I have a history degree and love the discipline but rarely find any history shows that interest me because they're either too dry or too sensationalistic or too poorly researched. You guys are both thoroughly academic and super entertaining, plus very balanced. I just love your channel and am listening to everything you've done. Thank you 😊 🙏
I love the light humour combined with great quotes and large reservoir of knowledge of both Tom and Dominic. Always entertaining and educational whether discussing the French Revolution in 1789, the 1974 British General Election or the events in the USA in 1968. Great stuff thanks 👍
Congrats on 100k Didn't take too long to 'blow up' after adopting video I see. Great to see your hard work rewarded. Your new fans have an awesome backlog of episodes to catch up on. Greetings from prussias capital
As you report, Sirhan shot at Kennedy from in front of him. He was at least a meter away. Kennedy was hit three times, once behind his right ear and twice in his back. The corner reported powder burn residue around the head wound meaning the weapon that fired that shot was near point blank. The secuity guard standing immediately behind Kennedy had pulled his gun, was initially taken into custody and then released. The number of shots fired, some hitting people near kennedy, others removed from the ceiling and woodwork, exceeded the capacity of and did not match Sirhan's weapon.
Reading speeches from previous eras in our countries, political history, even relatively recent ones, is depressing. It underscores how quickly things have fallen apart, and how trite and inconsequential our political discourse has become.
Don't despair. The pendulum swings both ways. Granted, half our lives will be spent at the far reach but change is constant and people are reactionary, a back swing follows as day follows night. And remember that our lives compared with any other time or place are like farting through silk as PJ O'Rourke would say. Who has it better than we do?
I wrote my comment before Tom even finished reciting the passage. I was grateful when Tom made essentially the same remark! These guys never disappoint.
"According to the autopsy, all four shots that struck my father (one shot passed harmlessly through his suit) were fired from behind at a steep upward angle toward the ceiling. All shots were from within a few inches, with two leaving gun powder residue in the wounds, suggesting that the assassin was standing close behind my father, shielding his weapon with his body while all attention focused on Sirhan". RFK Jr.
I used to wonder why English people never thought impersonating their accent was funny, until an English guy tried to speak like an American and now I understand
I actually wondered if that was what Tom Holland was trying to do. I knew it wasn’t his typical way of speaking but I really couldn’t tell _what_ it was (speaking as a fellow American).
Lived through all of this with my 2nd memory at 3 being of JFK assassination and funeral. Have a signed note to my father from RFK thanking him for his work on his campaign. Dom is right though because having lived through it I could never learn about it since no one could write objectively about it, and still no American probably could. Thank you both.
I worked in Indiana politics in the 2000s, and the fact that Indianapolis didn't burn thanks to RFK is an oft-mentioned talking point on both sides of the political spectrum.
I met a local niche celebrity in the San Francisco Bay Area ~12 years ago to pick up some artwork from his home gallery. He had RFK posters all over the inside of his beautiful Victorian home. I asked him about it and he told me his story about how he quit grad school and join RFK’s campaign in 1968. He said he was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles that infamous night, less than 20 feet away from RFK’s assassination. This was a very nice man who obviously partied like a rock star in the 60s and 70. Very jovial and personable man. But he became very serious and precise in his language when he described the details of what happened that night. I wish I could recall all the details, but he came across very credible when he said there was zero chance Sirhan was RFK’s assassin. I’m not aware of him ever giving a public interview on this subject, but I wish he would. But that experience caused me to seriously doubt the official narrative of what happened that night in 1968.
There is a bill mahr clip with rfk jr that title something like how rfk was mur*Der. Rfk jr says sirhan was apart of the plot but didn't shoot the shots that killed his dad. He goes into more depth on evidence to that theory.
@@QuietFemmeI’ve heard RFK Jr say that as well. I may have caught part of the Bill Maher interview. But that’s consistent with what I was told. The person I met said Sirhan was definitely not the shooter. That said, it’s entirely possible that Sirhan may have been involved.
@@smore54 Sirhan was definitely a shooter. But, he did not murder RFK, the evidence is overwhelming, The security guard shot RFK behind the ear (which was impossible for Sirhan to do).
Dominic has my chair and a prolific collection of classic Doctor Who stories, a man of taste. Goes to demonstrate that though our politics are different that we can have common ground, well, at least when it comes to chairs and classic TV. I'll take that.
Very interesting episode. Listener and history lover from Vietnam. So being able to learn more about the internal situation of the "other side" has been fascinating for me. Thanks Dominic and Tom
I could quibble perhaps but I would never , I really enjoy I guess these podcasts , you make these conversations look easy, but I know it’s far from it , so I salute you with these wry informative kinda almost laconic but still serious takes on history , it’s great !& i mean I love everything you do but this & your take on Britain in 73/74 for me is extra special
Wow. I appreciate Tom's attempt to read a speech in an appropriate tone of voice... but that opening really makes me long for the actual audio recording if any exist.
