Kennedy Year in Review

Summary

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United States of Kennedy – Kennedy Year in Review (December 29, 2025)

Hosts: George Civeris & Julia Claire
Podcast: United States of Kennedy (iHeartPodcasts)
Theme: A look back at the top Kennedy-related stories—triumphs, scandals, drama, and cultural moments—of 2025, with humor, critical insight, and signature Kennedy lore.

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Episode Overview

The hosts, George Civeris and Julia Claire, kick back for a special “Kennedy Year in Review,” running through the ten biggest Kennedy stories of 2025. Rather than recapping the usual historical deep-dives, they cover headline-making news, ongoing family dramas, pop culture moments, and serious political developments. Expect a mix of humor, disbelief, and sharp analysis as they examine the continued public fascination with America’s unofficial royal family.

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Key Moments & Discussions

Setting the Scene & Kennedy Resilience

• [03:47] George and Julia joke about recording from “one of our many properties in Hyannis Port”—tongue-in-cheek, reflecting Kennedy myth and privilege.
• [04:50] They note, “What a year 2025 was for the Kennedys. One of their best, we can all agree.” (Julia)
• The hosts reflect on the never-ending Kennedy cycle: “...none of it is enough to really make one year their worst year yet.” (George, [04:55])
• “They are teflon, this family.” (Julia, [05:10])
• George notes that the current era is not a break from Kennedy tradition: “It’s just a new Mountain Dew flavor that’s been released for 2025, but the basic syrup recipe is still the same.” ([06:04])

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The Top 10 Kennedy Stories of 2025

1. RFK Jr. Confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

• [06:51] Julia: “If we were going to pick a number one, it would probably be this...RFK Jr. was confirmed as the United States Health and Human Services Secretary.”
• Recaps RFK Jr.’s “unholy alliance” with Trump after a failed independent presidential run.
• Noted for a contentious Senate hearing, viral moments, and family opposition ([08:52]–[10:48]):
  • RFK Jr. is grilled on his vaccine record, accused of contradictory statements.
  • Quote: “Mr. Kennedy...are you denying that your name is on the petition?” ([08:52], George as mock-Senator)
  • Quote: “I’ll comply with all the ethical guidelines.” (RFK Jr., [10:21])
• Confirmation passed narrowly, with notable dissent (e.g., Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor).
• Julia: “So even after all this and exposing himself as a fraud and a charlatan, noted anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. became Trump’s HHS secretary by a narrow 52–48 vote.” ([11:24])
• Family and media backlash continues; policies described as “detrimental to public health.”

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2. Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr. Affair and Media Scandal

• [17:58] George explains the unraveling Nuzzi-RFK Jr. scandal: “Olivia Nuzzi…was exposed that she was having some sort of either emotional or sexting affair with RFK Jr. while he was running for president.”
• Major consequences: Nuzzi fired from New York Magazine, moves to LA in “self-exile,” writes tell-all (American Canto), and becomes the subject of both a glowing Times profile and online mockery.
• Her ex-fiancé, journalist Ryan Lizza, publishes serialized exposé (seven parts and counting).
• George: “The only person not negatively impacted by all of this is RFK Jr. himself.” ([23:12])
• Poems penned by Bobby Jr., “explicit and gross,” resurface online for further ridicule.
• Julia: “If any of our listeners are hearing about this for the first time—boy, are you in for a world of hurt.” ([24:26])

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3. Jack Schlossberg Runs for Congress

• [25:47] Julia: JFK’s only grandson (Caroline Kennedy’s son) enters politics, running for New York’s 12th Congressional District.
• George: “He can’t decide if he is a comedian, a social media influencer, a politician, a serious politician, versus a trollish figure that’s running for office.” ([26:30])
• The campaign is off to a rocky start, with doubts about his chances amid a crowded field.

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4. Tatiana Schlossberg’s Cancer Diagnosis and Graceful Essay

• [27:27] George highlights Tatiana (Jack’s sister)’s beautifully written New Yorker essay about her terminal cancer diagnosis and Kennedy family myth.
• While critical of RFK Jr.’s policies—a personal stake as NIH funding cuts impact cancer research—Tatiana’s grace “lives up to the Kennedy mythology.”

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5. Caroline Kennedy’s Public Rebuke of RFK Jr.

• [28:47] Caroline Kennedy breaks her usual silence to deliver a damning rebuke of her cousin during his confirmation hearings.
• Memorable Quote (Caroline, [29:12]):

  “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets, because Bobby himself is a predator... Today, while he may encourage a younger generation to attend AA meetings, Bobby is addicted to attention and power. Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following, hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating…”

• The hosts note the rarity and force of Caroline’s intervention, though in the “Trump universe,” such moments often fail to break through.

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6. Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Love Story’ & Viral Production Photo Fiasco

• [36:05] George calls out photos released for Ryan Murphy’s “American Love Story: JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.”
• The internet “roundly mocked” poor wigs and styling (“looked like Zara attempted to do a Carolyn Bessette collection” – Julia, [37:20]).
• Host personal connections abound—George keeps running into people working on the show.
• Later, with new photos, “everyone does look much better.”

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7. Maria Shriver’s Memoir: Candid, Poetic, and a Little Horny

• [38:55] Maria Shriver (Eunice Kennedy’s daughter) publishes “I Am: My Reflections and Poems on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home.”
• Julia highlights its vulnerability, covering Maria’s powerful marriage to Arnold Schwarzenegger (“so horny for him”—Julia, [40:40]), career sacrifice, and breakdown after personal upheaval.
• Hilarious excerpt: Maria considers entering a convent, only to be told “Our cutoff age is 50 and you’re 55.” ([43:03])
• Book includes (questionable) poetry and tales of Kennedy women facing impossible standards.

