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Fifty years ago this weekend, the Central Intelligence Agency launched a covert attack on Cuba in what became known as The Bay of Pigs. The three day assault, which was carried out under the auspices of a Cuban rebel group, was a fiasco. The rebels were captured and killed, along with a handful of CIA intelligence officers. It was just three months after John F. Kennedy took over the White House, and while the plan had been initiated under Dwight D. Eisenhower, it was Kennedy who signed off on the operation.

Occupy a country half-way round the world? No problem! Evan Thomas's new book, The War Lovers, looks at a key moment in military adventurism. Thomas tells Kurt how the war-mongering that drove the largely forgotten Spanish American War resonates with the war in Iraq.

As Inauguration Day approaches, we look back at the 2008 presidential election, and how Barack Obama ended up winning. Leonard talks to two journalist who covered the race from the beginning: Nick Summers, Newsweek reporter; and Newsweek editor-at-large Evan Thomas, author of the new book A Long Time Coming.

There's been a lot of buzz around Clint Eastwood's recent directorial feat of making back to back World War II movies -- told from two distinct points of view. Flags of Our Fathers tells the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the American perspective, and Letters from Iwo ...