Emmy and Golden Globe winner Martin Sheen takes listeners back to the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II. Hear from ordinary Americans who, thanks to the power of radio, were finally able to voice their hopes and worries to the man in charge: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In this episode, hear why many Americans were reluctant to join the new war raging overseas. Still reeling from the trauma of the World War I, the struggles of the Great Depression, and the growing fear of communism, citizens felt strong isolationist impulses and turned away from growing Nazi aggression.

In 1939, France and the U.K. declared war against Germany, but fear and isolationism kept America from joining the effort. Host Martin Sheen examines the battle that was being waged stateside between the America First movement and interventionists – including FDR’s scheme to supply arms to allies while appearing neutral.

[Contains explicit content] As country after country in Europe fell to Germany, the U.S. was unprepared, underequipped, and undermanned. With the first peace-time draft, the influx of new recruits found themselves training with broomsticks instead of rifles. This episode explores the reaction to mandatory service in America and conscientious objectors who paid a steep price for their convictions.

America’s isolationism breathed its last gasp in 1941 with the material support of England through the Lend-Lease act and Hitler’s surprise attack on Russia. But it wasn’t until Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that the U.S. fully entered the war. Hear the vivid recollections of the veterans who survived the devastating attack.

Shock, horror, and a cloud of misinformation quickly rippled from Hawaii to the mainland in the hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In this episode, we hear from statesmen attempting to allay fears, servicemen who suddenly found themselves at war, and ordinary Americans who focused their fear on a new enemy: the Japanese.

Now at war, America needed to quickly develop and mass produce an unprecedented number of goods and machinery. It would require a complete overhaul of factories, farms, and ways of working. Step onto the assembly line and hear the challenges faced by both workers and manufacturing once the U.S. threw itself into winning the war.

[Contains explicit content] Rosie the Riveter has become one of the most iconic and empowering images of women in World War II, but at the time, many men simply did not believe that women could do the jobs needed, whether in factories or in the military. And for women, war work wasn’t limited to the assembly line. Hear from individuals who struggled to meet the competing pressures of being a lady, a worker, and available for soldiers going overseas.