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8. Patrick Schwarzenegger’s ‘White Lotus’ Breakout Role

• [44:21] Patrick Schwarzenegger (Maria’s son) stars in a provocative gay incest storyline on White Lotus.
• The show marks his biggest career success to date; George notes, “He got to play Parker Posey’s son. He was relatively charming in all the press interviews.” ([45:14])
• Patrick also marries model Abby Champion in 2025. “Congratulations. I’m sure they have really fascinating conversations.” (George, [45:45])

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9. Trump Rebrands the Kennedy Center Honors

• [49:21] The Kennedy Center becomes "The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts."
• Trump, now president of the Center's board, selected MAGA-friendly honorees (Kiss, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, etc.), hosted the event (usually presided over from the balcony), and changed the famous rainbow sashes to “an understated blue.” (George, [51:57])
• Julia: “It’s an amazing time to be alive. And if this were happening in a vacuum, I would be like, oh, this is what he was always meant to do—host big, frankly gay, cultural events.” ([52:58])

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10. Release of the JFK and RFK Assassination Files

• [53:50] In March, over 63,000 pages of documents about JFK’s assassination were released; the next month, 10,000 on RFK’s.
• Some relevance—unredacted Social Security numbers included by mistake. Files confirmed CIA-Kennedy tension, but “no huge revelations.”
• Julia: “If you’re looking for random people’s Social Security numbers, you can do a lot worse.” ([57:00])
• The hosts muse that assassination conspiracy fans likely found more to chew on than the general public.

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Memorable Quotes

• George ([06:04]): “It’s just a new Mountain Dew flavor that’s been released for 2025, but the basic syrup recipe is still the same.”
• Julia ([11:24]): “So even after all of this and exposing himself as a fraud and a charlatan, noted anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. became Trump’s HHS secretary...”
• Caroline Kennedy ([29:12]):

  “Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following, hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating…”

• Julia ([24:26]): “If any of our listeners are hearing about this for the first time, boy, are you in for a world of hurt.”
• George ([44:34]): “I was about to say hot son—hunky son—hunky Hunky. I don’t want to be a—it’s not a subjective opinion. I just think he has been sold as hunky.”
• Julia ([52:58]): “It’s an amazing time to be alive. And if this were happening in a vacuum, I would be like, oh, this is what he was always meant to do—host big, frankly gay, cultural events.”

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Final Thoughts

• [57:09] “What a year 2025 was. And a lot of these stories are ongoing... the Ryan Murphy show is going to be released next year, Jack Schlossberg’s election is next year, the Ryan Lizza files concerning Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. are ongoing… By that time, there will be no magazines or media or maybe, you know, American government.” (George)
• [58:15] “And dare I say, 2026 is going to be our year… And it’s going to be the Kennedys’ big [year]…” (Julia)

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Timestamps for Major Topics

| Topic | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Kennedy myth & year set-up | 03:43–06:13 | | Top 10 Kennedy stories intro | 06:13–06:46 | | 1. RFK Jr. nominated as HHS Secretary | 06:51–14:13 | | 2. Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr. saga | 17:57–25:38 | | 3. Jack Schlossberg’s Congressional run | 25:47–27:27 | | 4. Tatiana Schlossberg’s essay & diagnosis | 27:27–28:47 | | 5. Caroline Kennedy’s public rebuke | 28:47–32:35 | | 6. ‘American Love Story’ production photo “scandal” | 36:05–38:55 | | 7. Maria Shriver’s memoir | 38:55–44:21 | | 8. Patrick Schwarzenegger’s ‘White Lotus’ success | 44:21–46:00 | | 9. Trump hijacks Kennedy Center Honors | 49:21–53:44 | | 10. JFK/RFK assassination documents released | 53:50–57:04 | | Hosts reflect, look ahead | 57:09–58:31 |

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Episode Tone & Style

• Tone: Wry, irreverent, sharp, deeply informed, but always playful and relatable.
• Dynamic: The hosts swap witty banter, cultural references, and deep-dive insights, never shying away from mocking both the Kennedys’ self-mythologizing and America’s obsession with them.

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For New Listeners

This episode offers a whirlwind tour of the Kennedy family’s 2025—and, by extension, the absurd circus of American politics, pop culture, and tabloid spectacle. Whether newly introduced to Camelot or a seasoned Kennedy-watcher, you’ll be entertained and informed by the hosts’ candid, funny analysis and the ongoing saga of America’s most mythic dynasty.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Julia Claire]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[George Severis]

I'm George Severis.

[Julia Claire]

And I'm Julia Claire and this is.

[George Severis]

United States of Kennedy. And today we are doing something a little bit different. It is that amazing magical week between Christmas and New Year's. We are both just cozying up in front of our we're cozying up in in one of our many properties in Hyannis Port in front of one of our many fireplaces. And we thought it would be a fun year end exercise to go through the biggest Kennedy stories of the year in the news in America, globally, in the Trump White House.

[Julia Claire]

So often a year end exercise, more like a year end treat.

[George Severis]

That's right. Oh, I am excited to talk about a lot of this stuff. I just think so often we don't talk about the most interesting stuff because it's ongoing and we record episodes in advance and we want to make sure we get into all the histor details. And meanwhile there are people showing their ass every day. A Ryan Murphy show would be lucky to have them as inspiration. And so we thought it would be fun to just gab and go back and forth and talk a little bit about our favorite Kennedy moments of the year.

[Julia Claire]

A Kennedy year in review, if you will.

[George Severis]

It's true. A Kennedy year in review.

[Julia Claire]

What a year 2025 was for the Kennedys. One of their best, we can all agree.

[George Severis]

And it is tough competition as we've learned on this podcast. I mean the thing with the Kennedys is that things as big as public adultery, scandals, murder, tragedy, it just none of it is enough to really make one year their worst year yet.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, they are teflon, this family when it comes to these things.

[George Severis]

Yeah, it really is amazing. And I have to say I remember when we first started doing this podcast, I was always like, wow, we are in Such a new weird era of the Kennedys because of RFK Jr. And Jack Schlossberg and the various different Kennedys that are the news. And I actually think I don't feel that way anymore. I think it's all a continuation of the same kinds of cycles that have persisted since, like, the 30s.

[Julia Claire]

I completely agree. I think that this family can't be normal. And so much of their own self mythologizing really wants us to believe that they are aspirational and they've always been very together. And the truth is they haven't. And so that exactly what you said. This current iteration, this current crop of Kennedys, they're not bastardizing the legacy. They're very much keeping with the family lineage.

