In this bonus episode, Judge Stephen J. Sfekas steps away from the courtroom to explore the patriotic songs Americans return to in very different moments: victory, crisis, resolve, and reflection. Beginning with The Star-Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key, he traces the stories behind four songs that have come to function as national anthems in American life: The Star-Spangled Banner, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful, and God Bless America.

Along the way, Judge Sfekas connects these songs to the people who wrote them and the historical moments that gave them force, from the War of 1812 and the Civil War to the anxieties of the 20th century. He then widens the lens beyond the United States, looking at patriotic songs from Britain, France, Ukraine, Greece, and the Soviet Union to ask what this kind of music does in times of war, remembrance, and national strain.