You had me at the Dominic Sandbrook Archives. But I wept at "The George Custer Experience"--- "we've been in here for months". And then just a few minutes for "The French Revolution." Tom would have "Back to Lafayette". Sleeping bag merch for sale in the gift shop as you exit.
PPS And it's not lost on us that the "Archives/Experience -- Orlando" is in keeping with your fully realized mission of drawing parallels between history and our lives today. Please God, tomorrow will give you an amazing parallel with the 84 election.
Thank you so much for this episode. I'll need to search for your book on Eugene McCarthy ,Mr. Dominic. I had no idea about his private life & personality. It was very surprising. His former press secretary related that Sen. McCarthy was possibly involved in CIA type operations in Latin America. Perhaps you were already aware of that but again, I was quite surprised.
The climax of the campaign for Robert Kennedy would be the California primary of June 4, 1968. Before focusing his efforts on California, Robert Kennedy had journeyed to Columbus, OH, to speak with members of the uncommitted Ohio delegation. Kenny O’Donnell [who had been Kennedy's roommate at Harvard and later worked as a close aide to President Kennedy] helped to organize this meeting, stressing to Kennedy NOT to be late. Well, Kennedy ended up mixing with supporters on the streets of Columbus and ended up 3 hours late. It didn’t look good when Kennedy belatedly arrived in that hotel. “He walked into a room filled with angry, sullen, and inebriated delegates, and saved himself by delivering what O’Donnell called ‘the best damn speech I have ever heard in my life.’ “ “O’Donnell was ecstatic, saying later, ‘He knew just what they wanted to hear and acted as if he loved being there…. He just handled himself beautifully. He was his brother. It was fantastic. The women just went ga-ga over him. They were unanimous - all the old pros were taken aback by how much they liked him. This was not the Bob Kennedy they had read about. This was not the ruthless arrogant young fellow. All they kept saying was, ‘He’s just like Jack! He’s just like Jack!’ I knew he could go all the way, then. Once he had California in his pocket, he would have Daley and all the pros were going to love him. I was never worried about the general election.” Then tragedy ensued.
When President Kennedy was murdered in 1963 my father was worried and concerned about the country. In 1968 when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were murdered, my dad was scared for the future of the United States. It was as if the seams of the country were breaking and things were coming apart. Perhaps they were.
Love these podcasts. Curious that , as a BBC Film camera assistant, on various assignments, I worked on interviews with Alger Hiss Edward Kennedy, Walter 'Fritz' Mondale, Norman Mailer, all of whom appeared in your riveting tale. And, indeed , as a bonus, my camera got a smile and a wave from President Carter when he arrived at (Andrews AFB?) just prior to his inauguration.
Have yet to watch this on a nervous pre-election day, 2024. Simply reading the title of this piece my answer is, "hell, yes"--I was 17 when Bobby was shot and remember every excruciating minute. I also remember the millions following the rail route of the return of his body. A reminder of FDR. It is hard to express what a breath of fresh air he was to the campign of 1968. McCarthy was too dour and cerebral to catch on with the masses. RFK was pure charisma, more so even than his brother.
@TribuniPlebis I think phrasing was close to RFK. But I recall seeing a well-known impressionist (perhaps, but at least similar to, Rich Little) who, in his impression of RFK, said, "And... and it's not true that I speak like Bugs Bunny... Bugs... Bugs Bunny speaks... like me!" I may have the precise cadence of the speech wrong, but it's been a long time since RFK impressions were commonly performed. - sj
Dominic if you seriously have lost your Masters thesis then can’t you just contact the university you wrote it at? When I wrote my dissertation for my BA degree I had to supply my university with a paper copy for them to keep in their archives.
Having listened to almost every episode of your podcast, the blind admiration you have for the Kennedy's is rather perplexing. RFK's life was entirely the product of nepotism and his appointment as Attorney General set a very troubling precedent that haunts the USA to this day.
I don't know man, I don't get a lot of admiration, I get a fair amount of condescension. I don't think these guys are particular enthusiasts of good government. They're just chroniclers, don't you see?
I find it perplexing that if you have listened to so many of their podcasts you haven't realised that they give a more neutral view to the subject of the Kennedys than many others do and in no way appear to me to be the rose tinted admirers you think they are
The Kennedys were Irish-American and hated the British and WASPs. I have lived in Boston. Joe and JFK were fans of Hitler in the 1930s JFK visited Germany twice and wrote that he was impressed with Hitler in his journals. JFK donated to America First in 1941. It was trying to keep the US out of the European war. Joe was a gangster and insider trader and bought the 1960 election with help from the Mob, with whom he had strong ties. The Kennedys then turned on the Mob. Eisenhower and Nixon agreed not to call out the Kennedys for the good of the country. Bobby was JFK's hatchet man which is why he was hated. He asked the FBI to raid MLK's offices and bug his hotel rooms. There is a weird interview with Jackie in which she called King, a “phoney” and “tricky”. The Kennedys were sleazy. What part did Bobby play in the death of Marilyn Monroe?
