Episode one explores Graham Platner's origins in rural coastal Maine, where a teenage protester holding signs against the Iraq War paradoxically enlisted in the Marine Corps, seeking to do good while wanting to play soldier. Through four combat tours in Ramadi, Fallujah, and Afghanistan, Platner witnessed military adventurism as a mechanism for corporate profit. Returning home with PTSD and a hundred percent disability rating, he found healing through oyster farming in Frenchman Bay, married Amy, and built a quiet life as harbormaster and planning board chair. The episode traces the formative experiences that would explode into a viral Senate campaign in August twenty twenty five.

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI