Following almost destroying our world, the relatives are friends’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer to destruction than at any other point in recent history. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The threat was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes might have followed, plunging mankind into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces an unprecedented element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men who, over 13 days, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

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

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people hate one another and go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans can be friends or can become complete adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after these events, and Nina being taught about it via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always wonderful or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced and expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of America and USSR would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend