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- [00:00]
Podcast Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Host of America's Crime Lab
Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime on the new podcast America's Crime Lab. Every case has a story to tell, and the DNA holds the truth.
- [00:18]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha.
- [00:24]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
This technology's already solving so many cases.
- [00:28]
Host of America's Crime Lab
Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:35]
Bob Crawford
I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions.
- [00:44]
Podcast Host
Did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree? Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair?
- [00:48]
Bob Crawford
And I find the answers.
- [00:50]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I am so glad you asked me this question.
- [00:52]
Podcast Host
This is such a ridiculous story.
- [00:54]
Bob Crawford
You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:05]
Podcast Host
There's stuff they don't want you to know.
- [01:08]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Every Monday, we break down the news, make connections, and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.
- [01:15]
A secret deal between members of Mexican cartels and the United States government. Residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds. Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.
- [01:35]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I'm Jeff Perlman. And I'm Rick Jervis. We're journalists and hosts of the podcast Finding Sexy Sweat.
- [01:40]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
At an internship in 1993, we roomed.
- [01:42]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
With Reggie Payne, aspiring reporter and rapper who went by Sexy Sweat a couple years ago. We set out to find him, but in 2020, Reggie fell into a coma after police pinned him down and he never woke up.
- [01:52]
Podcast Host
But then I see my son's not moving.
- [01:55]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
So we started digging and uncovered city officials bent on protecting their own. Listen to finding Sexy Sweat on the.
- [02:01]
Bob Crawford
Iheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [02:14]
Podcast Host
What do you think about Jack Schlossberg?
- [02:16]
Lyra Smith
Well, I don't know a ton about him. I think he's hot, and that's my main interest. But I thought he was a little bit more contained than what I just observed on Twitter. The first tweet that sucked me in. This is in all caps. Happy birthday to Dax Shepard's wife. And then two spaces down, Kristen, two spaces down. Belle, two spaces down, all caps again, Dax Shepherd. And then we go into normal text. Wonder if he'd ever have me on his podcast. Face question mark. After he made racist comments about me. Space, exclamation point, two spaces down. Dax, all caps. Did you get face filler, space, question mark. And then I just started scrolling his page and I'm like, this man is insane. I don't know if he's just being an edge lord with this one, but this is another tweet. We deserve to know if Megan Kelly was born with male or female genitalia. 4 exclamation points. Justice will prevail. Wait, I have to find my other favorite one. His tweets are just so off the wall. Where is that incredible tweet? Oh yeah, he called JFK a bitch, which I just thought was funny. I mean RFK. RFK Jr says no vaccines but wants everyone to wear a wearable. My first amendment right not to have an aura ring, you corporate bitch. Kids menu is dei. I just don't even know what he's talking about.
- [04:27]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I'm George Severis. I'm Lyra Smith and this is United States of Kennedy, a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week we go into one aspect of the Kennedy story and today we are talking about JFK's grandson and social media jester, Jack Schlossberg.
- [04:46]
Podcast Host
You may have seen his speech at the 2024 DNC, or you may have seen him dancing shirtless on Instagram. Either way, he's been getting people talking. So where did he come from?
- [04:58]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
So like we said, he is JFK's grandson for most of his life. He's currently 32, I believe for most of his life he did everything you would expect a young handsome Kennedy, especially one who is the literal grandson of jfk to. He was sort of tangentially involved in politics in the way you would expect. He had a position at the JFK Presidential Library where he was involved in selecting the recipients of various citizenship awards. He spoke at the 2020 DNC in favor of Joe Biden. He attended the Met gala with his mom, Caroline Kennedy. He went to law school. He went to Harvard. You know, again, anything you might expect somebody to.
- [05:34]
Podcast Host
Harvard and Yale got em both.
- [05:36]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Harvard and Yale. I'm sorry. That's right. Gotta catch em all. But then there was this sort of change that happened around early 2024 when he became a very frequent poster on social media. And he is big on Twitter. He was big on Instagram, he has TikToks. He now, you know, a year and a half later, has launched his own YouTube talk show. And he became sort of this weird anomaly where he combined the glamour of being a Kennedy with the sort of humor of being like a shitposter, for lack of a better word. And his content is very kind of unpredictable. So his tweets and tiktoks range from traditional jokes that like a comedy front facing camera media might make to different characters and doing accents, to literally pranks. Like he lied about being Justin Baldoni's lawyer just to mess with people, and then the media covered it and then people had to, like, fact check it and uncover that it was false. He sometimes will make fun of his own family, both his own immediate family and also the Kennedy name more broadly. And then sometimes he's more earnest. Like he endorsed Zoran Mandani for mayor of New York and posted a video while going to vote for him. He's expressed his support for more progressive Democratic politicians like Pritzker. And so you never know whether he is serious or whether he's not. He's obviously, you know, very hot. So people like watching videos of him and he plays into that too. He'll post videos of him shirtless or of him, you know, mugging at the camera.
- [07:11]
George Severis
And.
- [07:12]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
And it has led to some stuff. I mean, he was hired as a Vogue political correspondent at some point and produced, I don't know, somewhere around four articles total. He has been on talk shows, he's been interviewed a couple of times, but he's sort of still kind of a mystery.
- [07:30]
Podcast Host
He also had a cameo on Blue Bloods.
- [07:32]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I did not know that he had a cameo on Blue Bloods. There you go. So, Lyra, is he someone who is on your feed a lot? Do you get served as content?
- [07:39]
Podcast Host
Yes, and I got it before I knew who he was. Him singing Ticket to Ride, I think was the first video I saw of him, and I liked it.
