are allies’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity edged closer toward destruction than at any other point during recent history. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat remained palpable. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series of worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes could have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total destruction.

The October crisis has been covered endlessly, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, held the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was Washington thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete enemies," remarks Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What is striking about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened while it edged closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected really well and we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp