JFK35 - A podcast by the JFK Library Foundation
89 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 45 ratingsJohn F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, inspired a generation that transformed America. But not everyone knows the stories behind the man - his experiences as a young serviceman in World War II, how he wrote some of his most memorable speeches, what sparked him to set the country on a path to the moon. Join Matt Porter and Jamie Richardson of the JFK Library Foundation as they dig into the archives at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and interview their colleagues to get a behind-the-scenes look at JFK’s life, legacy, and the era he lived in.
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Episodes
A Conversation with U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan
April 18, 2024 12:21 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBIn 1934, the National Archives and Records Administration was created to oversee the protection and dissemination of governmental and historic records of the United States. In this episode, we speak with the Dr. Colleen Shogan, the 11th Archivist of the United States.
Hemingway's Letters
April 11, 2024 08:30 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MBThe Hemingway Letters Project seeks to publish a comprehensive edition of the writer Ernest Hemingway’s letters. In this episode, we talk with two of the project's editors, Verna Kale and Sandra Spanier, in advance of the publication of volume 6 of the series. We talk about the detective work they’ve done and how Hemingway’s letters give a deeper understanding of the man.
Being the President
March 21, 2024 08:30 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBWhat did President Kennedy think of the presidency himself? And what makes a president? In this episode, we hear from JFK himself and talk to historian Alexis Coe about her project at New America on the presidency, as well as her work as an historian.
Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March
February 29, 2024 09:30 - 1 hour - 91.6 MBOn August 28, 1963, 250,000 people of different races, religions, and economic backgrounds convened on the nation’s capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The man behind organizing the event – Bayard Rustin – is profiled in a new Oscar-nominated film “Rustin.” In this episode, we speak with producers of the film, Tonia Davis and Bruce Cohen, and historian Dr. Clayborne Carson of Stanford University.
Let Us Begin: A Legacy Continued
November 30, 2023 09:30 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBIn February 1963, President Kennedy said, “A man may die, but an idea lives on.” In this episode, we look at the legacy JFK left behind and how some are continuing the spirit of his work. We speak with NASA astronaut Victor Glover who represents the new generation of space explorers and is set to be the first black man to travel to the Moon. We also have a conversation with JFK Presidential Library Director Alan Price and JFK Library Foundation Executive Director Rachel Flor about their work...
Let Us Begin: The Torch Has Been Passed
November 21, 2023 09:30 - 42 minutes - 58.1 MBPresident Kennedy’s trip to Texas was meant to rally support for his programs and policies and lay groundwork for the 1964 election. But instead, something happened that changed the course of history: the president was assassinated. The world seemed to stop as John F. Kennedy’s state funeral was arranged. This episode brings you into the White House in the aftermath of the assassination and historian Fredrik Logevall looks at the trip to Texas and how the country - and the world - mourned th...
Let Us Begin: A New Generation of Leadership
November 16, 2023 09:30 - 51 minutes - 70.9 MBSixty years after President Kennedy’s administration, fewer than 1 in 5 people in the United States have a living memory of the President. But his legacy continues to live on in those generations that have come after him. In this episode, we speak with the next generation of leaders who will help carry the torch left by President Kennedy. This episode features interviews with Emily Cherniak, founder and executive director of New Politics, and two returning Peace Corps volunteers, Keevon Bate...
Let Us Begin: The Peacemakers
November 09, 2023 09:30 - 38 minutes - 52.8 MBIn 1963, President Kennedy came home to Ireland, the land of his ancestors. During that visit, he called upon the Irish to take their place among the world’s peacemakers. In the decades that followed, Ireland would experience first hand the difficulty of peacemaking. Sixty years after Kennedy’s visit, the country would live up to Kennedy’s challenge as a global peacemaker. In this episode, Ireland Tánaiste Micheál Martin T.D. and Good Friday Agreement negotiator and JFK Profile in Courage ho...
Let Us Begin: A Homecoming
November 02, 2023 08:30 - 21 minutes - 29.7 MBOn the heels of his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, JFK traveled northward to Ireland, where his great-grandparents emigrated from in the 19th century. The first Irish Catholic president, JFK’s visit was both meaningful for him personally and a rousing and significant event for the people of Ireland. We’ll hear about the impact of his trip and speak with Dr. Catherine Healy, Historian-in-Residence at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, about JFK’s travels in the country.