[George Severis]

Yeah, it's just a new Mountain Dew flavor that has been released for 2025, but the basic syrup recipe is still the same.

[Julia Claire]

I couldn't agree more.

[George Severis]

So without further ado, we're not going to go in order. We're not going to rank them, but we have 10 moments. We have a nice clean 10, and we kind of.

[Julia Claire]

Just for you.

[George Severis]

Yes. I said to Julia, I was like, you know, no one's going to notice if it's seven or if it's six. But then we started listing them, and it really was a perfect 10. And so we're going to go back and forth. We're going to talk about each of them. Some are serious, some are silly, some are pop culture, some. Some have very big implications for global politics. So, you know, we'll be laughing, we'll be crying, we'll be staring into space with a kind of blankness behind our eyes.

[Julia Claire]

We'll be calling our moms afterwards.

[George Severis]

That's right. So, Julia, do you want to kick things off?

[Julia Claire]

As George said, this is in no particular order, but, boy, if we were going to pick a number one, it would probably be this. And of course, you all already know what I'm going to say, which is that RFK Jr was confirmed in as the United States Health and Human Services Secretary.

[George Severis]

The fact that was a year ago.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, it was. This calendar year was not even a year ago.

[George Severis]

Yeah, that's what I mean. But does that seem longer ago than it actually is or shorter? It actually has just warped. I mean, as it happened during the first Trump administration. It just warps your sense of time end to end. So tell us a little bit about some of his main accomplishments.

[Julia Claire]

Let's go back to earlier this year. So, as we've discussed, RFK made a kind of unholy alliance with Donald Trump after he both dropped out of the Democratic primary and then launched a failed bid to run as an independent in the 2024 election. And from the beginning of this alliance, it was assumed that Bobby was angling for a cabinet position and he got exactly what he wanted. He was considered an extreme pick, even by Trump admin standards. Now saying that, I will say that Trump too, the cabinet picks in this administration are. The wheels are off. The wheels are fully off. And this is an extreme group. This is the group that includes, of course, Pete Hegseth and his ilk. So Bobby had a contentious hearing before the Senate Finance Committee and it was just days of viral moments between him and certain Senate Democrats like Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Warren and Maggie Hassan, really grilling him on his record, his contradictory record and the statements that he has made over the years. And we'll play some of that for.

[George Severis]

You now in 2020. You said, and I quote, you would do anything, pay anything to go back in time and not vaccinate your kids. Mr. Kennedy. All of these things cannot be true. So are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro vaccine or did you lie on all those podcasts? We have all of this on tape, by the way. In May of 2021, you petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to not only block Americans from having access to the COVID vaccine, but to prevent any future access to the life saving vaccine. Are you denying that your name is on the petition? Most experts agree today, even the people who did it back then at Covid, vaccines are inappropriate for six year old children who basically have a zero risk from COVID That's why I brought that lawsuit. I don't want, I want to emphasize that, Mr. Kennedy, there's a lot of.

[Caroline Kennedy (clip)]

Ways that you can influence those future lawsuits and pending lawsuits while you are Secretary of hhs. And I'm asking you to commit right now that you will not take a financial stake in every one of those lawsuits so that what you do as secretary will also benefit you financially down the line.

[George Severis]

I'll comply with all the ethical guidelines.

[Caroline Kennedy (clip)]

That's not the question you and I you have said.

[George Severis]

You're asking me, Senator, you're asking me not to sue vaccine pharmaceutical companies. Yeah, you are. That's exactly what you're doing. Do you agree with me that the United States should join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people as a human right?

[Public Sponsor]

Yes.

[George Severis]

No, Senator, I can't give you a yes or no answer to that question. Health care A human right. Is health care a human right in the way that free speech, the human right, I would say it's different because if with free speech doesn't cost anybody anything. But in healthcare, if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years and you get cancer, do you. You are now taking from the pool, so are you guaranteed the same?

[Julia Claire]

So even after all of this and exposing himself as a fraud and a charlatan, noted anti vaxxer, RFK Jr became Trump's HHS secretary by a narrow 52 to 48 vote. It was almost exactly split down partisan lines, with the notable exception of former GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who contracted polio at 2 years old and suffered lifelong complications from it. Also notably, the Senate GOP has two medical doctors who both voted for RFK Jr. Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and Kentucky's Rand Paul. We didn't expect much from Rand Paul. Gonna be honest.

[George Severis]

I was about to say, I don't know if I would say I'm disappointed in Rand Paul. I will say the one nice thing about the gerontocracy is that some of them had polio when they were young. And so maybe that gives them a different perspective on RK Jr's policies.

[Julia Claire]

And you know what? We gotta bring that up the next time we talk about all the olds in Congress. Well, if we get rid of them all, then who are gonna tell the firsthand polio stories?

[George Severis]

Exactly. Who's gon institutional knowledge of what it was like before we had vaccines? I'm certainly not Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, but.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, Louisiana's Bill Cassidy. He was considered the only other possible holdout to this confirmation, and he still would have been confirmed anyways. But Bill Cassidy has been very critical of Bobby since. And I just want to say. Too late, Bill. It's too late. You did it.

[George Severis]

Yeah. We do have an episode that is all about RFKJR's journey on what I would basically call sort of medical fan fiction. Kind of his own evolving views on vaccines and on health and wellness and all this stuff. I mean, it's only an introduction to the grand scheme of things. I would also recommend the big cover story and package that New York magazine did on the evolution of Maha, the Make America Healthy Again movement. There's a lot of great writing out there about RFK Jr. And about how detrimental to public health it is that he is in charge. And in fact, as we'll mention at least two times in this episode, multiple of his own cousins and family members have come out against him as well.

[Julia Claire]

And he continues to make extremely detrimental health policies every day. I think it was just yesterday that he has decided that the American Society of Pediatrics their HHS funding will be cut because they criticized him. He's a very fragile guy and I just can't believe it. Every, every day I can't believe he.

[George Severis]

Was bullied by big pediatrics.

