Why We’re Obsessed with JFK Conspiracies
Today we’re bringing you the third episode of Breaking History, a new podcast in which I go back in time in order to make sense of the present. The last episode was about the long history of progressives derailing California’s politics. In this episode, I explain how, exactly, the assassination of John F. Kennedy gave birth to so many wild conspiracy theories. If you want to understand why President Donald Trump recently ordered the director of national intelligence to plan how to release all the files relating to that dark day, you can listen to the episode below—or keep scrolling to read a print adaptation of it.
If you enjoy either, follow Breaking History on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Every now and again, a work of art is so profound that it reaches into the real world and actually affects current events.
Consider, if you will, the most politically resonant piece of American pop culture produced in the last 50 years: the 1991 film JFK.
It was a full frontal attack on the American state: a three-hour video essay explaining just how and why the U.S. government, up to and including a former president, colluded to murder John F. Kennedy. It was explosive, including a long scene analyzing the famous Zapruder film—amateur footage of the assassination—meaning that audiences were forced to watch Kennedy’s head being blown off by a bullet again, and again, and again, and again.