- [07:50]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
She's got a ticket to ride she's got a ticket to ride she's got a ticket to ride but she don't care I think I first saw him on Twitter and he has this way of tweeting, both grammatically and syntactically and also in his use of capitalization, stuff that's almost, and I mean this only in form and not in content. It's almost Trumpian. Like he's almost making fun of Trump's style of tweeting. So, for example, his pinned tweet right now, you know, as of July 2025. So apologies if this has changed. His pinned tweet is Jesus Christ's body type. My thoughts, colon. Jesus was thin, Most popular guy of all time. Not jacked, toned, but not big. So my question Is did Jesus want to put on muscle but couldn't or was he lean on purpose? Talk soon, Jack. I mean, if you have been on Twitter sort of like throughout the 2010s, you recognize this as kind of a classic shit post. There are so many guys and you know, and women and people of all genders who sort of tweet in this like half joking way. And the humor just sort of comes from the absurdity. So I just thought he was kind of like a slightly self aware, slash, occasionally annoying hot millennial guy.
- [09:09]
Podcast Host
But the thing about his tweets is that they are not drill. Like, you know, this is a Kennedy. And he's often talking about politicians, correspondents, serious news, like people in the news. But he continues to like shitpost in the same style, kind of no matter what he's talking about, unless he gets really sincere, which happens. But the thing about that is that to me it seems like he takes risks in that you don't know who's reading it and what they're going to understand as a joke or not. And it doesn't seem like he really cares if you get the joke or not, which is, it's risky because you could offend people very easily if you were just simply putting things out there and saying, I don't care if you get. Yeah.
- [10:00]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
His relationship to humor and satire is, I would say, generously inconsistent. Like some of his jokes are just very funny and then other times it's completely out of nowhere. I mean, a recent tweet that I saw was which member of Trump's cabinet has had the most homosexual experiences? And then he lists a variety of options. Another one recently was Kids menu is dei. So of course the joke there is that the kids menu, because it appeals to children rather than adults, is a form of dei. So, you know, you sort of see what he's going for there. And I want to get to the like, larger project, if there is any in his larger relationship to comedy. But I first want to go through some of the, of our favorite recent posts of his. Just so if anyone, you know, if anyone here is wisely not on Tick Tock or on X, they can kind of understand what we're talking about. So, Lyra, do you have any that you made note of?
- [10:50]
Podcast Host
I do. Let me preface this by saying many of the people whose opinion I greatly respect really don't like him. But I do like him and I can't hide it and I can't fight it. I've been watching hours upon hours at this point now in Preparation for this, but also months ago. And I think I absolutely tilt into the favorable group and one of the videos or like the video that I think was like the turning point for me, where there was no going back is his video complaining or criticizing when people say, hey, man, have a safe flight.
- [11:31]
Jack Schlossberg
Have a safe flight. Safe trip. Have a safe flight. Get there safe, Be safe. Have a safe flight. Have a safe flight. How? What do you want me to do, huh? What are you doing?
- [11:44]
Podcast Host
It's like on the one hand he's saying that in general, you're a passenger, you're not in control of the plane. But also as a Kennedy, people saying to him, hey, man, have a safe flight. It has a different meaning.
- [11:58]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah, it's funny. I would say that is a perfect example of like his content at its best. I mean, first of all, the premise is a classic stand up comedy premise.
- [12:09]
Podcast Host
Well, it's Seinfeld complaining about the pilot, telling them, like, what altitude we're gonna be flying at.
- [12:15]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
It's classic Seinfeld humor. It is genuinely a funny premise. Like, of course, to tell someone, have a safe flight is a ridiculous thing. They do not have any control over the flight they're gonna have. And as you're saying, he's using his identity as a Kennedy to humorous ends without. I mean, yes, it's sort of gallows humor, but he's not offending anyone. You know, he's not making some grand statement about the Democratic Party. He's not endorsing a candidate.
- [12:36]
Podcast Host
Yeah. And I think that another one for me was his Valentine Day video where he was just announcing that he needs a Valentine. And I think that one I really liked because it's like the most self aware I've seen of him. He's like, comment, subscribe at the end. Like, it's an obvious joke.
- [13:02]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah, he likes playing with, I would say, even his identity as sort of a, you know, Internet crush. He will often joke about. One time he joked about going through a breakup and he was like, my heart is breaking. And then I saw an interview with him where he said that people actually in his life texted him to say, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. Heartbreak is so hard. And then he was like, oh, no, I was completely kidding. So he both exudes this kind of like single guy energy, but then he also has this distance with his audience. Like, he's not actually, you know, being horny.
- [13:35]
Podcast Host
Yeah, there's really not a lot of dirt out there. He's not stirring gossip about, like his romantic life or his sex Life at all.
- [13:44]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah, we talk about this later in the episode. But he does that classic Kennedy thing of being both overexposed and a complete mystery. Like I see his content all the time. I would recognize him if I saw him. I have now heard his opinions on a variety of issues. But if you were to tell me at this point in time where does he live? What is his day to day job? What is his plan? Is he involved in politics? I honestly would not really know. Some of my favorites in terms of videos are he does this series with his dad where he just asks his dad questions and it's sort of charming because his dad is like pretending he doesn't want to be on camera but then obviously is playing along. There was this great video that is almost like hearkens back to a simpler time. That's just him doing an Australian accent and I'm pretty sure his mom is off camera and is just like laughing at him doing an Australian accent. Which you know, no matter what you think about the Kennedys, it is just charming to see a mother and an adult son.
- [14:44]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Joking around early, earliest ones. And this is like pre. Even him being like all over TikTok was him sitting and I also believe it's his mother sitting next to him laughing or I think she's filming it and he's saying how much he hates eating in a restaurant in the middle of the day and we have to.
- [15:05]
Jack Schlossberg
Wait there to eat something that we don't get to choose really what it is. We only have a couple choices and you don't know what any of them are going to taste like or what's good. And we'll go eat there and it'll be covered in sugar and then we're gonna sit there for most of the time and wait for some guy to come up and ask us some question. Then we're gonna have to fucking talk to some guy about what we want to eat.
- [15:26]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yes, actually restaurants are a favorite topic of his. He has another one where he's like making fun of someone ordering at a restaurant and he's being like, we'll do the chicken, we'll do the salmon again. It's like a classic stand up bit where he's like imitating someone ordering at a restaurant. It's very like 80s a foot washed.