Let Us Begin: The Hour of Maximum Danger
October 26, 2023 08:30 - 48 minutes - 67 MBIn the summer of 1963, JFK arrived in a divided Germany with the recent construction of the new Berlin Wall nearly two years earlier. President John F. Kennedy spent his entire administration in a “twilight struggle” with the Soviet Union including averting possible total war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Historian Tim Naftali takes us from JFK’s Presidential Campaign to his final foreign trip to West Berlin. The Atlantic staff writer and Cold War expert Tom Nichols explains how J...
Let Us Begin: Peace for All Time
October 19, 2023 08:30 - 49 minutes - 68 MBIn 1963, President Kennedy gave a speech at American University outlining “a strategy of peace” on how the two superpowers, the U.S. and Soviet Union, could back off the precipice of total nuclear annihilation. In this episode, we look back at the speech with historian Fredrik Logevall and people who were there on campus. We also interview former Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz about JFK’s legacy when it comes to nuclear arms and national security. We also look at JFK’s other legacy of ...
Let Us Begin: A Moral Issue
October 12, 2023 08:30 - 1 hour - 86.3 MBBlack Americans, particularly in the South, were denied their right to vote, with poll taxes, voter ID laws, literacy tests, intimidation, and mob violence. By 1963, the Kennedy administration was prepared to act to expand the access to the vote, though Kennedy himself would not live to see the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. This episode looks at where voting rights were in 1963, and at how the fight continues today as some states expand the franchise and others see...
Let Us Begin: President Kennedy's White House 60 Years Later
October 06, 2023 08:30 - 4 minutes - 5.78 MBIn 1963, President Kennedy would make decisions that would reflect on his lasting legacy. It would also be a year that he would never complete after becoming the fourth sitting U.S. President to be assassinated on November 22, 1963. In this special series, we will look at some of the President’s key trips and policy decisions from 1963 and how the legacy of those decisions continue to live on today.
The City on a Hill
May 18, 2023 08:30 - 39 minutes - 54.3 MBSince the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established, Boston has been described as a “city on a hill” or a city to be looked to as an example for others. President Kennedy drew from the same material when he left for Washington D.C. In this episode, we look back at some of Boston's notable mayors who left their mark on the original “city on a hill” including President Kennedy's grandfather, John Fitzgerald. We also look ahead to Boston’s future under new mayor Michelle Wu.
The Television Presidency
April 20, 2023 08:30 - 34 minutes - 47.4 MBPresident John F. Kennedy was the first president to take live televised questions from the press on a regular basis and he would provide the model for what would become the modern television presidency. In this episode, we’ll take a look at Kennedy's relationship with the media at news conferences and have a conversation with members of today’s White House press corps about how different presidents have approached their relationships with the press once in office.
Protecting the Equal Pay Act of 1963
March 31, 2023 08:30 - 22 minutes - 30.4 MBIt has been 60 years since President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. In this episode, we’ll hear how far the United States has come since Kennedy signed the landmark legislation, and just how far it still has to go in guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.
Making the Equal Pay Act of 1963
March 30, 2023 08:30 - 30 minutes - 41.6 MBSixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. It was one of the first federal anti-discrimination laws that dealt with wage discrimination on the basis of sex. While Kennedy was the man who signed the bill into law, it was only because of a women-led movement that the act became a reality.
Archiving Through the Pandemic
March 09, 2023 09:45 - 24 minutes - 33.5 MBThe JFK Library plays an important role as a place where original documents, photographs, audio, film, and other artifacts from John F. Kennedy's presidency are preserved. While the pandemic interrupted some of the Library's normal activities, archivists used the time to reduce a large digital backlog of materials waiting to be published online. Archivists Stacey Chandler and Abbey Malangone provide an update from the archives it returns to post-pandemic operations.
Bringing History Alive
February 23, 2023 09:15 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBPresidents’ Day is a day to celebrate past presidents and American history. In this episode, we speak with two “living history interpreters” who have spent years portraying historical figures to the public. Audrey Stuck-Girard portrays Abigail Adams and other 18th century figures and Bill Barker portrays President Thomas Jefferson.
