[This episode was originally published in June 2025.]

Eighty years ago, a young John F. Kennedy took a summer job as a journalist for Hearst newspapers, filing dispatches in the final days of World War II. Even the most seasoned JFK scholars often overlook this chapter, missing the influence those months had on the future president. 

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"JFK's Forgotten Summer" was the top performing Very Special Episodes episode of 2025. Tragically, it took on more significance earlier this month with the death of Rob Reiner.

Rob — who, with Soledad O'Brien, hosted Who Killed JFK?, one of the most successful podcasts of 2023 — kindly shared with us his knowledge and passion about the Kennedy family and appears in this episode. He was under no obligation to do this. He just wanted to help. It was an honor to work with him. We still cannot believe he and Michele are gone. 

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Listen to Who Killed JFK? from Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien wherever you get your podcasts. 

Check out Fred Logevall's excellent book: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century.

Today's episode was written by Joe Pompeo. And thanks to our JFK voice actor, Tom Antonellis, for nailing another role. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(If you loved Rob Reiner + Soledad O'Brien's WHO KILLED JFK?, perhaps you'll enjoy this story from JFK's early years. Thanks for Rob Reiner for joining the Very Special Episodes podcast to help us tell it.)

Eighty years ago this summer, a young John F. Kennedy took a job as a journalist for Hearst newspapers, filing dispatches in the final days of World War II. His columns capture the mood of a changing world. In today's Very Special Episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Fred Logevall and legendary director Rob Reiner join us to explore the forgotten summer that helped shape Kennedy's worldview. 

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For more Very Special Episodes, follow the show wherever you get your podcasts. 

Go see Spinal Tap II: The End Continues in theaters this September!

Check out Fred Logevall's excellent book: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century.

Today's episode was written by Joe Pompeo. Very Special Episodes is hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English. Produced and edited by Josh Fisher, Jonathan Washington, and Mary Dooe. And thanks to our JFK voice actor, Tom Antonellis, for nailing another role. 

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Soledad O’Brien shares the first episode of her true crime podcast MURDER ON THE TOWPATH – you won’t want to miss this troubling cold case involving one of JFK’s mistresses. It was a baffling mystery. A socialite and artist with powerful connections was murdered on her daily walk in a posh DC neighborhood. Nobody knew what to make of Mary Pinchot Meyer’s murder. A Black man named Raymond Crump Jr. soon became the suspect – and in 1964, that was bound to capture everyone’s attention. But was he Mary’s killer or a scapegoat?  

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Secret Service Agent Paul Landis, who was riding in the car behind the President when he was murdered, joins us to talk about his memories of that fateful day. After years of silence, Paul opens up about the assassination, sharing details that may forever change our understanding of what happened on November 22nd, 1963.

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An extended discussion with Jefferson Morley about the thousands of documents the US Government is still keeping hidden from the public. We discuss why these documents are still being protected 60 years later, what information may be in these documents, and what hope we have, if any, of the authorities releasing these materials.

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Finally, who killed JFK? Rob and Dick walk Soledad through their theory of who killed President John F. Kennedy. They name the shooters, their locations, and who was behind the tragic, world-changing event.

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Who was Jack Ruby? And why did this nightclub owner and low-level mobster murder Lee Harvey Oswald? We look at the strange treatment of Oswald while in custody and the reactions to Kennedy’s death from leaders around the world.

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We revisit November 22nd, 1963, through the eyes of Lee Harvey Oswald. Through expert testimony and first-hand witnesses, we follow Oswald, starting with his strange behavior the evening prior to the shooting and ending with his famous declaration – “I’m just a patsy.”

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Who had the motive? We explore the three groups who had both motive and means to assassinate Kennedy: the Mafia, the Cuban Exiles, and the intelligence community. And we uncover the unexpected ways they were working together. 

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Who is Richard Case Nagell, and why did he mysteriously rob a bank two months before President Kennedy was assassinated? We’ll continue to follow Oswald’s movements, including how he got a job in a building that overlooked the President’s motorcade route. We’ll discuss a CIA plan that might be the smoking gun. The plan that exposes the conspiracy: Operation Northwoods.

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