Episode #58 | Lessons From “The Liberator” (Dark Ops)

Foreign Policy ProvCast

In this episode of the Foreign Policy ProvCast, Mark Melton and Marc LiVecche bring back the “Dark Ops,” Providence’s podcast movie reviews. They discuss the Netflix series The Liberator, which came out on Veterans Day last month. It’s an animated series with four episodes and is based on a book by Alex Kershaw. The miniseries tells the story of Felix Sparks and the 157th Infantry Regiment as they campaign in Italy before landing in Provence, France, and then into Germany. In total, Sparks served 511 days in combat, and after World War II became a brigadier general and the ground commander for the Colorado Army Guard. He also served on the Colorado Supreme Court. Amongst other topics, Melton and LiVecche cover whether the animation helps or hurts the storytelling, how the miniseries covers racism, the history behind the Battle of Aschaffenburg and the Dachau massacre, and what courage looks like. They conclude by explaining why movies and shows about the Second World War are still important.