It’s easy to say now that the Vietnam War was always a doomed endeavor. But Americans who went to fight in Vietnam thought they were answering John F. Kennedy’s call to public service. Alyssa asks Ken Burns how our ideals went so wrong.

Episode 2: “To me, JFK was God.”

A podcast guide to "The Vietnam War," the new documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Washington Post Opinion columnist Alyssa Rosenberg breaks down each episode of the film with Burns and Novick themselves, getting the story behind the stories, and grappling with the lessons the United States learned -- and failed to learn -- in Vietnam and at home. Listen after you watch each episode of "The Vietnam War" for a new perspective on how the film was made and what it all means.

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Episode 2: “To me, JFK was God.”

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