Silent Spring Revolution with Douglas Brinkley
February 09, 2023 09:30 - 56 minutes - 77.8 MBPresident Kennedy faced several major environmental threats during his presidency from the widespread use of dangerous chemicals in farming to private developers buying up pristine natural habitats. Award-winning author Douglas Brinkley discusses his new book, Silent Spring Revolution, about the woman who led the modern environmental movement influencing the Kennedy administration and others that came after. This episode also revisits a conversation with Cape Cod National Seashore superinten...
Atomic Gambit: The Challenges Ahead
November 03, 2022 08:15 - 46 minutes - 63.2 MBSixty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, today’s world leaders can apply lessons learned to potential future nuclear crises. Former Obama Administration Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Executive Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University Alexandra Vacroux, and former Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and author Jonathan Kaufman discuss potential crises ahead and how the Cuban Missile Crisis’s legacy remains relevant.
Atomic Gambit: We Are All Mortal
November 01, 2022 08:15 - 45 minutes - 62.4 MBAfter the United States and Soviet Union survived the Cuban Missile Crisis and its immediate aftermath, the next steps for the two superpowers would be critical. This episode looks at Kennedy’s "strategy of peace" speech at American University and the limited test ban treaty negotiated between Khrushchev and Kennedy, that some say saved the world a second time. It looks ahead at the positive and negative steps made towards Kennedy’s vision of a world with fewer nuclear weapons and what chall...
Atomic Gambit: Uneasy Peace
October 27, 2022 08:15 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBJohn F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement about the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 28, but the crisis wouldn’t end there. Fidel Castro, angered by Nikita Khrushchev’s decision, threatened a serious setback in the negotiations to remove all offensive weapons - including tactical nuclear weapons - from his country.
Atomic Gambit: Black Saturday
October 25, 2022 08:15 - 39 minutes - 54.6 MBOctober 27, 1962, also known as “Black Saturday," was the most dangerous day of the Cuban Missile Crisis as events began to spiral out of control. With two contrasting messages from Chairman Khrushchev, President Kennedy had to find a way to resolve the crisis or risk a nuclear war. Outside of the White House, the crisis took a fatal turn and war was expected to break out at any moment.
Atomic Gambit: Duck and Cover
October 20, 2022 08:30 - 56 minutes - 77.9 MBBy October 22, 1962, after days of long discussions with his advisors, President John F. Kennedy was ready to go public about the Soviet missiles in Cuba. His address to the American people laid out his plan to initiate a naval quarantine to prevent more Soviet ships and weapons from reaching Cuba. He also stressed the uncertainty and danger that lay in the days and months ahead. In Moscow, this announcement stunned and angered Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who learned that his atomic ga...
Atomic Gambit: A Pretty Bad Fix
October 18, 2022 08:15 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBIn the first few days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy and his advisors faced an extremely difficult choice on whether to attack Cuba, and how to do it without engulfing the world in a nuclear war. In this episode, you’ll hear some of the conversations from the top secret meetings between Kennedy and his advisors as he considered his options. Meanwhile, the President would have to act in public as if nothing is going on to keep the Soviets from finding out what he knew until he...
Atomic Gambit: A Very Dangerous Road
October 13, 2022 08:00 - 48 minutes - 67.2 MBFrom the moment President Kennedy took office, he warned the country about the dangers of nuclear weapons that could result in the deaths of millions. It would be his decisions and actions that would keep the country from the brink of total nuclear war. In the years leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy would face a number of embarrassing failures in both Cuba and on the world stage with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. It would be partly these failures and other escalations that ...
Atomic Gambit: The Cuban Missile Crisis 60 Years Later
September 01, 2022 08:00 - 2 minutes - 3.77 MBOn October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was told the Soviet Union was assembling nuclear warheads on the island of Cuba, just 90 miles from the Florida coastline. Over the course of the next 13 days and beyond, President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev would make decisions in a crisis that brought the world closer to all-out nuclear war than it has ever been. Today, we continue to live with the historic legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its lessons of leadership, d...