[Julia Claire]

Well, also the thing that you just said about fan fiction, I'm like, he is something of an L. Ron Hubbard.

[George Severis]

No, it's true.

[Julia Claire]

Without the prodigious writing talent.

[George Severis]

We'll be back with more United States of Kennedy after this break.

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[George Severis]

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[Julia Claire]

And we're back with more United States of Kennedy.

[George Severis]

There's something about all these figures. It's like they're all out of a pension novel or something. You and I in our other lives are comedians and it's so difficult to satirize any of this because there's just is no right. There's no lower to go.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, exactly.

[George Severis]

So okay, that's the deal with RFK in his official capacity in the Trump White House. The second big Kennedy story of the year that we have is also related to rfk, but it is a slightly different flavor of story. So this is of course the ongoing drama with former New York Magazine political reporter Olivia nuzzy and RFK Jr. So I have a sort of debate among my various brands who work in journalism and in the media about how well known this story is, because I feel like I can't escape it. And yet so often when I talk to normal people and people who don't follow this kind of like media gossip news, they have no idea what I'm talking about. And it makes me feel crazy because there was a point in time, in the aughts and the 90s, where something like this would be on the front page of every tabloid. Everyone would know all the names involved, like it would be the biggest story. And it seems like it can't quite enter the mainstream in this strange way. So I'm gonna give everyone kind of my own very, very quick point by point narrative of what happened. So in 2024, towards the end of the election cycle, Olivia Nuzi, who was A star political reporter at New York Magazine, she covered the Trump White House since 2016. She wrote a lot of the big, splashy cover stories about both the Trump White House and other big politicians. At the time Olivia Nuzzi was fired from New York, Magaz was exposed that she was having some sort of either emotional or sexting affair with RFK Jr. While he was running for president. This is before he joined the Trump White House when he was running for president as a third party candidate. So she was fired from New York magazine. It was a huge media scandal. She basically moved to Los Angeles to escape all the attention she was getting. In her own words, she was in exile for a year in la and she was not really in the news for a while. I think she took a year off of. Of public life. Cut to earlier this fall. She first burst back onto the scene with this splashy New York Times Magazine profile, which, by the way, was written by Jacob Bernstein of Woodward and Bernstein. Think he's the son of Carl Bernstein, which is the funny journalism connection of.

[Julia Claire]

Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein.

[Public Sponsor]

Exactly.

[George Severis]

The son of Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein. So there was this big, I would say very overall, generally speaking, positive profile of her in the Times Magazine. It was accompanied by an incredibly big photo package. There were like videos of her riding her Mustang in Malibu. There were these beautiful black and white photos. There was a sort of, not to use a cliche, but there was a sort of Joan Didion esque quality that I think they were trying to accomplish with. This is someone who is a beautiful woman covering American depravity in some way.

[Julia Claire]

Didn't he say that she's like a Lana Del Rey song come to life or something? Yes, yes.

[George Severis]

Which I think is also part of her own self anthologizing. Anyway, so the point is this profile was both to announce her reentry into public life, but then also to promote her book. So it turns out that during this time she had been writing a kind of, I would call it, I haven't read it, but I would call it, from what I understand, like an experimental memoir in verse called American Canto, which is about both this year of her life, but then also larger themes about kind of America in decline. And so I think the response to the profile was that too bad. I think people were interested in the book. She's always seen, if nothing else, is like a good writer and a good reporter. So I think I personally was cautiously excited to see what would happen. Then she published an excerpt on the book on Vanity Fair, where she was also actually hired as their west coast editor. And the excerpt was roundly mocked online. It was, it's bad, it's bad. You know, people were saying the writing is bad. We have to be honest here. So that was the first sign that things were not exactly going her way. And then what happened was that her ex fiance, Ryan Lizza, who is a big former New Yorker writer, he was at cnn, he was at Politico. He is who she cheated on with RFK Jr. And then they broke off their engagement. He started publishing a serialized soap opera esque account of his own perspective on all of this that has been coming out basically like once or twice a week.

[Julia Claire]

Week.

[George Severis]

We're now on part seven that we're waiting.

[Julia Claire]

Are you serious?

[George Severis]

Yes.

[Julia Claire]

Are you reading all of it?

[George Severis]

I have read all of it. I have read up through part six and I assume part seven is coming out soon because part six did end with a cliffhanger.

[Julia Claire]

Wow. So you're like fully behind the paywall like you are. You're paying for the substack.

[George Severis]

I mean, listen, while we are asking people to support us, talk about how I'm not necessarily paying for something that is buying to paywall. But if you know, enough people, you know, if you know, these things get around. I'm not personally supporting Ryan, Liz, although I, you know, wish everyone involved the best. So basically I'm not going to go through everything that goes on in the Lizza files. But one of the big thing in terms of the Kennedy element that he accuses her of is that he accuses her allegedly of helping RFK Jr. With his campaign behind the scenes as she's reporting on him. I mean, she met him through doing a story on him. So that's obviously like the journalistic ethics angle. And all of this is that she was having some sort of affair with. With her source and the subject.

[Julia Claire]

Yes.

[George Severis]

So anyway, that's one of the most important accusations that Lizza Levy is. There's various other ones. He accused her of lying. He accused her of making up stories about him. Whatever. The series is still coming out. So we don't know how it's going to end. But I would like to end this story by saying that somehow the only person not negatively impacted by all of this is RFK Jr himself. That is the most shocking part of this is the things that RFK Jr. Is doing just in his day job in a Trump administration are so much worse than any sort of adultery scandal. He could be part of that. It just hasn't touched him at all. I mean, he hasn't made a public statement about it. He's not really even like Cheryl Hines.

[Julia Claire]

His wife went on a book tour.

[George Severis]

She went on a book tour. One of the sort of funny little tidbits about all this is that initially Olivia's book was going to be released the same day as Cheryl Hines's book, and she had to push it back a couple of weeks because of that. Wow. Oh. I should also say Olivia Nuzzi ended up parting ways with Vanity Fair. So Vanity Fair hired her to be the west coast editor. And then after some of the Lizza stuff started coming out, they ended up parting ways. I have no idea what the future looks like for her. The book, I'm sorry to say, did not do very well. It allegedly. It sold 1200 print copies in its first week, which is not good.