This is an OVER simplistic view of their feelings on Britain. JFK himself loved England and did his mother but his father had his issues for a good reason
A very enjoyable account of the democratic race for 1968 candidate. I think I have found the political version of the Mayo and Kermode podcasts - informal and informative presentation with the occasional naughty double entendre thrown in the mix.
There were riots in the USA after MLKs death. Except Indianapolis. Because of this speech. Words matter. (I recommend Larry Tye's book on RFK. What a man)
Regarding 'Hands Bleeding due to Shaking' - I remember seeing a video showing King Edward VIII (when he was the Prince of Wales) being forced to use his left hand to shake others because his right hand was injured due to shaking so many hands. Maybe his Canada trip ??
Outstanding performance by Dom when covering the US election last night. Can't see him as the LA Dodgers though. For me, he's more like the White Sox of twenty odd years ago. Not Moneyball, or Small ball, but as Ozzy Guillen said, "Smart ball."
Wrong. I was a county Young Dem chairman at 17 in 1968, in Wisconsin. I worked for McCarthy in the primary campaign and RFK later, finally Humphrey. Most state level politicos understood that Humphrey couldn't match the historical moment and RFK would have healed the divided nation by withdrawing immediately from Nam. And that McCarthy also wasn't a national unifier. The race riots were not the main factor in the thought processes of voters in middle America by November of that year. A return to a sense of normalcy was. Many voted for Nixon out of a false sense of nostalgia for the Eisenhower years, and because he said he had a 'secret plan' to end the war. Had RFK lived, the street demonstrations in Chicago would not have happened. Those televised riots elected Nixon though Humphrey nearly beat him. But RFK would have neen nominated and beaten Nixon in 1968. And Humphrey was a hawk, and campaigned as one.
I can remember the shooting being covered on BBC tea time news and his death being reported the following day. Everybody was shocked but as I was only 9, had little understanding of who he was, but I do remember being sad.
I will not let people spam this comments section with nonsense advocating for the assassin of RFK. His death was an unmitigated disaster. I take it quite personally as he was a hero to my entire family of Boston Irish. It’s disgusting advocacy to lionize an assassin of this man.
RFK (sr)’s close friend and political supporter who was also shot that night (but survived) Paul Schrade, had similarly looked into the evidence (autopsy report, witness testimonies etc.) and was extremely shocked by it. He not only came to the conclusion that Sirhan is innocent but even attended his parole hearing to lend his support. Indeed, Sirhan was eventually granted parole in 2022/3(?) but it was ultimately blocked by the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
@@BenjaminNavillus You know what the problem with this country is? 90% of the population are idiots. Vincent Bugliosi spent the last 10 years of his life writing a thousand-page book debunking every single stupid conspiracy theory related to JFK's assassination including one that claimed that the body buried in Lee Harvey Oswald's grave had somebody else's head on it which ridiculous claim actually caused them to dig up Oswald whereupon they discovered that his head was perfectly well connected to his body. And 5 minutes after the book came out people just started generating new crazy conspiracy theories.
The LBJ anecdote is off. It happened at the Senate dining room. LBJ didn't despise RFK. He thought RFK was insignificant when the incident happened in 1953. The reason RFK hated LBJ goes back to 1940, when Joe Kennedy was Ambassador to England, and LBJ was a congressman currying favor with Roosevelt. Joe Kennedy came out of a meeting with Roosevelt where he had been lobbying for a Cabinet position, in exchange for a financial contribution. Roosevelt subsequently told LBJ, who had been hanging around waiting to see him, that he would take Joe Kennedy's money and screw him over the Cabinet position. LBJ dined out on this anecdote for years, and it got back to RFK. That is the source of the animosity. LBJ, for his part, had no feelings either way for RFK until he agreed to become Vice President, because neither Jack or Bobby would give him anything to do. That was the best way to twist the knife.
[This episode] RFK puts the lie to the idea that politicians have always been coarse and vulgar. [Two episodes ago] So then Lyndon Johnson whips it out and waves it at the assembled press...
Yes! I believe he would have gotten the Dem nom and gone on to trounce Nixon. Absolutely one of the worst things to have happened. I went to bed after he won the CA primary. The next day when I found out he was dead, I was numb for a long time. 😢 I still feel it sometimes: what could have been. Sigh.
There was a "Clean For Gene" youth movement of McCarthy volunteers. They cut their long hair, dressed square, etc, and went door-to-door for Gene McCarthy. For all the "Camelot 2" nostalgia later one, the young, white, left liberal student idealists tilted heavily to McCarthy in the 1968 primaries.
