On this week's episode, Bridget updates us on her Brazil adventures and Colleen teaches us about Diaper Spas... yes, you read that correctly. Only in New Hampshire! Then we get into the topic of the week... THE CURSE OF THE KENNEDYS. Bridget does a deep dive into the American Royal family and how tragedy has befallen them for decades. From assassinations, to plane crashes to Chappaquiddick, the family tea is PIPING hot. And we thought we had baggage!!! If you see a Kennedy on your plane, quietly abort the mission.
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Review and subscribe! You can find us on Instagram @Sippinwiththeshannons or send us your stories at Sippinwiththeshannons@gmail.com. Love you, mean it.
On this week's episode, Bridget updates us on her Brazil adventures and Colleen teaches us about Diaper Spas... yes, you read that correctly. Only in New Hampshire! Then we get into the topic of the week... THE CURSE OF THE KENNEDYS. Bridget does a deep dive into the American Royal family and how tragedy has befallen them for decades. From assassinations, to plane crashes to Chappaquiddick, the family tea is PIPING hot. And we thought we had baggage!!! If you see a Kennedy on your plane, quietly abort the mission.
Sources:
Positive Stories of the Week:
Review and subscribe! You can find us on Instagram @Sippinwiththeshannons or send us your stories at Sippinwiththeshannons@gmail.com. Love you, mean it.
Hit the road, Jack. Don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more. That's how I feel about you. Why? Cause you're never coming back. Oh, stop the drama. I'm just saying. Do you miss me? Is that why? I don't know. Pffft. Pffft. Pffft. Humbled. Rude. I will say. It's just like, so nice to like, be in your home and like, have my main character moment and like, think it's mine, you know? Oh, are you fucking kidding me, Colleen? It's just, it's so nice, you know? Yeah, love that for you. I'm just kidding. I will say, I did appreciate that your car, I, because I was in your car. Why were you in my car? For reasons I can't say on the pod, because it's not safe. I appreciate a new car smell. It smells like a rental car in Florida or something. So I've had that car for over three years. It shouldn't smell like a new car. It does. It just smells like clean. It's so crisp. So nice. Well, I don't know who's keeping it that way because I certainly am not. Well, just know you're, it's in good hands while you're gone. Can you actually start it for me while you're in there around? yeah. Like, where are your keys? I don't know. Your actual car keys. I don't know. Good question. Maybe I'll find them. Yeah, go on a treasure hunt. Will do. Not too in depth though. No one knows this home just quite like me. Oh, ew. Also, hi everyone. Hey. Welcome to this week's episode of Sippin with the Shannons. We're cousins and each week we sit down, we sip on some wine, we talk some shit, and we have a good giggle. I'm Bridget Shannon. And I'm Colleen Shannon. What the fuck is up? What have you been up to? What's new in your life? I swear to God, Colleen, I'm sick of your shit. No, I know, and I hate being so redundant. But like, she's bleh. She's bleh bleh bleh. I'm telling you something right now. If we record next week and you do not come here with a TV show or a book recommendation, I'm kicking you out of my house. I am a dust bunny. That's what I am. That's how I would describe myself. Oh, you know what? I did read about something that I was, wanted to bring up on the pod. I wasn't sure if you heard. Great. Fabulous. have you heard about this whole, like, Diaper location in New Hampshire. What? Like, for adults. No. Okay, let me pull it back up. It's crazy. Of course I X'd it out because I'm such a stupid Oh, it's called the Diaper Spa. I need to understand what the fuck is happening there. So it's basically like, the only thing posted on their website is like, their mission. And it's like, very bland, but like, the whole point of it is that I think that you like, go and like, you can just like, be free and wear a diaper as an adult. Oh, is it like a fetish thing? I think so. Activities range from play time, story time, nap time, cuddle time, changing time, nursery rhymes, and sing alongs. No, no. Safe and judgment free session. I do not have the word. What is going on with people? The diaper spa. I'm pretty sure it was actually just denied, if I recall correctly, Denied what? Like, they couldn't have it anymore. Like, they closed. I wonder why. It was in an article, like, in the news, They went to court and this woman, I think her name was Colleen, actually, oddly enough. And she was like, but why can't I have that? And they were like, so