A listener note, this episode contains adult content and may not be suitable for a younger audience.

It's the early 1960s, and Jim Jones is walking upstairs at his home in Indianapolis,

getting ready to put the finishing touches on an upcoming sermon.

Jones is the leader of a religious group known as the People's Temple.

He founded the church in Park as a way to put radical politics into action, offering meals to the poor,

fighting for racial integration across Indianapolis, and spreading a message about the virtues of socialism.

Jones has gained hundreds of followers, and in his upcoming sermon, he's planning to announce an expansion of programs at the People's Temple.

But as Jones reaches the top of the staircase and heads over to his desk, suddenly a bright flash fills the room.

Jones squints, trying to see through the piercing bright light.

He's never experienced anything like this.

The light disappears, but then the windowpane starts to rumble.

Before Jones can take cover, the glass shatters, and a shockwave sends Jones' careening to the floor.

Jones lies sprawled out. His ears pierced by a deafening squeal, until he regains his senses, and his mind turns to his family.

Jones needs to find his wife, Marcelet, and the kids.

They're out shopping for groceries. He has to make sure they're safe.

So Jones gets up to his feet and hurries down the stairs, stepping over shards of glass.

But as he opens the front door, he sees something that takes his breath away.

The sun has disappeared, shrouded by a mushroom cloud of smoke blossoming across the horizon.

Jones stares at the sky, his thoughts inarticulate and muddled, and as he searches the city streets he realizes he's not in Indianapolis.

He's in some other city.

People are stumbling out from the buildings, covered in blood, and a middle-aged man comes limping over, rubbing his hand over a tear in his shirt collar.

Jones approaches the man.

...