- [15:51]
George Severis
Up, a shoe with some bones in it.
- [15:53]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
They had no idea who it was.
- [15:55]
George Severis
Most everything was burned up pretty good.
- [15:57]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
From the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.
- [16:00]
Host of America's Crime Lab
These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA using new scientific tools. They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.
- [16:22]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha.
- [16:29]
Host of America's Crime Lab
On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [16:50]
William Cohen
Have you ever looked at a piece of abstract art or music or poetry and thought that's just a bunch of pretentious nonsense? Well, that's exactly what two bored Australian soldiers set out to prove during World War II when they pulled off what was either a bold literary hoax or a grand poetic experiment, publishing over a dozen intentionally bad but highly acclaimed works of expressionist poetry under the name Ern Malley. In an incident that caused a media firestorm and even a criminal trial, the Ern Malley episode made fools of believers and critics alike and still fascinates poetry lovers to this day. We break down the truth, the lies, and the poetry in between on Hoax, a new podcast hosted by me, Lizzie Logan and me, Dana Schwartz. Every episode, Hoax explores an audacious fraud or ruse from history, from forged artworks to the original fake news. To try and answer why we believe, listen to Hoax on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [17:50]
Podcast Host
There's stuff they don't want you to know.
- [17:53]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Is there a conspiracy afoot to create a rationalization for the rollout of martial law?
- [18:00]
Every Monday, we break down the news, make connections, and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.
- [18:08]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Crypto investor allegedly tortured captive Italian businessmen with a chainsaw.
- [18:13]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
New ChatGPT model refuses to to shut down when instructed.
- [18:17]
A secret deal between members of Mexican cartels and the United States government. Residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds.
- [18:28]
There is a video of this sphere zigzagging through the sky.
- [18:32]
Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.
- [18:42]
Bob Crawford
American history is full of wise people.
- [18:47]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Walt Whitman said something like, you know, 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1% is glory.
- [18:53]
Podcast Host
Those Founding Fathers were gossipy AF, and they love to cut each other down.
- [18:59]
Bob Crawford
I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history, and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer.
- [19:12]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Hamilton pauses, and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it.
- [19:30]
Bob Crawford
Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:50]
Podcast Host
If you had the magic ability to delete or unsee anything that doesn't really fit your personal desire, expectation for this person and just be, like, delightedly surprised that he's really funny. But there's no, you know, filter like that.
- [20:09]
George Severis
Yeah.
- [20:10]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
So just to give people an idea of some of the things that he's done that have pissed people off that are not as charming as the ones we're talking about, my example earlier, where he's speculating about which of Trump's camp cabinet members have had the most homosexual experiences, that is, you could argue that's offensive to both the people he's accusing and, you know, to gay people in general. If he's using that as sort of like an accusation that it's something negative, obviously. You know, you could also argue that accusing people that espouse homophobic views of being gay is a way to kind of take them down a peg and accuse them of the one thing that they fear. I'm sort of two minds about it. I'm not gonna, you know, go out and protest because he is speculating that J.D. vance is gay. I could absolutely see the argument for why that is offensive. I could see the argument for why that is stirring the pot in a way that is unproductive. Who's to say then there's more funny stuff that is so out of character. Like, part of his job is presenting the Profiles in Courage Award to politicians and citizens that have shown cour. And One of the 2025 recipients was Mike Pence. So in the midst of all of this crazy shitposting, he has a serious interview with Mike Pence about the courage he showed after January six.
- [21:22]
Podcast Host
And it's, you know, it's a pretty softball interview.
- [21:25]
Jack Schlossberg
What role should faith play in politics? I know that your faith may have guided you in January 6th into or in many other decisions. How has your faith played a role? And how should faith play a role in Our politics.
- [21:36]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Politics.
- [21:37]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Well, faith has ever played a role.
- [21:41]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Since the founding of this nation. It's a softball interview, because by definition, he is quite literally giving him an award. He's not a journalist.
- [21:49]
Podcast Host
It doesn't seem like the same person.
- [21:52]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yes. Which is actually something I've noticed a lot, is he has almost these two personalities. One is, like, millennial Enfantari. He's a social media jester. And then the other one is, like, serious Kennedy. His hair is perfect. He's wearing a suit, and he's, like, being interviewed along with his mom about the future of the Democratic Party.
- [22:13]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I mean, the offending tweet that pops to my mind first is the one where he said that Usha Vance is hotter than Jackie O.
- [22:23]
George Severis
Right.
- [22:23]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Which brings us to the question of why does he post? I mean, obviously some of it is. And he said this himself, some of it is. Is just him entertaining himself and entertaining others and being funny. But he does love to talk about how it's all for some greater purpose. So we both have found interviews he's done where he talks about, like, his reasoning behind why he does all of this. So in the simplest possible terms, when he was on Jimmy Kimmel, he was talking about how his goal is to get young people to vote, basically, you know, using his platform as a young Kennedy to get young people like your grandfather. You have a big following on TikTok. How would you just. How do you describe the videos you make for people like me who will not put TikTok on our phones?
- [23:07]
Jack Schlossberg
Well, I think what I'm trying to do with my videos is to bring some levity and some humor to serious political issues. Something that you know so much about, do such a great job with on this show. My videos, maybe they're a little crazy, but maybe they're just crazy enough to work.
- [23:20]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Well. They have to be entertaining to get people interested. And your goal is to get people.
- [23:24]
George Severis
To vote, to get out and vote.
- [23:26]
Jack Schlossberg
My goal for being here tonight and my goal for the next few weeks is to get young people excited to vote to vote for Kamala Harris. Like I'm going to. I was just.
- [23:38]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
And then when he was on Jen Psaki's podcast, he talked a little more in depth about his strategy, and he was sort of saying that he felt Republicans are better at the social media game, especially post Trump, and are just better according attention. They're better according controversy. And so the reason he is posting in such a crazy and controversial way is because he thinks the Democrats can sort of, like, learn from Their playbook.