like, no, you can't have like a adult day spa. For diapers. Do you know what, though? Anytime I hear of a fetish, I'm like, I won't yuck your yum, you do you. But that one specifically, though, I'm like, what happened to you as a child? Who are you? Adult diaper spa denied zoning permit in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Dude, New Hampshire. There were fears about what clientele would be showing up in the spa. Live free or die, baby. Live free or fucking die. They'd be living. The spa was going to cater to adults who wear diapers and act like children. So there's a thing for that. Like there's more than like one person within the nearest like hundred miles that you Wants that like I'm confused. Where are they hiding? I have so many questions. There's a market for that question mark I know the diaper spa is open to all diaper wearing individuals who seek acceptance and care. Okay. Oh my god Okay, dr. Colleen and Murphy the spas owner offers a range of services that include virtual playdates at 200 an hour as well as a 1, 500 all day diaper B& B experience That promises rejuvenating pampering for the little one inside of you. No. I'm sick. Colleen, I simply do not have the strength. No, that's insane. And it's like in this woman's house. Stop. Oh my, I'm like, I'm spiraling right now. Zoning purposes? What does she need zoning for? I don't even know what that is. I, oh my God, that's horrifying. I wonder if the guy who got breastfed by his mother is, is there. He's aroused right now. No, he's aroused for sure. He's somewhere out there just having himself a time. Yeah, I'm scared. I am scared. Yeah, this is, this is too long of an article. We cannot have this much to say about this. But that's really, that's. That's what I have to bring to the table today, folks. Where did you get that article? My friend told me about it. Yeah, but what have you guys heard? Oh, sorry. this one is Boston. com and there's also one on, CBS News. Holy shit. Yeah. Yep. Yep. They have a whole ass website, but it's very vague. Okay. Like, so just, so go creep, guys. You'll spiral. Oh, Lord. Any new shows you're watching? no, I'm still in my Chicago PD era. I try to watch Oh my God. I know. I try to watch The Reacher. But I couldn't get into it. Everyone told me it was good. Didn't love it. I tried to watch The Irishman. It's fucking four hours long. Yeah, there's actually a thing online, I forget where it is, but I'm sure you can Google it, that tells you where to stop it so it ends in like three separate episodes. Oh, so we made it an hour and nine minutes before giving up and I haven't watched it again since. Yep, that's fair. It is long. So yeah, that's all. That's true. Guys, like, do not expect anything from me. Oh man. It's abysmal. It's abysmal. Fucking painful is what it is. That's what it is. I'll tell you what it is. But you know what? Let's, let's flip a switch here. How was your fuckin weekend? well first of all, I'm in the midst of watching Love is Blind. Oh yeah, new season, right? New season. Already wild. People are not okay. Uh, I actually want to watch The Bachelor because I love Joey and it's his season, but Hulu, even if you change your VPN, Hulu does not play down here. So I can't watch it. So Jesse and Greg, if you're listening to this, which Jessi is always like 85 episodes behind, even though we don't even have 85 episodes. I swear I will be part of the bachelor pool when I get home, but I can't pick right now because I haven't seen an episode. I watched one and it was cr cringing and I had to turn it off so I haven't watched it since. Of The Bachelor. Yeah, that will happen to you. Oh, he's a sweet angel. Just know that like every girl, like when they do that weird intro thing, where they like get out of the, they do their weird shit when they get out of the car. which is just fucking strange, honestly. Like, just what happened, hi, nice to meet you. Like, what are we doing here, girls? What have we, you're making us all look bad. We're trying to make an impression, Colleen. God. Every single one of them was like, when I heard it was you, like it, they're only, I'm only here because it's you. Like, enough. We're done here. Every time a new one got out and said that, we were like, Oh my God, just like be original, you know? Well, and some people just go way over the top and you're like, what the fuck? But the producers make them do that. Got it. That's what that is. but other than that, I haven't watched any other TV or even read the news since then, so I have no idea what else has been going on in the world, but since I last spoke to you, I did a cooking class where we did not cook. She, we walked in, we sat