Terkel presents program reflecting on individuals' recollection of the day that FDR died and the former President's legacy among younger Americans.

Who were these ordinary people who killed and what made them do what they did are among the questions answered in Daniel Goldhagen's book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust". Jews were in league with the devil and their alleged evil came from their biology. It was believed, for the good of the country, to get rid of the German threat, the Jews had to be exterminated, according to Goldhagen.

The military's attitude toward gay people is what's covered in Allan Berube's book, "Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II." For some people, hiding their true identity was necessary because they would have been discharged by the military.