United States of Kennedy

United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.

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Recent Episodes

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Film of the month: Bobby (2006) Monday, October 27, 2025

On June 5, 1968, the day after winning the California Democratic primary for President, Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed by a man named Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The 2006 film Bobby, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, tells the interconnected stories of a group of fictional characters staying at the Ambassador Hotel the day Bobby was shot. The star-studded ensemble cast includes everyone from Anthony Hopkins and Demi Moore to Lindsay Lohan and Nick Cannon. We’re joined by comedian, Crooked Media writer, and Bobby Kennedy aficionado Julia Claire to discuss the highs and lows of one of the most confounding wannabe Oscar movies of the aughts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Lee Harvey Oswald Monday, October 20, 2025

60 years after he was arrested for killing President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald remains one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century — and a lightning rod for conspiracy theorists everywhere. Today, we’re joined by Peter Savodnik, author of the book The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside of the Soviet Union, to unpack Oswald’s tumultuous life and legacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Film of the Month: Grey Gardens Monday, October 13, 2025

“A gothic tale of wealth and rebellion in East Hampton.” That’s how New York magazine described the plight of Jackie O’s aunt Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Little Edie Bouvier Beale in a 1972 cover story about their life together in a dilapidated mansion on Long Island. Four years later, Big Edie and Little Edie were immortalized on the big screen in the cult classic documentary Grey Gardens. Olivia Aylmer, senior editor at The Slowdown (slowdown.media), joins us to break down Big Edie and Little Edie’s enduring appeal — and to give us an on-the-ground report of this month’s 50th-anniversary screening of the film at New York’s Paris Theater featuring Julia Fox. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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RFK vs. Jimmy Hoffa Monday, October 6, 2025

As a senator and later as JFK’s attorney general, one of Bobby Kennedy’s signature causes was taking on organized crime. And his Public Enemy No. 1 was always Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa. But the years-long feud between Kennedy and Hoffa was not just about politics — it was personal. And it haunted the Kennedys for decades. To help us unpack it all, we’re joined by Dan O’Sullivan, co-host of The Outfit, a podcast about the mafia’s surprising role in our society.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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RFK Jr.’s “Autism Announcement” Monday, September 29, 2025

Since we started this podcast, one member of the Kennedy family has been in the news most consistently. Trump’s Secretary of Health & Human Services, RFK Jr., has been the elephant in the room during any conversation we’ve had about the Kennedy family. Today, we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to chat with Julie Rovner, Chief Washington Correspondent for KFF Health News, about RFK and Trump’s much-covered “autism announcement” last week and RFK’s role in the anti-vax movement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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William Kennedy Smith's criminal trial and the birth of CourtTV Monday, September 22, 2025

In 1991, JFK’s 30-year-old nephew, William Kennedy Smith, was accused of raping a woman named Patricia Bowman at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach. The ensuing trial coincided with the birth of CourtTV, and its “gavel-to-gavel” television coverage changed the media landscape forever. We’re joined by Dr. Paul Thaler, author of The Watchful Eye: American Justice in the Age of the Television Trial and The Spectacle: Media and the Making of the OJ Simpson Story, to talk about the ethics of cameras in the courtroom, the legacy of the William Kennedy Smith trial, and our current true crime landscape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Film of the month: Chappaquiddick (2018) Monday, September 15, 2025

In 1969, a young Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts, leading to the death of a young woman in the passenger seat named Mary Jo Kopechne. For this month’s Kennedy movie episode, we’re joined by Jason Concepcion, co-host of the X-Ray Vision podcast, to talk about the baffling 2018 film ‘Chappaquiddick,’ which attempts to depict the infamous incident and its aftermath — with mixed results.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Carole Radziwill Monday, September 8, 2025

Bravo fanatics know Carole Radziwill as the “voice of reason” during her time on the Real Housewives of New York. But before answering that call from Andy Cohen, Radziwill was an Emmy-winning journalist and a New York Times bestselling author. She was also married to Jackie O’s nephew Anthony Radziwill and was close friends with his cousin JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette. We’re joined by Vulture writer and Real Housewives anthropologist Brian Moylan to break down Carole’s Kennedy connections and chat about her triumphant years in the Real Housewives universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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George Magazine Monday, September 1, 2025