49:30 “… _The Manchurian Candidate,_ great conspiracy, political conspiracy thriller, of course, of the 1950s” Who can forget the, perhaps, most memorable year of that decade-1962?
I grew up in the 60's in the US and a few things happened that have affected me the rest of my life, JFK's murder (still remember the crowds on the streets on tv crying..I was 8), Bobby Kennedy's murder I was 13) and King's murder which I now lament didn't really affect me after growing up in racist Kansas (not sure many realize how biased Kansas is as I didn't realize it until later in life which is why I hold Obama in such high regard as he came to our little town to speak to 100 people in a small high school auditorium at a school he must of known wasn't far removed from high school kids draping kkk banners on their cars 2 years before. Those kids didn't learn that behavior from any others except their parents.
If that was supposed to be RFK's accent in the initial reading, you might want to check your pronunciation of "world." Totally Brit. 😅 I might add with respect to your comments about Ethel Skakel that she was raised Catholic and was extremely devout. It was in the private Sacred Heart School in Manhattan that she met Bobby Kennedy's sister, which is how she met Bobby. It is true that her father came from old Protestant money but the marriage of Ethel and Bobby was not a merger of Catholic and Protestant.
You refer to John Frankenheimer several times, and "The Manchurian Candidate". Just as pertinent , especially as Jan 2025 approaches, would be a reference to his chilling movie "Seven Days in May" in which Burt Lancaster plays a MAGA-style Pentagon general, plotting a coup against Frederic March's perceived liberal presidency
I am 80. I worked for the McCarthy campaign in Massachusetts. I am captivated! You are brilliant.
I have a history degree and love the discipline but rarely find any history shows that interest me because they're either too dry or too sensationalistic or too poorly researched. You guys are both thoroughly academic and super entertaining, plus very balanced. I just love your channel and am listening to everything you've done. Thank you 😊 🙏
I almost changed my major to history after my freshman year but my parents talked me into accounting instead. One of my bigger regrets
I agree
I love the light humour combined with great quotes and large reservoir of knowledge of both Tom and Dominic.
Always entertaining and educational whether discussing the French Revolution in 1789, the 1974 British General Election or the events in the USA in 1968.
Great stuff thanks 👍
Perfectly put. This is a phenomenally good and perfectly pitched podcast series, and is everything this platform should be for.
Congrats on 100k
Didn't take too long to 'blow up' after adopting video I see.
Great to see your hard work rewarded.
Your new fans have an awesome backlog of episodes to catch up on.
Greetings from prussias capital
0:46 The cut to Dominic laughing was comedy gold 😂 loved the intro though Tom
As you report, Sirhan shot at Kennedy from in front of him. He was at least a meter away. Kennedy was hit three times, once behind his right ear and twice in his back. The corner reported powder burn residue around the head wound meaning the weapon that fired that shot was near point blank. The secuity guard standing immediately behind Kennedy had pulled his gun, was initially taken into custody and then released. The number of shots fired, some hitting people near kennedy, others removed from the ceiling and woodwork, exceeded the capacity of and did not match Sirhan's weapon.
I was a child when Bobby and MLK were assassinated. I didn’t understand but I was scared and sad. Thanks for the episode.
This channel is my greatest discovery of 2024!!
Great to see you both on TH-cam. Adds another dimension to the enjoyment.
Thank you both for so entertainingly educating us about history.
Reading speeches from previous eras in our countries, political history, even relatively recent ones, is depressing. It underscores how quickly things have fallen apart, and how trite and inconsequential our political discourse has become.
Don't despair. The pendulum swings both ways. Granted, half our lives will be spent at the far reach but change is constant and people are reactionary, a back swing follows as day follows night.
And remember that our lives compared with any other time or place are like farting through silk as PJ O'Rourke would say. Who has it better than we do?
I wrote my comment before Tom even finished reciting the passage. I was grateful when Tom made essentially the same remark! These guys never disappoint.
"According to the autopsy, all four shots that struck my father (one shot passed harmlessly through his suit) were fired from behind at a steep upward angle toward the ceiling. All shots were from within a few inches, with two leaving gun powder residue in the wounds, suggesting that the assassin was standing close behind my father, shielding his weapon with his body while all attention focused on Sirhan". RFK Jr.
I loved this PodCast, thank you
As a New Englander that was one of the hardest accents to listen too
worse than George Bush? (I live in TX, so I can say that 🤣) I'm curious though. Have you heard any Cajun/South Louisiana speech?
I used to wonder why English people never thought impersonating their accent was funny, until an English guy tried to speak like an American and now I understand
I actually wondered if that was what Tom Holland was trying to do. I knew it wasn’t his typical way of speaking but I really couldn’t tell _what_ it was (speaking as a fellow American).