- [24:04]
Jack Schlossberg
I think that the Internet is a place where it's difficult to break through, and it's difficult to break through, especially if you're not saying something that's controversial or at least somehow unexpected. And I think that I see that Democrats play that game not as well as we could. And I think that. That I use my judgment to make posts that I think are funny or silly, but have a purpose, either to make you think this guy's crazy. Why is he talking about his own family that way? But to be honest, then you get all these retweets, quotes, and everybody flips out about it. And I think that that's kind of the game that the other side's been playing really well, which is flipping people out and getting a reaction is almost half the battle. And not every post is going to be hilarious or risky in some way. Some of them have to be serious and boring, but they can't all be serious and boring. And so I think that it's very important to switch it up and to take risks, because I think that's not only entertaining for me and myself as I laugh and post it on my phone, but also a good way to signal to people that you're willing to either fight for them or speak your own mind if you're willing to say something that's other people might not get or, you know, might engender a. A reaction that some people don't like.
- [25:27]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
And so that video is him answering a question about the tweet you were just talking about, Lyra, which is that he tweeted, asking his readers whether they thought Usha Vance was hotter than Jackie. Oh. Who is again, his grandmother.
- [25:42]
Podcast Host
This week, he released his new show on YouTube. He released two episodes, two days in a row. And within one of those episodes, he reads a news story response to the camera. And then you watch live as he drafts and then posts a tweet about the news story. And it is, like, really a window into what his process is with these tweets.
- [26:11]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
And what is his process?
- [26:12]
Podcast Host
It is just dumping out jokes and thoughts and not caring for a second, it seems, you know, like, how it's going to be received.
- [26:24]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah. He has this way of thinking where he sort of believes anything is fair game. He's like, if I post something that is a lie, that is actually a commentary on misinformation. And I'm, like, making fun of the media ecosystem because they're going to pick it up and it's going to be on page six, and I'm Actually doing social commentary. If I post something that is offensive, that is because we need to take a page out of the Republican playbook and court controversy because it'll get people paying attention and we need to appeal to young people that have a sense of humor. If I post something that is earnest, it is because I care deeply about my family's legacy and my grandfather's legacy, and I really want to be a statesman like the other men and women in my family. If I post something that is just a complete silly joke, it's because I think people should laugh and I'm just entertaining myself and entertaining everyone else. And it's actually not all that serious. And nothing is really serious. So there really is no gotcha question you can ask him. And it's funny because I understand the perspective that his behavior is reckless, but I also tend to, you know, 50% of the time at least agree with him that there should be a little more like, what's the word? Sort of just like joie de vivre to day to day political commentary. Like, it is engaging, ultimately, to watch this stuff.
- [27:45]
Podcast Host
Yeah. The other thing that is interesting to note when he's like, having these public takes on the current election in New York is that Andrew Cuomo was married to his aunt for 15 years. And I just think that.
- [28:01]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Oh, yeah, I mean, once you start looking at the personal connections, he does not care about the fact that some of the people that he is dragging are, you know, his own cousins. Like, people that were married to other family members, people that have Kennedy relationships. I mean, he posted recently, I have never met Cheryl Hines, but if I did, I'd tell her she looks super dehydrated. I mean, so he's pretty much saying that his cousin's wife is ugly. And actually, I think one of the things that first started getting him attention in the political press was his open disdain for RFK Jr. Because as we've talked about before, it took a while for the rest of the Kennedys to sort of like condemn RFK Jr. In an organized way. And from the beginning, he was just like, my cousin sucks.
- [28:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Just saying flat out, he's a bad person that you cannot trust and very much not the Kennedy way. The Kennedy way is like, you keep your mouth shut about the faults of your relatives.
- [29:04]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah. It's funny. Like, the question of whether or not Jack's social media presence serves one big purpose is, like, designed to make you feel crazy, because as you said, his process is just like firing off his thoughts at any given time. And he's just sort of vibes based.
- [29:24]
Podcast Host
I do want to say I watched both episodes of get in the van, his new YouTube show. And I am saying this as a producer. It's a phenomenally produced show. The setup is perfect for him, and he gets to be free, do his thing. It doesn't always work. Sometimes it does.
- [29:48]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Is there a sort of central gimmick to it?
- [29:51]
Podcast Host
Okay, there's a very shaky explanation of why he's in a van at one point where he says that he's going to drive across the country in the van and talk to everyone. And then he compares his van to the vans that they are using to grab people off the street and deport them. And he says he wants to do the opposite with his van.
- [30:17]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I mean, again, this is classic Jack Schlossberg gallows humor. It's like if you squint, it makes sense. If you squint and you maybe have like a couple of martinis, you're like, wow, he's kind a comedic genius. But if you take it literally, it really is a bit first draft, you know, it's. I got to say, it's really giving freshmen at the Harvard Lampoon pitching ideas for the big issue, for sure.
- [30:39]
Podcast Host
But then with such confidence and charisma. Well, of course, in the delivery, the.
- [30:43]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Kennedy charm, I mean, that's the confidence of charisma are in his DNA. There's really nothing he can do. There's no surgery he can get that can remove them. So obviously, we are a little more charmed by him than we would have maybe admitted a couple of weeks ago. But we also do recognize that he has flaws. So don't write in. But we wanted to talk to someone that has actually had a personal relationship with him and that has had a conversation with him. So joining us today to investigate is William Cohen. He's a business journalist and the co founder of the media company Puck. And he was actually high school friends with JFK Jr. So he goes way back with the Kennedy family. But for our purposes, he wrote a profile of Jack Schlossberg last year for Town and Country titled you don't know Jack. Bill, thanks for chatting with us.
- [31:28]
George Severis
Nice to see you both.
- [31:29]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
So when we were looking up who to talk to about the topic of Jack Schlossberg and Jack Schlossberg's social media presence and his present and future as a sort of Democratic party influencer, millennial influencer, we were kind of surprised to find this article you wrote for Town and Country almost exactly a year ago. Obviously, you are A very accomplished business reporter. You're a co founder of Puck. This is not your normal beat. I gu. So we were wondering, like, how did that come about?
