Historian David K. Johnson joins us to tell the story of how, during the Cold War, LGBTQ people were forced out of state and federal government jobs and were accused of being national security threats. Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were havens for LGBTQ employees, sparking what came to be known as the Lavender Scare.

Through declassified documents from the National Archives and interviews with former civil servants, Johnson takes us inside the security interrogation rooms where thousands of Americans were questioned about their personal lives, some facing catastrophic consequences.