Lived through all of this with my 2nd memory at 3 being of JFK assassination and funeral. Have a signed note to my father from RFK thanking him for his work on his campaign. Dom is right though because having lived through it I could never learn about it since no one could write objectively about it, and still no American probably could. Thank you both.
JFK was killed on my 14th birthday. Try to imagine that. 😮
Easily my favourite history show!!
Thank you !
@@restishistorypod wouldn’t anGovernCleveland episode, or two, be appropriate right about now, after the recent U.S. Presidential election?
I’ve already listened to all of this in the podcast but it’s worth repeating, it’s been a brilliant series. 😁👏
I worked in Indiana politics in the 2000s, and the fact that Indianapolis didn't burn thanks to RFK is an oft-mentioned talking point on both sides of the political spectrum.
Guys, you’ve done it again! Compelling stuff. Thanks.
Thank you !
I'm sure this was recorded before then, but Ethel just died a few weeks ago on Oct. 10th.
Yes, well noted--out of curiosity--does TH-cam allow creators to edit after the fact or to addend an update?
Must have been just recorded
I met a local niche celebrity in the San Francisco Bay Area ~12 years ago to pick up some artwork from his home gallery. He had RFK posters all over the inside of his beautiful Victorian home. I asked him about it and he told me his story about how he quit grad school and join RFK’s campaign in 1968. He said he was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles that infamous night, less than 20 feet away from RFK’s assassination. This was a very nice man who obviously partied like a rock star in the 60s and 70. Very jovial and personable man. But he became very serious and precise in his language when he described the details of what happened that night. I wish I could recall all the details, but he came across very credible when he said there was zero chance Sirhan was RFK’s assassin. I’m not aware of him ever giving a public interview on this subject, but I wish he would. But that experience caused me to seriously doubt the official narrative of what happened that night in 1968.
There is a bill mahr clip with rfk jr that title something like how rfk was mur*Der. Rfk jr says sirhan was apart of the plot but didn't shoot the shots that killed his dad. He goes into more depth on evidence to that theory.
@@QuietFemmeI’ve heard RFK Jr say that as well. I may have caught part of the Bill Maher interview. But that’s consistent with what I was told. The person I met said Sirhan was definitely not the shooter. That said, it’s entirely possible that Sirhan may have been involved.
@@smore54 Sirhan was definitely a shooter. But, he did not murder RFK, the evidence is overwhelming, The security guard shot RFK behind the ear (which was impossible for Sirhan to do).
I guess conversational & compelling is the best way to sum it up
Jackie Kennedy "She loves the Greeks"!
fabulously informative and entertaining
Dominic has my chair and a prolific collection of classic Doctor Who stories, a man of taste. Goes to demonstrate that though our politics are different that we can have common ground, well, at least when it comes to chairs and classic TV. I'll take that.
These videos are real good. Thanks
Very interesting episode. Listener and history lover from Vietnam. So being able to learn more about the internal situation of the "other side" has been fascinating for me. Thanks Dominic and Tom
I’m glad you’ve put the performance of the quote into these TH-cam versions!
I could quibble perhaps but I would never , I really enjoy I guess these podcasts , you make these conversations look easy, but I know it’s far from it , so I salute you with these wry informative kinda almost laconic but still serious takes on history , it’s great !& i mean I love everything you do but this & your take on Britain in 73/74 for me is extra special
Wow. I appreciate Tom's attempt to read a speech in an appropriate tone of voice... but that opening really makes me long for the actual audio recording if any exist.
Video exists! th-cam.com/video/_bDlET_gK68/w-d-xo.htmlsi=i6pQIxEfZax0xWos
Indeed, the original is one of a kind.
I don't. It's a cheap theatrical attempt which borders on mockery.
You had me at the Dominic Sandbrook Archives. But I wept at "The George Custer Experience"--- "we've been in here for months". And then just a few minutes for "The French Revolution."
Tom would have "Back to Lafayette". Sleeping bag merch for sale in the gift shop as you exit.
P.S. For the record, I'm an American and I love Lafayette. Team Tom! Well, and also Team Dom! if it comes to that.
PPS And it's not lost on us that the "Archives/Experience -- Orlando" is in keeping with your fully realized mission of drawing parallels between history and our lives today.
Please God, tomorrow will give you an amazing parallel with the 84 election.
Thank you so much for this episode. I'll need to search for your book on Eugene McCarthy ,Mr. Dominic. I had no idea about his private life & personality. It was very surprising. His former press secretary related that Sen. McCarthy was possibly involved in CIA type operations in Latin America. Perhaps you were already aware of that but again, I was quite surprised.
