Fidel Castro was born into privilege — his father owned one of the largest sugar plantations in Cuba. Nothing about his comfortable upbringing predicted the revolutionary who would overthrow Batista, survive over six hundred assassination attempts, outlast ten American presidents, and hold power for nearly fifty years through a combination of charisma, repression, and Cold War brinkmanship.

This episode traces Castro from his privileged childhood through the failed Moncada attack, the Sierra Maestra guerrilla campaign, the Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis, and the five decades of rule that made him the most polarizing figure in Latin American history.

• Castro's wealthy upbringing and the radicalization that turned a landowner's son into a Marxist
• The failed Moncada barracks attack, imprisonment, and the Sierra Maestra guerr ...