On 22 November 1963, President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the murder, but, over the past 60 years, millions of people have come to believe that Oswald was just a small cog in a wider plot to murder the president.

In light of the recent announcement that President Trump has ordered the release of classified files surrounding JFK’s assassination, we’re re-releasing three episodes delving into the case. In this first episode, recorded in January 2024, Rob Attar speaks to the journalist Gerald Posner, whose landmark 1993 book Case Closed famously concluded that Oswald had indeed acted alone. Together, they dissect the evidence from the assassination and consider why conspiracy theories about it have become so widespread.

History’s Greatest Conspiracy Theories is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. For more fascinating stories from the past, head to HistoryExtra, the home of ‘History’s Greatest’ podcasts. There you can find other feeds including History’s Greatest Cities and HistoryExtra LongReads. Find out more at historyextra.com/podcast.

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This episode was hosted by Rob Attar and produced by Jack Bateman.

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