That RF Kennedy impression was hilarious 🤣
The climax of the campaign for Robert Kennedy would be the California primary of June 4, 1968. Before focusing his efforts on California, Robert Kennedy had journeyed to Columbus, OH, to speak with members of the uncommitted Ohio delegation. Kenny O’Donnell [who had been Kennedy's roommate at Harvard and later worked as a close aide to President Kennedy] helped to organize this meeting, stressing to Kennedy NOT to be late. Well, Kennedy ended up mixing with supporters on the streets of Columbus and ended up 3 hours late. It didn’t look good when Kennedy belatedly arrived in that hotel. “He walked into a room filled with angry, sullen, and inebriated delegates, and saved himself by delivering what O’Donnell called ‘the best damn speech I have ever heard in my life.’ “
“O’Donnell was ecstatic, saying later, ‘He knew just what they wanted to hear and acted as if he loved being there…. He just handled himself beautifully. He was his brother. It was fantastic. The women just went ga-ga over him. They were unanimous - all the old pros were taken aback by how much they liked him. This was not the Bob Kennedy they had read about. This was not the ruthless arrogant young fellow. All they kept saying was, ‘He’s just like Jack! He’s just like Jack!’ I knew he could go all the way, then. Once he had California in his pocket, he would have Daley and all the pros were going to love him. I was never worried about the general election.”
Then tragedy ensued.
When President Kennedy was murdered in 1963 my father was worried and concerned about the country. In 1968 when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were murdered, my dad was scared for the future of the United States. It was as if the seams of the country were breaking and things were coming apart. Perhaps they were.
Listening every single programme a number of times. French revolution is my favourite so far, but such agony of choice!
Tom's RFK impression was hysterical
Love this channel!
Thank you !
Thank you both so much
You're welcome !
Love these podcasts. Curious that , as a BBC Film camera assistant, on various assignments, I worked on interviews with Alger Hiss Edward Kennedy, Walter 'Fritz' Mondale, Norman Mailer, all of whom appeared in your riveting tale. And, indeed , as a bonus, my camera got a smile and a wave from President Carter when he arrived at (Andrews AFB?) just prior to his inauguration.
Thank you for sharing !
@restishistorypod oh, I forgot Clark Clifford, and a little later, Andrew Young. (Another great subject for your podcast, Humboldt? )
Have yet to watch this on a nervous pre-election day, 2024. Simply reading the title of this piece my answer is, "hell, yes"--I was 17 when Bobby was shot and remember every excruciating minute. I also remember the millions following the rail route of the return of his body. A reminder of FDR. It is hard to express what a breath of fresh air he was to the campign of 1968. McCarthy was too dour and cerebral to catch on with the masses. RFK was pure charisma, more so even than his brother.
Thank you for the excellent content, I think you focus a lot more on 20th century UK politics.
Tom's American South accent is just gold. Comedy gold.
Is "South accent" the same as Southern accent?
@@petes9524 Yes. All the more humorous when I then hear that he was imitating RFK. Love the podcast.
Many thanks, again.
Thank you !
This pod is the best spoof since The Office👏
I was having a bad day, thanks tom and Dom for making me laugh..
Listener from Orlando Florida here, 😂 so very unexpected to hear my city mentioned in one of your podcasts
Well done again gentlemen , I had no idea there was a Mt Kennedy . I knew about the animals and children !!!!!
Just magnificent stilted voice acting. BRAVO
@TribuniPlebis I think phrasing was close to RFK. But I recall seeing a well-known impressionist (perhaps, but at least similar to, Rich Little) who, in his impression of RFK, said, "And... and it's not true that I speak like Bugs Bunny... Bugs... Bugs Bunny speaks... like me!" I may have the precise cadence of the speech wrong, but it's been a long time since RFK impressions were commonly performed.
- sj
Do you guys have any merch for sale?
T-shirts or coffee mugs?
Dominic if you seriously have lost your Masters thesis then can’t you just contact the university you wrote it at?
When I wrote my dissertation for my BA degree I had to supply my university with a paper copy for them to keep in their archives.
Having listened to almost every episode of your podcast, the blind admiration you have for the Kennedy's is rather perplexing. RFK's life was entirely the product of nepotism and his appointment as Attorney General set a very troubling precedent that haunts the USA to this day.
I don't know man, I don't get a lot of admiration, I get a fair amount of condescension. I don't think these guys are particular enthusiasts of good government. They're just chroniclers, don't you see?
I find it perplexing that if you have listened to so many of their podcasts you haven't realised that they give a more neutral view to the subject of the Kennedys than many others do and in no way appear to me to be the rose tinted admirers you think they are
The Kennedys were Irish-American and hated the British and WASPs. I have lived in Boston. Joe and JFK were fans of Hitler in the 1930s JFK visited Germany twice and wrote that he was impressed with Hitler in his journals. JFK donated to America First in 1941. It was trying to keep the US out of the European war. Joe was a gangster and insider trader and bought the 1960 election with help from the Mob, with whom he had strong ties. The Kennedys then turned on the Mob. Eisenhower and Nixon agreed not to call out the Kennedys for the good of the country. Bobby was JFK's hatchet man which is why he was hated. He asked the FBI to raid MLK's offices and bug his hotel rooms. There is a weird interview with Jackie in which she called King, a “phoney” and “tricky”. The Kennedys were sleazy. What part did Bobby play in the death of Marilyn Monroe?