- [31:59]
George Severis
You'd be surprised what my normal beats consist of. One of the books that I wrote probably five or six years ago now was a book called Four Friends, about four of my friends from high school, one of whom was JFK Jr. John F. Kennedy Jr. It was a profile of him, how he lived and how he died. The story of the book was that I had four of these friends from high school, all who died young and tragically. And so it was a way to explore the meaning of life as well as how these guys lived. I only knew them for three or four years, and obviously they had lives of 30 or 40 years. So what was the rest of their lives like? So, and how did they get there in the first place? All that kind of thing. So I became one of those people who had written about the Kennedys. And so once you become one of those people who's written about the Kennedys, then sometimes you get asked to continue to write about them. And I'm from, you know, Massachusetts, central Massachusetts. Kennedys were always a central theme in my growing up and always been a big fan of them. They obviously made mistakes and didn't live flawless lives, to put it mildly. But always were fascinating and inspiring. And John was a friend of mine, and what happened to him was terrible. I think his upside was huge. And so, you know, naturally, I've been interested in Jack Schlossberg and his sisters, his parents, given how much Jack resembles my friend John, you know, with the twist of his father, which makes it a little more complex physical specimen than John Jr. Who was, of course, you know, the ultimate male figure. So anyway, I was, of course, always impressed with Jack's academic accomplishments. Yale, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, the Profiles Encourage Award. Every year, standing next to his mother, talking about, you know, why they had chosen who they had chosen. And then he seemed to have developed this very unique social media presence, which was sort of out of character for Kennedys generally and really kind of out there generally for people of his cohort. So just became really kind of interesting. What's Jack up to? What's this all about? Talked to town and country about that. We agreed it would be an interesting piece. And eventually, of course, I tracked him down, found him living outside of New Orleans, believe it or not, and had a nice conversation with him. I think this guy has tremendous upside right up there with his uncle. I know people think he's engaging in sort of like bizarre behavior online. And I have kids who are his age, so my kids don't do that kind of stuff. I'm not sure I can fully relate to it, but I feel like he's relating to his peers and his audience and making an impression. And this is just sort of the way you make an impression these days or one of the ways. And I think he's creative and smart and interesting and funny and clever and yeah, it's not typical by any means, especially for somebody with his pedigree and his academic accomplishments. I mean, why isn't he, you know, working in an investment bank or why isn't he working at Cravath? I don't know. But he's doing this and he's doing his thing. And I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him emerge in a political fashion at some point.
- [36:03]
Podcast Host
Do you think that that's what his aspirations are or do you have any thoughts on what you think he's working towards based on the way that he's very. He has kind of two sides. He has the very polished public speaking side and then he has the just full blown content. You would make like if you were not a famous, notable person. That is. Is pretty silly a lot of times.
- [36:29]
George Severis
Well, he certainly cleans up well, right? I mean, he looks great in the suit. He's very articulate when he's talking about the Profile and Courage awards or at the convention, he can definitely turn it on and he knows how to do that. And he can be silly and irreverent too, frankly. Is very charming and compelling and magnetic and captivating.
- [36:55]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
So.
- [36:56]
George Severis
Oh, he's what, 32 now or something? He could certainly run for political office. Not quite for president yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him do that. I know he told me he was doing some acting gigs down in Louisiana. He was probably working on a memoir. I don't know where that stands now. I didn't think that he had quite enough yet to write a memoir. You know, not going the traditional route. Just like his uncle didn't go the traditional rooty who. You know, he started George, and he definitely was thinking about running for political office at the time of his death and probably would have won. And, you know, I've speculated that the 2016 presidential election could have been JFK Jr versus Donald Trump, with JFK Jr easily winning, but obviously that was not to be. So, you know, I think Jack chooses this route. I don't really see what the negatives are for him. Succeeding.
- [38:10]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
A foot washed up, a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was.
- [38:16]
George Severis
Most everything was burned up pretty good.
- [38:17]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
From the fire that that not a.
- [38:19]
George Severis
Whole lot was salvageable.
- [38:21]
Host of America's Crime Lab
These are the coldest of cold cases, but everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA using new scientific tools. They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.
- [38:43]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha.
- [38:50]
Host of America's Crime Lab
On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors, and you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab that takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [39:11]
William Cohen
Have you ever looked at a piece of abstract art or music or poetry and thought that's just a bunch of pretentious nonsense? Well, that's exactly what two bored Australian soldiers set out to prove during World War II when they pulled off what was either a bold literary hoax or a grand poetic experiment, publishing over a dozen intentionally bad but highly acclaimed works of expressionist poetry under the name Ern Malley. In an incident that caused a media firestorm and even a criminal trial, the Ern Malley episode made fools of believers and critics alike and still fascinates poetry lovers to this day. We break down the truth, the lies, and the poetry in between on Hoax, a new podcast hosted by me, Lizzie Logan, and me, Dana Schwartz. Every episode, Hoax explores an audacious fraud or ruse from history, from forged artworks to the original fake news. To try and answer why we believe, listen to Hoax on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [40:11]
Podcast Host
There's stuff they don't want you to know.
- [40:13]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Is there a conspiracy afoot to create a rationalization or the rollout of martial law?
- [40:21]
Every Monday, we break down the news, make connections, and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.
- [40:28]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Crypto investor allegedly tortured captive Italian businessmen with a chainsaw.
- [40:33]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
New ChatGPT model refuses to shut down when instructed.
- [40:38]
A secret deal between members of Mexican cartels and the United States government. Residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds.
- [40:48]
There is a video of this sphere zigzagging through the sky.
- [40:52]
Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.
- [41:03]
Bob Crawford
American history is full of wise people.
- [41:07]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Walt Whitman said something like, no. 99.99 of war is diarrhea and 1% is glory.