[Julia Claire]

So I would say that if any of our listeners are hearing about this for the first time, boy, are you in for a world of hurt. And it really is.

[George Severis]

Yeah, it's a wormhole you really can get lost in.

[Julia Claire]

But I really recommend the Tell all profile that Brian Phillips at the Ringer did about this. It's really funny, too. And it publishes some of the poems from RFK Jr that were excerpted in Ryan Lizzo's substack posts. It's really funny. You gotta read it.

[George Severis]

And thank you for bringing up the poems. I forgot about that. I believe it was in the first part of Liz's series, Word for Word. Various poems written by Bobby Jr were.

[Julia Claire]

Republished, and they are explicit and they're gross, but you gotta read it. It's really funny and sad and. Yeah, and he also talks about that, too, that it just really has not stuck to Bobby at all. Maybe because we all just think he's so insane. Anyways.

[George Severis]

I mean, it's the same thing with Trump. It's the media strategy no one was dumb enough to think of is like, just be crazy and then you can get away with anything. Yeah. You know, we could talk about this for hours, unfortunately, because we both have a sickness. But I think that's all we have to say for now.

[Julia Claire]

That's all we got for now about.

[George Severis]

The Nuzzy Kennedy Lizza love triangle. And it's very much an ongoing story. I mean, they're. More Might be a new chapter of it by the time this comes out. So. All right, Julia, what's next?

[Julia Claire]

Okay, so number three is another light one. JFK's only living grandson, Jack Schlossberg, the son of Caroline Kennedy, announced his bid for New York's 12th congressional district. He is running to replace the seat that is going to be vacated by Jerry Nadler. He is yet another Kennedy who's just throwing his hat into the political ring. We did a whole episode on this, a few episodes back, and it was really fun. I recommend that one a lot. We talked all about Jack Schlossberg, the public figure and now the political candidate, and the kind of weird identity crisis he seems to be having.

[George Severis]

Yeah, he can't decide if he is a comedian, a social media influencer, a politician, a serious politician, versus a trollish figure that's running for office. I gotta say, you know, know, I'm no expert here. I don't think this campaign is going to be successful. Yeah, it's a crowded field and there are a lot of, like, heavy hitters, both in terms of older, serious people that were mentored by Jerry Nadler and people who have worked in New York government for a while, and also interesting younger upstarts and people that are buzzy and catering to the youth vote. So there's not really an opening for him. I feel we were talking about this in the episode. Like, he isn't even the hottest, youngest candidate. Like, he could, at least in a different world, he could be like, oh, I'm the one that's not musty and old. And it's like, no, Actually, the cool, gay Parkland teen is also running and is 23.

[Julia Claire]

So, Jack, we wish you the best.

[George Severis]

Yes. So on a more serious note, the fourth moment we have is, and I'll talk about this only for a little bit, because it's really a very sad story and you can read about it more in the New Yorker. But Jack's sister Tatiana wrote this very lovely essay in the New Yorker a couple months ago about being diagnosed with terminal cancer and being told that she had one year to live. It is really beautifully written. And in the scheme of all this crazy stuff and all these tabloid stories and RFK's wreckage in the Trump administration and Jack Schlossberg posting crazy shirtless videos of himself, it kind of lives up to the Kennedy mythology of being these serious, patriotic people that have grace and are articulate and are able to.

[Julia Claire]

American Royals.

[George Severis]

Yes, it's like the American Royals thing. So it's beautifully written on a sentence level. She's clearly someone who has given a lot of thought to this. And then also it should be said she does publicly condemn RFK Jr. S policies, including reducing NIH funding, which affects cancer research. So it's clearly like a personal thing for her and also including the CDC directives on vaccine misinformation. So that is available on the New Yorker website. And that was a rare moment of grace during all of this kind of crazy research that we had to do for this episode. So that's moment number four.

[Julia Claire]

So continuing with more kind of criticisms of RFK Jr. From his family, number five is that Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of JFK, made a very rare public statement to rebuke RFK Jr. During his confirmation hearings. And we will play a clip from that now.

[Caroline Kennedy (clip)]

I've known Bobby my whole life. We grew up together. It's no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets, because Bobby himself is a predator. He's always been charismatic, able to attract others through the strength of his personality, his willingness to take risks and break the rules. I watch his younger brothers and cousins follow him down the path of drug addiction. His basement, his garage, his dorm room were always the center of the action where drugs were available. And he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks. It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence. That was a long time ago, and people can change. Through his own strength and the many second chances he was given by people who felt sorry for the boy who lost his father, Bobby was able to pull himself out of illness and disease. I admire the discipline that took and the continuing commitment it requires. But siblings and cousins who Bobby encouraged down the path of substance abuse suffered addiction, illness, and death. While Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life. Today, while he may encourage a younger generation to attend AA meetings, Bobby is addicted to attention and power. Bobby preys on the desperation of parents of sick children, vaccinating his own kids while building a following, hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating even before he fills this job. His constant denigration of our healthcare system and the conspiratorial half truths he's told about vaccines, including in connection with Samoa's deadly 2019 outbreak of measles, have cost lives.

[Julia Claire]

This is just really notable because Caroline Kennedy has really sidestepped public view for many decades now. She has not been really interested in courting public attention. She's a very private person. So the fact that she decided to come out and make this extremely public statement and send a letter to Congress really says a lot. Notably, she calls him a predator. She calls him addicted to attention and power. And she characterizes him as someone who preys on the desperation of parents of autistic children. Obviously this didn't have the effect that everyone wanted, but it is powerful nonetheless and it will be like on the public record forever.

[George Severis]

Mm. And it's interesting. This kind of thing in a different world would have an impact because it is meaningful that someone who generally doesn't make these kinds of public statements did.

[Julia Claire]

Right.

[George Severis]

But in the Trump universe, all it does is just add to this constant invective and constant negativity. It almost has the opposite intended effect. To me, it's very powerful. But to the average person it's like, oh well, I guess another person's yelling about politics. It really just doesn't. When everything is always at 100, 100. It doesn't have quite the same amount of power.