The deification of the Kennedys just goes on and on!
This is an OVER simplistic view of their feelings on Britain. JFK himself loved England and did his mother but his father had his issues for a good reason
A very enjoyable account of the democratic race for 1968 candidate. I think I have found the political version of the Mayo and Kermode podcasts - informal and informative presentation with the occasional naughty double entendre thrown in the mix.
Just a side note: RFK and Ethel had 11 children, the eleventh, Rory Kennedy being born six months after his assassination
Reference to Aeschylus would currently be viewed as elitist, or worse, even ridiculed as "wierd".
Or "weird." 😉
the Similarities between 1968 and 2024 ARE UNCANNY
There were riots in the USA after MLKs death. Except Indianapolis. Because of this speech. Words matter. (I recommend Larry Tye's book on RFK. What a man)
Regarding 'Hands Bleeding due to Shaking' - I remember seeing a video showing King Edward VIII (when he was the Prince of Wales) being forced to use his left hand to shake others because his right hand was injured due to shaking so many hands. Maybe his Canada trip ??
I think the Alan Alda character in the later episodes of The West Wing had to get secret medical treatment after shaking too many hands
Outstanding performance by Dom when covering the US election last night.
Can't see him as the LA Dodgers though. For me, he's more like the White Sox of twenty odd years ago. Not Moneyball, or Small ball, but as Ozzy Guillen said, "Smart ball."
My dad hated Bobby for going after Jimmy Hoffa. Yet my parents liked John Kennedy and Jackie. We lived in Detroit and going after Hoffa was a no no.
Wow, first time I’m catching a video that isn’t 3+ months old.
The Nebraska primary was between Indiana and Oregon. It was Kennedy’s best showing.
Wrong.
I was a county Young Dem chairman at 17 in 1968, in Wisconsin. I worked for McCarthy in the primary campaign and RFK later, finally Humphrey.
Most state level politicos understood that Humphrey couldn't match the historical moment and RFK would have healed the divided nation by withdrawing immediately from Nam. And that McCarthy also wasn't a national unifier.
The race riots were not the main factor in the thought processes of voters in middle America by November of that year. A return to a sense of normalcy was. Many voted for Nixon out of a false sense of nostalgia for the Eisenhower years, and because he said he had a 'secret plan' to end the war. Had RFK lived, the street demonstrations in Chicago would not have happened. Those televised riots elected Nixon though Humphrey nearly beat him. But RFK would have neen nominated and beaten Nixon in 1968.
And Humphrey was a hawk, and campaigned as one.
60 years on and we have learned very little as a nation.
We just keep on repeating our mistakes. 2024 feels a great deal like 1968.
RFK Jnr. says Sirhan Sirhan didn't kill his father.
I assume this was recoded before Ethel Kennedy died on 10th October.
I can remember the shooting being covered on BBC tea time news and his death being reported the following day. Everybody was shocked but as I was only 9, had little understanding of who he was, but I do remember being sad.
To be fair to Johnson...he had a legendary Johnson.
I like these as you get a little glimpse into the mistakes the guys make, like anybody having a passionate conversation about something e.g. 25:40
This is a brilliant channel. Well done as usual. But having lived during this time, this topic is a bit much for me.
I will not let people spam this comments section with nonsense advocating for the assassin of RFK. His death was an unmitigated disaster. I take it quite personally as he was a hero to my entire family of Boston Irish. It’s disgusting advocacy to lionize an assassin of this man.
His own son, having looked at the autopsy report, has advocated for his parole release.
If you mean RFK Jr, the man is a raving lunatic.
RFK (sr)’s close friend and political supporter who was also shot that night (but survived) Paul Schrade, had similarly looked into the evidence (autopsy report, witness testimonies etc.) and was extremely shocked by it. He not only came to the conclusion that Sirhan is innocent but even attended his parole hearing to lend his support. Indeed, Sirhan was eventually granted parole in 2022/3(?) but it was ultimately blocked by the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
@@BenjaminNavillusthis comment is completely accurate.
@@BenjaminNavillus You know what the problem with this country is? 90% of the population are idiots. Vincent Bugliosi spent the last 10 years of his life writing a thousand-page book debunking every single stupid conspiracy theory related to JFK's assassination including one that claimed that the body buried in Lee Harvey Oswald's grave had somebody else's head on it which ridiculous claim actually caused them to dig up Oswald whereupon they discovered that his head was perfectly well connected to his body. And 5 minutes after the book came out people just started generating new crazy conspiracy theories.