- [41:14]
Podcast Host
Those Founding Fathers were gossipy AF, and they love to cut each other down.
- [41:20]
Bob Crawford
I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history, and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer.
- [41:32]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Hamilton pauses, and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it.
- [41:51]
Bob Crawford
Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [42:11]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
He's sort of. I think despite the fact that he has this incredibly consistent output and that there is just so much footage of him online, he still remains sort of a mystery at his core. I think part of it is because he's. He's sometimes joking, sometimes being serious. He sort of changes his vibe based on what's in the news. There are certain things he reacts really strongly to and other things that he ignores. He has a sort of interesting relationship with the media in that he's both suspicious of the media, but also really.
- [42:40]
George Severis
Just like his uncle.
- [42:41]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yes, exactly. Eggs media narratives on. So I'm wondering, you know, you spend time both with him, but also just, like, looking at all his content. Do you have a concept of, like. Like, what his core beliefs are, what his political views are? You know, if we're talking about a potential future in which he goes into politics, what would his public beliefs look like?
- [43:01]
George Severis
Well, and I'd also just throw in that, you know, there was a period of time after he went a little bit wacky where he said, I'm stepping off social media for a little while. See you later, guys. And then I don't know how much longer it was, a month or six weeks he was back. I mean, well, of course, a huge.
- [43:17]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Part of being a social media influencer is constantly announcing you're taking time off.
- [43:21]
George Severis
Okay, well, you guys might know that better than I do. There's no question what his political views are. And he's very much progressive. And the non Bobby Kennedy Jr. Mold, or the old Bobby Kennedy Jr. Mold back when he was doing Riverkeeper and being an environmentalist. No, he's very much in the family mold, you know, very Outspoken, very anti Trump, anti isolationism, pro immigration. You know, all the things, I think, that make America great again, honestly, and not what the MAGA movement thinks makes America great again. So I think he would have. I mean, he'd be like a total breath of fresh air. I think he'd have a lot of success politically if we can ever make it through the period that we're in now, and he would ever decide to turn his attention to politics.
- [44:20]
Podcast Host
I mean, the thing about the influencer side and the influencer role in general is that target audience is split. That's part of the fervor that people feel about influencers, is that a lot of times, half of them are following just to criticize or to take part in, looking for faults and looking for things to make fun of them for or complain about. It just makes me wonder, what do you think that we expect or desire from a Kennedy today that's different than in the past? Or is it the same?
- [44:58]
George Severis
I wrote a piece a couple months ago about the feud among the family against Bobby Jr. But one family friend said something to me which really got me thinking. You know, do people in their 20s even know who Carolyn Kennedy is? So Carolyn Kennedy does this video coming out against Bobby Jr. And it's. I mean, people at my age think, whoa, Carolyn Kennedy, the ambassador to Australia, the ambassador to Japan. She never talks to the press. She's always controlled. She never criticizes anyone in the family. Then she makes this video that's against her own cousin. And frankly, so obviously, and we're all like jaws on the ground. Did you see the video that Carolyn Kennedy just made and released? And then somebody said, but, yeah, but how many people, 20s, 30s, even, know who she is, let alone care? And I think there's an element of that. So I think, like every generation, there's dilution and dissipation of the family fabulousness. And I think to some degree, we're seeing that, although there's a lot of people in that generation who are the new generation who are quite accomplished. And so I think because of the Kennedy name, a lot is still expected. When somebody with that name and that pedigree shows themselves to be talented or differentiated or politically oriented, immediately a lot is expected of them. I mean, if Jack were working at Goldman Sachs, I don't think a lot would be expected of him. But when he's making political videos and being overtly political and raising the question of whether he's going to go into politics, then immediately a lot is expected of him. I don't Think much was expected of John Jr. When he was in the DA's office. Although he did a good job when he started George and ran George again, I think he proved himself that that was a magaz ahead of its time. He did a lot of very clever things, although managing the finances was not in his sweet spot. But then again, when he started to think about turning to politics, whether to run against Hillary Clinton for senator from New York or governor against Pataki, I think people really started to get excited and thought, wow, when he appeared at the convention, that was just a really wow moment. Right. I think when Kennedys start tilting towards politics, a lot is expected of them still, even if most people don't know Caroline Kennedy is anymore.
- [47:34]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Do you think the fact that RFK Jr. Is so off the deep end in terms of what is expected of a Kennedy means that in a weird way, the window has opened for Jack to be a little more unhinged on social media, and it actually is not that big of a deal because at least his politics are correct down in line with the family.
- [47:52]
George Severis
Yeah, I don't think people in this family are criticizing him for his, you know, sometimes wacky videos. I mean, the family is much more critical of RFK Jr. Obviously, because he seems to have, like, totally gone off the deep end. You know, the whole running for president and then dropping the campaign and then endorsing Trump and somehow getting in the cabinet and all these sort of wacky policies that he's espousing from a position of power is definitely not what is typical for this family. The rift is not uniform and universal. I think obviously his family, his children support him, most of them, while pretty much everyone else in the family is on the other side.
- [48:48]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
A foot washed up, a shoe with some bones in it. They had no idea who it was.
- [48:53]
George Severis
Most everything was burned up pretty good.
- [48:55]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
From the fire that not a whole lot was salvageable.
- [48:59]
Host of America's Crime Lab
These are the coldest of cold cases. But everything is about to change. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. A small lab in Texas is cracking the code on DNA using new scientific tools. They're finding clues in evidence so tiny you might just miss it.
- [49:21]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha.