[Julia Claire]

Right.

[George Severis]

In the same way that, by the way, Tatiana's essay in a different World would be such a moment that could bring about change or something that this Kennedy family member is being so vulnerable. You know, the people that are likely to agree with it, agree with it and everyone else moves on.

[Julia Claire]

And I'm sure that the way that the Trump world, and especially the Maha world spun, this was just like another member of the establishment is coming out against rfk and now he, he is the establishment and as a Kennedy, he.

[George Severis]

Was before as well. We have to be honest.

[Julia Claire]

We're going to take a short break. Stay with us.

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[Julia Claire]

And we're back with more United States of Kennedy.

[George Severis]

So for something a little more light, Moment number six I really feel like I'm an entertainment news host. Post counting down these moments. Moment number six this was a pet favorite of mine. So this story was a fun pop culture story. It was very viral on social media. So Ryan Murphy is working on an upcoming series called American Love Story that is about JFK Jr. And Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. We've done episodes on both of them in the archives and they released photos during the production specifically of of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bissette. So the JFK Jr photos I think didn't make a huge splash and I actually think the guy that they cast actually does look like Junior, but they released photos of the actress Sarah Pidgeon, who's actually a really great actress. I've seen her on stage in Saraphonic in New York. She plays Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. And the hair and the styling just were not correct. And it was just all the fashion enthusiasts, all the Carolyn enthusiasts across the Internet came out and roundly mocked these photos. I mean, the hair was too blonde. It was not chunky enough. The wig was not sitting on her head correctly. She was. I think in one of the photos, she was wearing Converse, which is just not how you imagine Carolyn.

[Julia Claire]

The clothes were. They looked cheap. I think what everyone kept saying was it looked like Zara attempted to do a Carolyn Bessette collection.

[George Severis]

Which is interesting because say what you want about Ryan Murphy, but the last few shows with his. I've seen, seen the budget, and specifically the clothing budget is off the charts. I mean, the number of structured blazers that Niecy Nash wears and all spare is.

[Julia Claire]

And the wigs, really? And the budget for wigs.

[George Severis]

Yes. So to their credit, it has been fixed. Like, yeah, There have now been new photos released. I've seen videos that people just take on their phones because it's filming in New York and everyone does look much better. And it's funny. This really makes me think that there's some sort of Kennedy, if not curse, then something in the ether that's connecting me to this family, because I keep coincidentally meeting people working on this show. I'm not kidding. The wife of a friend of my husband's who is a writer that used to write in magazines, was in the writer's room of this show, and we just had dinner and she mentioned it. Then my other friend, who lives in la, who so far I've only known him as a comedy writer, was also in the room. Then this girl that goes to my gym, turns out is an actress and is in the show. I go to her Christmas party. I meet Sarah Pigeon, who plays Carolyn in the show. It's crazy. I've never had so many coincidences in my life. So I have to say, if any of them are listening, I personally am really rooting for the show. I think it could be really fun. Sarah Pidgeon is a really great actress.

[Julia Claire]

I'm really excited for the show. And by the way, if anyone connected to the show is listening, come on the show. We'd love to have you.

[George Severis]

So that's what's going on over there. But, yes, the controversy around the photos was a nice, fun week on the Internet.

[Julia Claire]

Okay. Earlier this year in the spring, Maria Shriver won of the children of. Yes, Eunice Kennedy released her memoir. She was also very famously married to Arnold Schwarzenegger and was first lady of California when he was governor.

[George Severis]

And she's the mother of Patrick Schwarzenegger, who we'll get to later.

[Julia Claire]

So earlier this year, she released her memoir, which is her second memoir called I Am My Reflections and poems on heartbreak, healing, and finding your way home.

[George Severis]

You know, this family loves poetry.

[Julia Claire]

I know.

[George Severis]

All right, so tell us all about Maria Shriver's memoir.

[Julia Claire]

Okay. Okay, so I just want to say, full disclosure, I did not read it, but I have read many excerpts of it now, and I have read several of the poems. So it's a very candid memoir. I mean, as candid as any of the Kennedys will ever be, I think. And Maria had initially written her first memoir, I think, in the early 2000s, in a very sort of lean in way, like, here's how I became a successful woman. This one is much more personal. It talks about her earliest memories on the JFK campaign trail with her mother, Eunice, and talks about her family dynamics and the cultural competition within the family and how even after her mother's two brothers were violently murdered, Eunice never spoke to Maria nor her siblings about how she felt or anything like that. She talks about meeting Arnold and how no one in the family understood their connection. And she describes it as very carnal. And she's just so horny for him.

[George Severis]

Amazing.

[Julia Claire]

And that is their connection. He's a Republican and he is Austrian and he lives in a one bedroom apartment and he's a bodybuilder. And nobody gets it. But she's like, you don't have to get it because I'm so horny for him.

[George Severis]

It's amazing to be like, yeah, I'm attracted to this bodybuilder. No one gets it. It's like, I think I get it.

[Julia Claire]

And she talks about her early desire to become a news anchor and her career working her way up at CBS News and then NBC News. She says that she was told when she initially wanted to become a newscaster, she was told to lose a lot of weight, which I don't know why it really shocked me. Maybe because I think this is not a person who have to lose weight, but society's terrible to women, even Kennedy women.

[George Severis]

In fact, especially Kennedy women.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, absolutely. And then basically, when Arnold announced that he was running for governor, NBC News asked for her resignation. And I think she kind of hadn't really anticipated that, but she did have to give up her career to become first lady of California. And then she talks about her life really falling apart all in one year. Her time as first lady of California came to an end. This was in the early 2000s. Her marriage of 25 years ended because it was discovered that Arnold had fathered a child with one of their longtime domestic staff. And her parents, Eunice and Sergeant Shriver, died very close to one another. She completely breaks down, as anyone would. I think that is just an unimaginable string of events to happen to anyone, let alone someone who has been under lifelong public scrutiny. But I just wanted to read this one, one excerpt from the book that I thought was kind of funny about what she did in the immediate aftermath. So here it is. I even went across the country to a cloistered convent. At the end of my stay there, Mother Dolores took me aside and in what once again felt like a scene right out of the Sound of Music, said to me, maria, I understand that you like it here very much, but if you're thinking you can come and live here with us, let me tell you, you can't. Our Cutoff Age is 50 and you're 55.