Undelivered Speeches that Could Have Rewritten History
June 09, 2022 08:00 - 38 minutes - 53 MBWe know much about the speeches President Kennedy gave during his time in office, but what about the ones he never gave. Speechwriter and author Jeff Nussbaum joins us to discuss his new book about how some undelivered speeches in the 1960s, including two by President Kennedy, could have changed history.
Telling America's Stories to the World
May 12, 2022 17:02 - 37 minutes - 51.4 MBIn the Kennedy Administration, Edward R. Murrow and a team of journalists and filmmakers produced stories about the United States’ activities and ideals for international audiences. Hollywood producer George Stevens, Jr. led the Motion Picture Service which produced more than 300 mostly short-form films for the global audience. He joins the podcast to reflect on his time in the administration.
The Kennedys and Fitzgeralds: Photography and Preservation
April 14, 2022 08:20 - 21 minutes - 29 MBBoth sides of JFK’s family were at the forefront of the amateur photography movement, using the burgeoning field to document their lives over the course of many decades. Today, this collection of photographs gives us an insight into the lives of these lively families, and also presents some unique challenges to archivists. JFK Library Archivist Laura Kintz tells us about her work exploring the family photo collections.
The First Kennedys with Neal Thompson
April 01, 2022 08:32 - 31 minutes - 43 MBMore than 100 years before President John F. Kennedy would take up residence at the White House, his great-grandmother Bridget Murphy arrived on the shores of America. There she met Patrick Kennedy, another Irish immigrant, and they started a life together that would lead to one of America’s most famous political families. We sit down with Neal Thompson to discuss his new book, “The First Kennedys.”
A Hundred Thousand Welcomes
March 17, 2022 08:29 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MBPresident Kennedy was the first sitting U.S. President to visit the nation of Ireland. The great-grandson of Irish immigrants, the visit was more than a homecoming for John F. Kennedy-- it was the beginning of a new stronger relationship between the two countries that continues today
John Glenn's Historic Flight 60 Years Later
March 03, 2022 09:15 - 34 minutes - 46.8 MBUntil John Glenn completed his orbital flight in 1962, the United States was trailing the Soviet Union when it came to spaceflight. Sixty years later, NASA continues to lead in space. We revisit Glenn’s historic trip and speak with astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson about how far NASA has come since Glenn and where it hopes to go next.
Dignity in a Digital Age with Ro Khanna
February 18, 2022 09:00 - 26 minutes - 36.7 MBPresident Kennedy understood that advancing technologies would change American society forever and that strong leadership would be needed to protect workers by changes in technology. In this episode, Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA 17th) joins us to look at how technology has changed society since 1960, and what kind of leadership is still needed today to ensure equity in the digital age.
Puerto Rico: The Admirable Bridge
December 22, 2021 09:00 - 26 minutes - 36.8 MBOn December 15, 1961. John F. Kennedy became the first sitting president to visit the new Commonwealth of Puerto Rico where he met with Luis Muñoz Marín, the territory’s first independently elected governor. We speak with Puerto Rico’s Governor Pedro Pierluisi about how Kennedy’s visit 60 years ago and his legacy still resonate with Puerto Ricans today.
60 Years of Preserving the White House
December 09, 2021 14:26 - 26 minutes - 36.6 MBSixty years ago, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy founded the White House Historical Association to support her ongoing work to restore and maintain the White House. This week we spoke with White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin as they celebrate their 60 years and learn how the association carries on Mrs. Kennedy’s legacy.
Growing Up Between Two World Wars
December 02, 2021 09:00 - 34 minutes - 47.1 MBJohn F. Kennedy, born between two world wars, would see the rise of fascism in his youth and later serve on the front lines to stop it from spreading across the world. Those lived experiences would influence Senator and later President Kennedy as he navigated the country through the rise of another authoritarian movement in Soviet Communism.
JFK and RFK in the Civil Rights Movement Era
November 18, 2021 09:00 - 30 minutes - 42.3 MBWhile President Kennedy didn’t live long enough to see Congress pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his brother Robert would pick up where JFK left off. Historian Patricia Sullivan discusses both Kennedys roles during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The Courageous Legacy of John Lewis
October 28, 2021 08:00 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBGeorgia Representative John Lewis was a fixture in the civil rights movement and in Congress for 60 years until his death in 2020. In this episode, we look back at his early years during the Kennedy Administration and revisit the legacy of courage he left behind. Joining us in this podcast is longtime civil rights activist Ambassador Andrew Young and Kabir Sehgal who co-wrote the book “Carry On,” with Rep. John Lewis.
