Podcast Overview
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, The National WWII Museum presents 1945, a new six-part podcast series that tells the story of one of the most consequential years in modern history.
Hosted by New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller and Playtone producer Kirk Saduski, tune in to explore the end of the war through new interviews with the world's leading historians and archival material from The National WWII Museum's collection. Hear from experts like Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Richard Frank, John McManus, Rebecca Erbelding, and Stephanie Hinnershitz. The podcast also features Academy Award nominees Patricia Clarkson and Gary Sinise.
We begin in early 1945, a period marked by intense military campaigns, high-stakes diplomatic efforts, and significant questions over how the war will end. By April, Allied forces close in on Nazi Germany, and victory in Europe is secured in early May. Meanwhile, as the war in the Pacific rages on, America considers an invasion of Japan before using nuclear weapons to bring the deadliest war in history to an end in August. In the aftermath, a shattered world begins to rebuild and restore justice in the wake of unprecedented destruction and loss.
Special thanks to our sponsor, The Long Family, for their generous support of this series.
Episodes available weekly starting April 17.
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Part 1: Beginning of the End
Learn MoreJanuary to March 1945: In a period marked by intense military campaigns and high-stakes diplomatic efforts, significant questions emerge over how World War II will end.
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Part 2: The Death of FDR
Learn MoreApril 1945: Western Allies and Soviets are closing-in on Nazi Germany from both sides. The deaths of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler occur within weeks of each other. Harry S. Truman becomes president of the United States, as American generals and journalists witness the horrors of the concentration camps.
Kirk Saduski
Playtone executive and producer Kirk Saduski was the executive-in-charge for HBO’s Band of Brothers, co-producer of HBO’s The Pacific, and co-producer of Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air.
Donald Miller
Best-selling author and historian Donald Miller, PhD, is well known to friends and members of The National WWII Museum for his works such as Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany; D-Days in the Pacific; and The Story of World War II.
