Although the documentary gives the etymology of the term 'bootlegging' (people selling illegal liquor from flasks that they kept in their boot legs), the origin of the term 'speakeasy' is not further explained. According to the Etymology Dictionary, these illegal liquor saloons were called 'speakeasies' "because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors".
The series features archive footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the voice of John Lithgow as one of the narrators. Lithgow played President Roosevelt in World War II: When Lions Roared (1994).