[George Severis]

Oh, no.

[Julia Claire]

She said, I think what you're really looking for, my child, is permission to leave your marriage to be Maria. She hugged me and then we both wept. And then there's poetry and the poems. I'm sorry. The poems are a lot.

[George Severis]

Did they at the convent? Did they afterwards sing in Korea?

[Julia Claire]

They must have. And I can only assume. But, yeah, the poems are a lot. And she said that she was hesitant about sharing the poems, but she read them to her friends, and her friends said, maria, you have to share these poems with the world.

[George Severis]

The thing with someone like Maria Shriver is, you know, her gal pals are like, you have to share your poems. That is the most supportive group of ladies you can ever imagine.

[Julia Claire]

I'm imagining it's the Nancy Myers classic. It's Complicated.

[George Severis]

Exactly. It's Rita Wilson.

[Julia Claire]

Rita Wilson.

[Caroline Kennedy (clip)]

Wow.

[George Severis]

Well, you know what? Good for her, in the grand scheme of things. Maria Shriver, you know, pretty good Kennedy.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, she's a pretty good one. I did learn, via her Wikipedia page while I was researching this, that she became an Independent. She left the Democratic party officially in 2018, which is a weird year to do that.

[George Severis]

Funny time. Funny time to do that.

[Julia Claire]

Funny time to do that. But love and light to you, Maria Shriver.

[George Severis]

Yes. And now we are moving on from Maria Shriver to Maria Shriver's. I was about to say hot sun, hunky son, hunky Hunky. Yeah. I don't want to be a. It's not a subjective opinion. I just think he has been sold as hunky.

[Julia Claire]

I mean, his dad was Mr. Universe.

[George Severis]

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So basically moment number eight in our big countdown is Patrick Schwarzenegger's big break in the White Lotus. So Patrick Schwarzenegger has been in a bunch of other stuff. He's been a working actor for a while. He actually at some point dated Miley Cyrus. He's been kind of a, you know, sorry to say, B list actor for a while. But the White Lotus was a huge role for him. He was part of the most provocative storyline in the whole season. And I'm sorry to spoil for anyone who hasn't watched, but he was involved in a gay incest storyline with his brother in the show who is also actually a Nepo baby. It's Emily Mortimer son.

[Julia Claire]

Wow. So really all incest on incest?

[George Severis]

Incest on incest, yes. So you know, he got to do those scenes. It has to be said, he was pretty good in the show. I thought he really like held his own among all these other very good actors. He got to play Parker Posey's son. He was relatively charming in all the press interviews. So I think overall a very good moment in Patrick's career. And speaking of Patrick, I learned while researching this got married in 2025 to a model named Abby Champion.

[Julia Claire]

So congratulations.

[George Severis]

I'm sure they have really fascinating conversations. We'll be back with more United States of Kennedy after this break.

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[George Severis]

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[Julia Claire]

And we're back with more United States of Kennedy.

[George Severis]

So I think that's it in terms of the Shriver clan. And then our final two moments are a little more front page New York Times News.

[Julia Claire]

Parentheses, derogatory parentheses.

[George Severis]

Very derogatory, yes. So this next one, this is kind of an ongoing story in some ways, as I'll explain in a bit. So this is basically the overarching story of Trump's relationship with the Kennedy Center. So initially we were gonna make this moment Trump host hosts Kennedy Center Honors for the first time. And as we were working on this episode, it was also announced that he just renamed the Kennedy center the Trump Kennedy Center. So that is also part of this. In fact, just a day before this recording, the new facade was unveiled, and the name is now the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial center for the Performing Arts, which really rolls off the tongue.

[Julia Claire]

So it really rolls off the tongue. And I have to say, I hate to make a. The office reference, but it's very much like you miss 100% of the shots. You don't take Wayne Gretzky, Michael Scott.

[George Severis]

Yes, exactly. Oh, my God. I mean, it also reminds me of one of my favorite books and movies is Wild by Cheryl Strayed, as you know. And when she's on the path, she writes a quote, and it'll be the quote, and then it'll say Emily Dickinson and Cheryl Strayed. So she's kind of going office mode there as well. So, basically, very quickly. Trump took over as president of the board for the Kennedy center earlier this year, claiming it was deteriorating. He was heavily involved in selecting this year's nominees, which included Sylvester Stallone, the band Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, who I found out is now maga. I did not know George Strait, and Michael Crawford, who is a funny one, because he originated the lead role in Phantom of the Opera. And of course, course, I hate to say it, one of Trump's most charming qualities is his love of Broadway.

[Julia Claire]

Oh, my God. He loves it.

[George Severis]

He loves Phantom of the Opera. He loves Cats. He just loves, like, big, big, big touristy Broadway productions. So there is something kind of sweet about Trump awarding Michael Crawford. This is something I think we haven't quite digested yet, because the full video of the ceremony has not been released yet. It's actually going to air on CBS probably, honestly, by the time this comes out, but we haven't seen it yet. Yet. But he hosted it. So usually presidents take a back seat at the ceremony and are kind of sitting.

[Julia Claire]

They just sit. They sit in the balcony and they clap.

[George Severis]

Yes, they sit in the balcony and they clap. And it's a big moment because the people being honored are close to them, and they're wearing those rainbow sort of neck sashes, whatever they're called.

[Julia Claire]

Do you think that they're gonna be camo now?

[George Severis]

In fact, they're gonna be blue?

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[Julia Claire]

Are you serious?

[George Severis]

Yes, I read this. I read this story, I think, on NPR that said that he's changing them from rainbow to an understated blue, which is the first time Trump has made.

[Julia Claire]

Just not a man known for his subtlety.

[George Severis]

Obviously, the rainbow has some associations with, you know, gay pride, but if it wasn't for that. It's exactly the kind of color palette Trump would choose. I would say it would be either rainbow or fully gold.