First Children in the Kennedy White House
October 14, 2021 08:00 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBHave you ever wondered what it was like to grow up in the White House? The JFK Library has a new special exhibit, First Children: Caroline and John, Jr. in the Kennedy White House. In this episode, we discuss the exhibit with Museum Curator Janice Hodson and also travel back in time to look at an original song about the Kennedys with the original performer.
The Kennedy that Changed the World
July 08, 2021 08:00 - 59 minutes - 81.3 MBEunice Kennedy Shriver may not be as well known as her brothers Jack, Bobby, and Ted, but during her lifetime, she worked tirelessly behind the scenes to influence public policy and serve the public good. In celebration of the centennial of her birth, we speak with biographer Eileen McNamara and her son Timothy Shriver, and hear from Eunice herself.
Meet the 2021 PEN/Hemingway Award Winner
June 24, 2021 08:00 - 29 minutes - 40.9 MBIn this episode, Hemingway Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Hilary Justice gives us the background on the JFK Library’s collaboration with PEN America and Ernest Hemingway family’s support of the PEN/Hemingway Award, and we speak with the 2021 PEN/Hemingway winner, Kawai Strong Washburn.
COVID Courage: Health Care Heroes
May 28, 2021 13:27 - 50 minutes - 68.8 MBLauren Leander is an ICU nurse at the Banner University Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, who took care of the most critically ill patients in Phoenix and stood with colleagues in a counterprotest of stay-at-home-orders in the early days of the pandemic. As director of the Ohio State Health Department, Dr. Amy Action boldly proposed an aggressive shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and became the target of protestors and legislators who sought to limit her power. Both women nev...
COVID Courage: Darrell R. Marks
May 20, 2021 19:05 - 46 minutes - 63.2 MBDarrell R. Marks has spent his career helping his indigenous students at Flagstaff High School find new opportunities after graduation. But when the pandemic hit, his job changed from helping not only his students with their futures, but their families deal with the effects of the pandemic from shortages in food, water, and other basic necessities. Marks is one of seven people being honored with a special JFK Profile in COVID Courage Award for his selfless actions to help others during the p...
Saving Our Shorelines
April 22, 2021 08:00 - 35 minutes - 49 MBPresident John F. Kennedy felt a profound connection to the environment, particularly the sea. During his presidency, Kennedy would establish three national seashores including on Cape Cod. Learn about his environmental legacy from the Superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore and from his granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg.
Examining Ernest Hemingway
April 08, 2021 08:00 - 43 minutes - 59.8 MBThanks to a twist of fate, the archives of Ernest Hemingway have been mostly preserved here at the JFK Library. Learn more about that story from the Library’s Hemingway scholar in residence and hear from two of the filmmakers about how the Ernest Hemingway Collection played a key role in the new documentary.
Voting Rights in America with Stacey Abrams
March 18, 2021 13:30 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBThe United States saw the highest voter turnout in decades in the 2020 election. In many states, the increase in turn out was partly due to years of voter mobilization to bring in more historically disenfranchised voters to the polls. In this episode, we speak with one of the people who has been on the front lines of that movement - Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight and Fair Count - and take a brief look at the state of voting in the Kennedy era.
Presidents and the Bully Pulpit
March 11, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 49.9 MBJohn F. Kennedy ran for president as television was beginning to change the game of presidential politics. The importance and power of presidents' use of the bully pulpit was growing as they could reach vastly larger audiences in a single presidential address live on television. This episode looks closely at one of Kennedy’s most trusted aides and speechwriters, and also hears from Dr. Vanessa Beasley, an expert on presidential rhetoric at Vanderbilt University.
60/20: The End of the Road
October 29, 2020 08:00 - 47 minutes - 65.7 MBThe long road to the White House in the 1960 campaign between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon comes to a dramatic end. In this final episode, we’ll look at the last days and hours before the election, the uncertainty of possible recounts afterward, and look ahead to how both candidates approached the future. We’ll also look at how lessons learned in 1960 still resonate today.