In 1995, JFK Jr. and PR executive Michael Berman started a new magazine focused on the intersection of politics and culture. Today we’re joined by Rolling Stone features editor Kate Storey to talk about her 2019 Esquire article about the history of George Magazine, from infamous covers to notable contributors including Al Franken and Kellyanne Conway. As Storey writes, George Magazine “covered politics like it was pop culture. Was it folly — or a glimpse of the Trumpian future?”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy Monday, August 25, 2025

Taylor Swift’s fascination with the Kennedys is well documented, but it really reached a fever pitch in the summer of 2012 when she briefly dated RFK Jr’s son Conor Kennedy. Today, we’re joined by Vulture staff writer and Taylor Swift historian Fran Hoepfner to break down Taylor’s top Kennedy moments, from an infamous paparazzi scandal to a mysterious real estate purchase.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Film of the month: Jackie (2016) Monday, August 18, 2025

Pablo Larrain’s ‘Jackie’ stars Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in the moments before, during, and after her husband’s assassination. The film landed Portman an Oscar nomination and jumpstarted Larrain’s trilogy of films about misunderstood 20th-century women. We’re joined by ‘Jackie’ superfan Hunter Harris to chat about the film’s depiction of grief, how Larrain subverts biopic tropes, and which actors’ Boston accents could have used a bit more work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jack Schlossberg Monday, August 11, 2025

You may have seen JFK’s 32-year-old grandson Jack Schlossberg command a crowd at the DNC or present the JFK Profile in Courage Award. You may also have seen him on your feed dancing shirtless while singing “Ticket to Ride” or railing about his hatred of restaurants. We’re joined by William Cohan, co-founder of Puck and author of the Town & Country article “You Don’t Know Jack,” to explore the most famous millennial Kennedy’s unlikely path to social media stardom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jackie After JFK Monday, August 4, 2025

Jackie Kennedy was only 34 years old when JFK was assassinated. She was suddenly a single mother of two — and one of the most famous women in the world. We’re joined by J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of the bestselling biography ‘Jackie: Public, Private, Secret’ and the just-released ‘JFK: Public, Private, Secret’, to talk about the relationships that defined Jackie’s post-White House life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Rosemary Kennedy Monday, July 28, 2025

In 1918, Joe and Rose Kennedy had their first daughter, Rosemary. She experienced developmental difficulties as a child and had trouble keeping up in school. When she was 23, her father arranged for her to undergo a lobotomy, which left her profoundly handicapped for the rest of her life. The truth about Rosemary was kept hidden for decades. We’re joined by historian Kate Clifford Larson, author of the New York Times bestseller ‘Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter,’ to discuss Rosemary’s life and legacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Film of the Month: JFK (1991) Monday, July 21, 2025

For our first edition of Kennedy Film of the Month, we dive into Oliver Stone’s 1991 political thriller opus ‘JFK’. While nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, it was also roundly condemned in the press for popularizing the theory that there was a government conspiracy to assassinate JFK. Los Angeles Times film critic and co-host of the Unspooled podcast, Amy Nicholson, joins us to unpack the film’s legacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Monday, July 14, 2025

America’s prince JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy were ubiquitous in ’90s New York until their tragic death in a plane crash in the summer of 1999. “In the pages of the city tabloids during those few short years, Bessette was a daily soap opera, forced into the multitude of unforgiving tropes for public women. The scheming girlfriend; the coked-up vixen; the miserable spouse,” writes journalist and author Glynnis MacNicol in Town & Country. But little is known about what Carolyn was actually like. We’re joined by MacNicol to separate fact from fiction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Chappaquiddick Monday, July 7, 2025

In 1969, a young Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. He managed to get out of the car and survive, but the 28-year-old woman in the passenger seat did not. Kennedy fled the scene and didn’t report the incident until the following morning. As with all Kennedy scandals, conflicting reports of what exactly happened led to enduring conspiracy theories. We’re joined by Liz McNeil, editor-at-large at PEOPLE, author of JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography, and host of the Chappaquiddick podcast COVER-UP, to discuss what we know about that night — and what we don’t.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Family Tree Monday, June 30, 2025

Joe Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy family, lived out the American dream. He amassed a fortune and gave his children a launching pad to political and cultural dominance. Lyra and George introduce themselves, the show, and the cast of characters who will be featured throughout.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Introducing: United States of Kennedy Monday, June 23, 2025

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