He was pulled over on an Oklahoma highway for a missing license plate, a polite and cooperative driver who had just walked away from the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in United States history. This episode traces the biographical arc of Timothy McVeigh, from a quiet childhood in upstate New York to his decorated Army service and deliberate radicalization.

We examine the sequence of decisions and belief systems that led to the 1995 attack, presenting the historical record impartially to understand the mechanics of how radicalization unfolds rather than to endorse any of it.

• His early interests in computers and firearms, and how his identity hardened during military service in the Gulf War, where he earned a Bronze Star.
• How personal failure, gambling debts and rejection from Special Forces fused with anti-government  ...