Superb narrative
Dominic is mistaken Bobby Kennedy definitely would have won the Democratic nomination and then defeated Richard Nixon in the general election in 1968.
You don’t say WHY RFK Jr. supported Sirhan, only that he’s “eccentric” 🙄
To tame the savagery of man & make gentle the life of this world 😢
The LBJ anecdote is off. It happened at the Senate dining room. LBJ didn't despise RFK. He thought RFK was insignificant when the incident happened in 1953. The reason RFK hated LBJ goes back to 1940, when Joe Kennedy was Ambassador to England, and LBJ was a congressman currying favor with Roosevelt. Joe Kennedy came out of a meeting with Roosevelt where he had been lobbying for a Cabinet position, in exchange for a financial contribution. Roosevelt subsequently told LBJ, who had been hanging around waiting to see him, that he would take Joe Kennedy's money and screw him over the Cabinet position. LBJ dined out on this anecdote for years, and it got back to RFK. That is the source of the animosity. LBJ, for his part, had no feelings either way for RFK until he agreed to become Vice President, because neither Jack or Bobby would give him anything to do. That was the best way to twist the knife.
Some in attendance at the dreadful LA kitchen event were: Richard Goodwin, John Frankenheimer, Roosevelt Grier , …..
Tom Holland: "No, you'd stick it to the man, by spliffing up."
Not listened to your podcast, but yes. RFK would have been the 37th POTUS.
Dom was very good in TRIP coverage of the US election, on the rare occasions the Mooch remained quiet long enough for anyone else to speak
I always wonder how Sirhan knew to wait in the kitchen. Wasn't it a last minute decision to go through there ?
Fascinating commentary
[This episode] RFK puts the lie to the idea that politicians have always been coarse and vulgar.
[Two episodes ago] So then Lyndon Johnson whips it out and waves it at the assembled press...
What amazes me is that RFK was never supposed to walk through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen, so was this all a fluke that he was fatally shot there????
Would welcome more book recommendations for children please!
Robert and Ethel had 11 children
Yes! I believe he would have gotten the Dem nom and gone on to trounce Nixon.
Absolutely one of the worst things to have happened. I went to bed after he won the CA primary. The next day when I found out he was dead, I was numb for a long time. 😢
I still feel it sometimes: what could have been. Sigh.
There was a "Clean For Gene" youth movement of McCarthy volunteers. They cut their long hair, dressed square, etc, and went door-to-door for Gene McCarthy. For all the "Camelot 2" nostalgia later one, the young, white, left liberal student idealists tilted heavily to McCarthy in the 1968 primaries.
49:30 “… _The Manchurian Candidate,_ great conspiracy, political conspiracy thriller, of course, of the 1950s”
Who can forget the, perhaps, most memorable year of that decade-1962?
The Irish curse. Wonder if he heard the Banshee
Can tell you recorded this a few weeks back; Ethel died on the 10th of October.
Great stuff. Sigh. As I sit here after the reelection of Trump. (Embarrassed and stricken)
Look at policy and forget the media fantasies.
Nevermind brighton, Dr. johnson famously once went on an arduous mule back and on foot tour of the then untamed highlands and western isles
Birmingham?
I grew up in the 60's in the US and a few things happened that have affected me the rest of my life, JFK's murder (still remember the crowds on the streets on tv crying..I was 8), Bobby Kennedy's murder I was 13) and King's murder which I now lament didn't really affect me after growing up in racist Kansas (not sure many realize how biased Kansas is as I didn't realize it until later in life which is why I hold Obama in such high regard as he came to our little town to speak to 100 people in a small high school auditorium at a school he must of known wasn't far removed from high school kids draping kkk banners on their cars 2 years before. Those kids didn't learn that behavior from any others except their parents.
Ripping yarns, yet again, Hooray !
Bobby Kennedy was the braintrust of the Kennedy political ambition.
Tragic loss for humanity.
Agree with you that he wouldn’t have gotten the nomination. But had he gotten it, I think he would have beaten Nixon.
If that was supposed to be RFK's accent in the initial reading, you might want to check your pronunciation of "world." Totally Brit. 😅 I might add with respect to your comments about Ethel Skakel that she was raised Catholic and was extremely devout. It was in the private Sacred Heart School in Manhattan that she met Bobby Kennedy's sister, which is how she met Bobby. It is true that her father came from old Protestant money but the marriage of Ethel and Bobby was not a merger of Catholic and Protestant.
You refer to John Frankenheimer several times, and "The Manchurian Candidate". Just as pertinent , especially as Jan 2025 approaches, would be a reference to his chilling movie "Seven Days in May" in which Burt Lancaster plays a MAGA-style Pentagon general, plotting a coup against Frederic March's perceived liberal presidency
Ethel just died