- [49:27]
Host of America's Crime Lab
On America's Crime Lab, we'll learn about victims and survivors. And you'll meet the team behind the scenes at othram, the Houston lab. The tank takes on the most hopeless cases to finally solve the unsolvable. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [49:48]
William Cohen
Have you ever looked at a piece of abstract art or music or poetry and thought that's just a bunch of pretentious nonsense? Well, that's exactly what two bored Australian soldiers set out to prove during World War II when they pulled off what was either a bold literary hoax or a grand poetic experiment, publishing over a dozen intentionally bad but highly acclaimed works of expressionist poetry under the name Ern Malley. In an incident that caused a media firestorm and even a criminal trial, the Ern Malley episode made fools of believers and critics alike and still fascinates poetry lovers to this day. We break down the truth, the lies, and the poetry in between on Hoax, a new podcast hosted by me, Lizzie Logan, and me, Dana Schwartz. Every episode, Hoax explores an audacious fraud or ruse from history, from forged artworks to the original fake news. To try and answer why we believe, listen to Hoax on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [50:48]
Podcast Host
There's stuff they don't want you to.
- [50:50]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Know Is there a conspiracy afoot to create a rationalization or the rollout of martial law?
- [50:58]
Every Monday we break down the news, make connections, and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.
- [51:06]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Crypto investor allegedly tortured captive Italian businessmen with a chainsaw.
- [51:11]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
New ChatGPT model refuses to shut down when instructed.
- [51:15]
A secret deal between members of Mexican cartels and the United States government. Government residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds.
- [51:26]
There is a video of this sphere zigzagging through the sky.
- [51:30]
Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.
- [51:40]
Bob Crawford
American history is full of wise people.
- [51:45]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Walt Whitman said something like no. 99.99% of war is diarrhea and 1% is is gory.
- [51:51]
Podcast Host
Those founding fathers were gossipy AF and they love to cut each other down.
- [51:57]
Bob Crawford
I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, the show where you send us your questions about American history and I find the answers, including the nuggets of wisdom our history has to offer.
- [52:10]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Hamilton pauses and then he says, the greatest man that ever lived was Julius Caesar. And Jefferson writes in his diary, this proves that Hamilton is for a dictator based on corruption. My favorite line was what Neil Armstrong said. It would have been harder to fake it than to do it.
- [52:28]
Bob Crawford
Listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [52:48]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Did you ever hear from Jack after your piece came out and. Or have you been in touch with him at all over the last year?
- [52:54]
George Severis
Oh, actually, he did write me and said, basically he said he. He thought it was really fair and complimentary and. But I've tried reaching out to him since, you know, for the next article, and he didn't respond. My thinking was that maybe other people wondered why he had spoken to me and maybe that wasn't the smartest thing for him to do. Although I don't know why not, but whatever. And so he wasn't. He might have been. So, like, okay, now I'm done engaging with the media again, or this guy in particular. I don't, you know. Yeah, that's just sort of speculation on my part.
- [53:31]
Podcast Host
Well, and, you know, like, very recently, he's been so vocal against the Ryan Murphy Show. Have you seen this? Do you know what I'm talking about? Ryan Murphy's doing a show about JFK Jr. And Carolyn Bessette, and Jack is frequently posting things and calling Ryan Murphy like a pervert.
- [53:52]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
He said he looks like a thumb the other day.
- [53:54]
George Severis
Okay, I've missed some of this.
- [53:56]
Podcast Host
It's been going on. And what really are their expectations for how they're represented?
- [54:04]
George Severis
Culture, massively public figures. Right. So they're going to be represented in any number of ways. Some of them flattering, some of them not. For the article I did about the sort of internecine warfare related to Bobby Jr. I talked to Larry Lemur, who wrote the Kennedy Women, and he was finishing up, or his new book about Andy Warhol was coming out, but then he was going right back to writing a new book about Jack Kennedy, the father. He found some stash of secret stash of letters or something that he was so excited to go through and then write another book about this guy. And now there's been this rash of books about Carolyn Bessette and Carolyn and John, and now there's this series or whatever, it's going to be about them. So they're, you know, massively public figures, have been, you know, their whole lives. I don't think there's anybody who can really still compare to them in terms of being sort of massively public figures. Not the Bushes, not Obama, not Biden, not Trump. I mean, you know, so, you know, I think like that, you know, once people get done, you know, digesting and hopefully, you know, getting beyond what Trump has been doing to us, I don't think anybody's going to be writing books about Donald Trump 50 years from now because, you know, the new letters emerge or, you know, something about his exotic lifestyle or whatever it is. You know, there's just not that interest in that. I mean, this family was, you know, glamorous and, you know, I mean, was there ever a more beautiful couple than John and Jackie? I mean, I don't think so.
- [56:00]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
This is something we keep sort of writing into with people of all generations. And I think now with Jack Schlossberg, it is revived in some younger people is just like this idea of the Kennedy effect. Like, when you are in a room with them or even when you watch them on television, there's just something about the charm and about the charisma that works on you even if you don't want it to. So, you know, as someone who knew JFK Jr. In person, someone who has met various members of the family, what is that like in person?
- [56:30]
George Severis
Well, with JFK Jr. It was unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. And I've met Obama and was obviously quite impressed and taken with him. But John Jr. I mean, it was. He just warped the room. He warped the behavior of other people. He was. I mean, he was just the brightest shining celebrity in any room. And I mean, just like the buzz went through the audience as soon as he walked into a room. Oh, was there? Oh, my God, is JFK Jr. S here? But, you know, obviously, you know, I was friendly with him, and we transcended all of that, of course. But, you know, I would just stand back and watch it on many occasions and just sort of be in awe of it.
- [57:28]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Specific instances or moments come to mind.
- [57:30]
George Severis
Oh, I mean, certainly there do. I mean, I remember once, I think I told this story in the book, but I was working at Lazard at Rockefeller center, and I lived on the Upper west side, and so would walk home on a nice night from Rockefeller center to my apartment on Riverside Drive. And I was walking up Broadway and got to Columbus Circle to what used to be the old Paramount building, which had a movie theater in the basement. Now it's some sort of Trump building. It's where Jean Georges is, right there at Columbus Circle. I was walking by and minding my own business, and John rode up on his bicycle and there was scaffolding around the building. They were doing one of their numerous refurbishments of the building. And he locked his bike to the scaffolding and said hello. And we started talking and reminiscing and catching up. I think, first thing I noticed that his fly was down and I told him about that. And then we ended up talking for like 20 minutes. Finally he says to me, well, you know, I really should go because I'm spacing on her name. Who is the actress who was in Splash, who's married now?
