INTERVIEW: The Cuban Missile Crisis: JFK, Khrushchev & Nuclear Brinkmanship

In this episode of Why Wars Happened, we sit down with bestselling author Jeff Shaara to bring the Cuban Missile Crisis to life. From the Bay of Pigs to Operation Mongoose, Shaara explores how JFK and Khrushchev took the world to the edge of nuclear war.

👉 What you’ll learn:

🕵️ CIA failures at the Bay of Pigs

☢️ The missile standoff that nearly ended in nuclear war

👨‍💼 Leadership under pressure: Eisenhower vs. Kennedy

🇷🇺 The Soviet Union’s post-Stalin balancing act

📜 Secret treaties & backchannel deals that changed history

🕰️ Operation Mongoose → the CIA’s bizarre assassination plots

📖 Plus: a sneak peek at Shaara’s next book on Lincoln & Mary Todd

If you’re fascinated by the Cold War, nuclear standoffs, or JFK’s presidency, this episode unpacks the history, strategy, and suspense that defined October 1962.

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to Why Wars Happened

00:46 – Meet Jeff Shaara (The Shadow of War)

03:32 – The Bay of Pigs: Prelude to crisis

06:55 – The Cuban Missile Crisis begins

09:06 – Cold War context & public fear

12:33 – Eisenhower vs. Kennedy

15:15 – Soviet dynamics after Stalin

17:43 – The “winnable war” perspective

18:08 – Khrushchev’s balancing act

19:02 – The aftermath

20:25 – Operation Mongoose (CIA plots)

22:49 – Berlin’s role in the Cold War

28:38 – The secret treaty revealed

30:01 – Closing thoughts

#CubanMissileCrisis #ColdWar #JFK #NuclearHistory #WhyWarsHappened