The JFK Assassination Part 1 with Mackenzie Joy Brennan
6/23/20261 hr 43 min
Where is Dana Scully when you need her? For the first installment of this two-part episode, legal correspondent Mackenzie Joy Brennan tells Sarah about what happened before, during, and after the moment that John F. Kennedy was shot in that Dallas motorcade, the lasting cultural images that have been burned into the public consciousness, and the story of the man who shot the man and the man who shot the man who shot the man. Plus, the conspiracy theory that walked so that the paranoias of today could run — and how we can orient ourselves in reality despite our strongly held beliefs. Digressions include Oregon Trail bison, jaundiced tans, and the triumph of 90s legal thrillers.
Edited + produced by Miranda Zickler
Fact checking by Julie Kliegman
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSarah Marshall· Host0:01
This is what I'll do after the grid goes down, I'll tell people what I remember from The Simpsons. [upbeat music] Welcome to You're Wrong About, the podcast where sometimes we talk about the mother of all conspiracy theories, I would say. Not clickbait. With me today is our law talking correspondent, Mackenzi Brennan. Mackenzi, hello.
Mackenzie Joy Brennan0:32
Hi. I, I think I agree. It's definitely, like, in the top 10 bracket of conspiracy theories. Should I, should I spill the beans, such as they are?
Sarah Marshall· Host0:42
You should, for the people who are, have a playlist going while painting a ceiling and haven't just looked at the title. What are we talking about?
Mackenzie Joy Brennan0:50
Heck yeah. In fact, I, I have a song to add to the playlist, 'cause I've been... I was a big Conor Oberst fan, and Sold Out mentions this. It mentions a magic bullet and a grassy knoll, so that's your first clue.
Sarah Marshall· Host1:01
There you go. And to, to quote my favorite reference to get this out of the way, it is of course the line in Veep- [laughs] ... in which Selina Meyer says, "I wouldn't be your Veep if there was a grassy knoll full of Jodie Foster fans at your inauguration." [laughs] And Mackenzi, who are you? And, uh, tell us about your life until you joined us on this podcast.
Mackenzie Joy Brennan1:23
Yeah. So I've always been super obsessed with the Kennedys in general, and I think in