- [58:47]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Darryl Hannah.
- [58:47]
George Severis
Daryl Hannah. Daryl is, you know, waiting for me inside to go to the movies. I said, john, why in the world are you sitting here talking to me when Daryl is waiting for you down in the movie theater and you're 20 minutes late? Now you didn't need to spend time with me talking about nothing, you know, or Daryl is going to be pissed. Well, that's just the way it was with, with John. You know, he was very much like in the moment and very absent minded and lost his wallet, lost his bike, blah, blah, blah. And yet eventually he kind of, you know, he definitely got it together. I mean, to start and run and produce a magazine like George every month, I mean, that requires a lot of skills, organizational and leadership and editorial judgment. And he pulled it off.
- [59:46]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
I mean, you mentioned a lot of the similarities between JFK Jr and Jack in the piece and obviously a lot of them have come up in this conversation. There's a real parallel between George magazine and Jack's Instagram, just in the sense that each of them is like the media form of its time. It's like, of course, in the 90s what you would want to do if you wanted to be a media figure is start a sexy political magazine that sort of like, you know, Vanity Fair esque. And then of course now the cool thing to do is to do vertical short form video. A lot of the similarities are very self evident. But I'm wondering if there's anything else that you can talk about in terms of the parallels you see between Jack and his uncle.
- [60:27]
George Severis
There's obviously a physical appearance, there's similarities. I think Jack probably has more raw intelligence than John did. Not to say that John wasn't smart because he was, but he was lazy. He was intellectually lazy. I think Jack is obviously quite gifted intellectually. Jack Schlossberg, he had a much more normalized upbringing, except that he, you know, he did spend time in Japan when his mother was ambassador to Japan and in time in Australia when his mother was ambassador, ambassador of Australia. But you know, his, you know, his father wasn't president of the United States and you know, assassinated.
- [61:10]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Can I ask you one final question? Do you have any sense of what Jack's social life and social circle are like? I'm realizing, you know, we're Talking a lot about JFK Jr. And his various friendships and the people he surrounded himself with. I mean, George magazine was a very collaborative effort. And it just sort of occurred to me in this conversation, you know, all of Jack's videos are just him or just him with a member of his family. He's not. Like, he doesn't have sort of the socialite tendencies that some of the other members of his family have. And I'm wondering, what is his day to day? Like, not that you have the answer to that question, you know.
- [61:46]
George Severis
Well, I did ask him, you know, did he have a girlfriend? And, you know, he didn't want to get into his personal life, which, you know, I felt like I had to ask because everybody wanted to know. And I felt like I wasn't surprised that he didn't want to answer. You know, I think there's a lot of speculation, but I think, you know, and he's what, 32 now? Right. I was married by that time. I think people are curious. What is so. Well, I think people are curious, like, what he does. I mean, he was, you know, covering the election for Vogue. I mean, I don't know how many articles he produced there or. Or how or why he got. I mean, I guess I could figure out why he got that, but, you know, I'm not sure how qualified he was for it. But again, he's pretty smart. But, you know, okay, that's over. I don't know what he's doing now. I know he's moved back to New York. I know his sister is ill. And so that's a family concern, as one might expect. So I think they're sort of all pulling together a little bit here now.
- [62:47]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah. It's another element of the mystery at the center of this personality. He's both completely overexposed and also completely mysterious.
- [62:55]
George Severis
And I'm sure that is by design.
- [62:59]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
And it's a very Kennedy thing to be both overexposed and unknowable.
- [63:03]
George Severis
Right. And I think John Jr. Was plenty overexposed, but more knowable.
- [63:10]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Yeah.
- [63:10]
George Severis
And I think he was less mysterious, at least to me. I mean, maybe it's because I knew him and friends with him, but, yeah, you know, I think we knew who he was dating and, you know, what he was doing. Right. You know, when I got done with that article and after talking to him, people would ask me and I would say, I think he's got a very steep trajectory. I think he could do whatever he wants to do. Sort of like John Jr. At that age, he can do whatever he wants to do. And I think people will embrace it and give him a chance.
- [63:41]
Podcast Host
And that's it for this week's episode.
- [63:43]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Join us next week for the second Kennedy Fox Film of the Month. We're talking with Hunter Harris, all about Pablo Lorraine's Jackie, the 2016 film starring Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in the aftermath of JFK's assassination.
- [63:56]
Podcast Host
Right, go and re watch it or in the case of almost everyone, I tried to talk to you about it. Watch it for the first time and listen next Monday. So subscribe and follow United States of Kennedy for all things Kennedy every week.
- [64:18]
Host of America's Crime Lab
Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime on the new podcast America's Crime Lab. Every case has a story to tell and the DNA holds the truth.
- [64:31]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen, I was just like, ah, gotcha.
- [64:37]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
This technology, technology is already solving so many cases.
- [64:41]
Host of America's Crime Lab
Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [64:48]
Bob Crawford
I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions.
- [64:57]
Podcast Host
Did George Washington really cut down a cherry tree? Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair?
- [65:01]
Bob Crawford
And I find the answers. I'm so glad you asked me this question.
- [65:05]
Podcast Host
This is such a ridiculous story.
- [65:07]
Bob Crawford
You can listen to American History Hotline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [65:18]
Podcast Host
There's stuff they don't want you to know.
- [65:21]
Co-host of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
Every Monday, we break down the news, make connections and reveal the stuff they don't want you to know.
- [65:28]
A secret deal between members of Mexican cartel and the United States government. Residents are reporting sightings of exploding birds. Listen to stuff they don't want you to know on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite shows.
- [65:48]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unheard of. Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.
- [66:01]
George Severis
He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you.
- [66:07]
Co-host of United States of Kennedy
Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [66:17]
Podcast Host
This is an iHeart podcast.