[Julia Claire]

Gold, yeah, absolutely.

[George Severis]

So I was very intrigued by that. And blue is interesting because he's not going for red, which is, of course, his famous color. It's like MAGA red. But yes. So he hosted it himself. He's on the red carpet. Could not be more happy. There's some red carpet interview where they're like, oh, how did you prepare? And he's like, I don't know, maybe I didn't prepare. May. It'll be exciting to be loose. So Trump is now president of the board at the Kennedy Center. The center itself is renamed the Trump Kennedy Center. And he just hosted by himself as president the show and honored the band Kiss and Sylvester Stallone. So it is an amazing time to be an American.

[Julia Claire]

It's an amazing time to be alive. And if this were happening in a vacuum, I would be like, oh, this is what he was always meant to do is to host these big, frankly gay cultural events.

[George Severis]

Yes, it's amazing. It really is. Again, like, he should host the Tonys. I know. I mean, that used to be his place in culture. He was a campy, draggy figure that would just make cameos. And, you know, he would be so.

[Julia Claire]

Good as a panelist on Drag Race. I do think that. Yeah, what's that?

[George Severis]

Old fashioned, you know, sort of tic tac Celebrities.

[Julia Claire]

Hollywood Squares.

[George Severis]

Hollywood Squares. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. He would be amazing on Hollywood Squares.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Anyway, unfortunately, he's President Trump.

[Julia Claire]

Call us. We've got ideas for you.

[George Severis]

All right, so this has led us to the final, and I definitely would say, buzziest story of the year. So, Julia, take it away.

[Julia Claire]

Yeah, this was a buzzy one, but it also, it did seem to kind of come and go very quickly. And what I'm talking about is that the JFK and RFK assassination files were released this year. And In March, over 63,000 pages of documents were released related to the JFK assassination. This was one of the biggest declassification projects in recent times, especially related to the assassination of a president. It kind of immediately came under criticism because certain declassification protocols were not followed. Like, for example, they didn't redact Social Security numbers, which feels like a whoopsie daisy, probably should have done that. And basically, many of these files, again, had never been released, and they had never even been digitized. They had just been sitting in government storage for over half a century. The JFK Files detail a lot of tension between the CIA and the Kennedy administration, which we allude to in our Bay of Pigs episode. A lot of that information came out this year, but it was already loosely known by historians. But this really put it in black and white, the tension there between the administration and the CIA. And then the following month, 10,000 pages of documents were released related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Again, nothing like that had ever been released related to the RFK assassination. Both of these big declassification projects were projects of the Trump administration who say that they want increased transparency. And the RFK files include scans of handwritten notes from RFK's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, saying that Bobby had to, quote, be disposed of like his brother. It also includes interviews with people in Sirhan Sirhan's life, including a neighbor who claimed that he had threatened to kill Bobby when they were talking about who they were going to vote for. Classic. That honestly feels relevant to today. And, yeah, I would say that there were not any huge revelations from.

[George Severis]

I know it's funny. I called it buzzy, and then it was one of those things that landed with a thud. I'm sure in the conspiracy community, there are things we're not aware of that, you know, flames, I'm sure, were fanned in some way.

[Caroline Kennedy (clip)]

Right.

[Julia Claire]

So if you're a member of the conspiracy theory community, please write in the show. We want to hear from you, and we know you have a lot to say.

[George Severis]

And guess what? We do occasionally from you, and we really appreciate it. Yes, I think this is one of those things that I don't think the official narrative is really changing in any way. But it is, of course, especially the JFK assassination. But, you know, both of them, they are. There are some central mysteries that people are always going to care about. I'm sure there's other stuff that is yet to be declassified. I'm sure there are things we don't know. If I were to guess, I would guess that it's not the most salacious place your mind would go, but who knows?

[Julia Claire]

But if you're looking for random people's Social Security numbers, you can do a lot worse.

[George Severis]

Great place. Yeah. Well, I think those are our top 10 Kennedy moments.

[Julia Claire]

What a year 2025 was.

[George Severis]

Yes. What a year 2025 was. And a lot of these stories are ongoing. I mean, the Ryan Murphy show is going to be released next year. Jack Schlossberg's election is next year. The Ryan Lizza files concerning Olivia Nezzi and RFK Jr are ongoing. I assume there's going to be at least 27, seven parts. So in about 2028, we'll have the full story of what happened. By that time, there will be no magazines or media or maybe, you know, American government.

[Julia Claire]

And maybe by that time, Ryan Murphy will be making the OLIVIA Nazi.

[George Severis]

Yes. RFK Jr. Story, American Love Story, Olivia and RFK Jr. The ratings will be horrible because no one will know what it's about. But you know what? In my household, we'll be tuning in every Friday. So thank you for joining us this year on United States of Kennedy. It has been so much fun. We have so much more to talk about right after this. We have an episode that I'm very excited about and I think Julia, especially you are very excited about.

[Julia Claire]

That's right. And we're not going to tell you what it is and we're not going.

[George Severis]

To tell you what it is, but it's a real doozy and we have a lot of great guests coming up. I think 2026 will be a lot of fun.

[Julia Claire]

And dare I say 2026 is going to be our year.

[George Severis]

It's going to be. It's going to be our year. It's going to be our year and it's going to be the Kennedys big. So thank you for listening and you can follow subscribe United States of Kennedy for all things Kennedy every week.

[Julia Claire]

We love you. Happy New Year. United States of Kennedy is hosted by me, Julia, Claire and George Taveras.

[George Severis]

Original music by Joshua Topolsky.

[Julia Claire]

Editing by Graham Gibson.

[George Severis]

Mixing and mastering by Doug Boehm.

[Julia Claire]

Research by Dave Ruse and Austin Thompson.

[George Severis]

Our producer is Carmen Laurent.

[Julia Claire]

Our executive producer is Jenna Cagle.

[George Severis]

Created by Lyra Smith.

[Julia Claire]

United States of Kennedy is a production of I Heart Podcasts.

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[Julia Claire]

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[Julia Claire]

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