Welcome to America's brief but world-shaking debut on the imperial stage—complete with yellow-journalism hype, tropical battlefields, and a slogan so catchy it practically launched itself ("Remember the Maine!"). In this episode, we follow the whirlwind conflict that turned the U.S. from a continental power into an overseas empire almost overnight. Cuba, Spain, Congress, newspaper moguls—they all collide in a moment when American ambition, idealism, and opportunism get tangled together in ways that still spark debate. It's fast, fiery, and surprisingly consequential for a war that barely lasted a season.