down, we chopped up like tomatoes, onions, and peppers, and then she was like, I got the rest. What a queen. She knew what you were about. Well, I kind of wanted to do it. I was a little sad. Oh, to actually cook? Yeah, I miss cooking. I was going to say, are you cooking over there at all? Like, what's your eating situation like? Yeah, so in Buenos Aires I had a studio apartment, so I was able to cook and like make breakfast every day and do my thing. And we were eating out all the time because it's, you can get the best meal on the planet for 15 US bucks, so it didn't matter. Here. Here. We have a shared kitchen and I'm in a room that's like a hotel. So it's just like a bed, a mini fridge, a bathroom. And I have not been cooking as much here and I hate it. I like to cook. You do. I feel like it's therapeutic for you. Yes. I like to cook. I like the process of cooking. I don't like sharing a kitchen. I hate when people follow me around a kitchen you do it No, I don't. Yes, you absolutely fucking do. I just want to help Let me help no But you know what? I mean like when you're walking around the kitchen and someone's just in in front of every drawer that you need i'm like go away Uh that hasn't happened a lot here, but i'm just using that as an example. so yeah, I have like cold cuts and stuff to make sandwiches. I have little chips, little puffs to snack on. And then we eat out a lot or like we're running amok. And then in the very first floor of where I'm staying is a bar and a bunch of restaurants we can eat at. And so my favorite thing to get is their Caesar salad. Love a Caesar. Can't go wrong. That's essentially the only vegetable we're getting because everything is fried everything all the time. Oh my god, my veins would be like clogged. Yeah, no, she's, she's puffy. She is in fact puffy. She's just looking a little swole. She, I look like my dad. No, you're being so dramatic. I just saw your face and you look fine. My dad. God bless his soul, but he, the man was round and he passed on his round ass face, his Irish ass face to me. That'll happen. No, but, we did a cooking class. We did karaoke night one night. We got all dressed up and went to this really spanky place. And there was a live band that actually sang English American songs, which was great. And DJ, and then we did a Samba lesson one night, we all had a big dinner and watched the sunset. And then yesterday we did a beach day, legit got there at like 11. 30 and left at 7. 30, had the most epic day. I got absolutely fucking rocked by a wave, I sent Colleen the photo. It looks like I am coming back from war. No, it, I, yes, I've never seen someone so disheveled and then to hear it was from, in fact, a wave, I, I can't grasp, I can't grasp it. So to give everyone an idea of what happened, I was, so I had my hair in a bun with my sunglasses on and I went to go dip in the water in The waves are just absolutely insane at this beach and I just was not prepared and I was the middle of like where two different waves crash at the same time in a corner of like a riptide, if you will, and I rolled over. it smashed one of my sunglass lenses in crumbles. Like when I came out of the water, my lens was in a crumble in my hand. My lip was bleeding and my hair was out of the knot, the high knot that it was tied in. Good Lord. I was totally fine, but it was absolutely hilarious. I walked back up the beach to my friends and they were like, what the hell has happened to you? Something, something's wrong. Something is not right. I sent Colleen, Karen, and Erin a picture and was just like, I'm totally fine, but look at this. And it's, it's quite funny. I'll, I actually will post it. I don't care. Fuck it. Let's do it. Yeah, there's literal blood coming down my lip, which now is just a little, like, baby cut. You can't even see it, but was very funny when it initially happened. It's just a baby. It's just a little bitey, uh, and then something not so funny happened. we did get into a car accident. I am fine. Everyone is fine. If you know me, I know that your heart is in your butt right now. We're not making a big deal out of it. We were in an Uber. We're at a red light, someone slammed into the back of us, that slammed us into the front of us. I am fine. No scrapes. I'm a little sore. But I obviously was very freaked out, you know, based off of just some, just some post traumatic stress, just some minor, just some minor PTSD. what I was really. I'm really, really lucky. I was actually talking about Shannon that day at the beach. And so I was with my friends Claire and Laura, who actually knew the background. And they were fucking on it. They were so on top of it. They were so lovely. I'm so glad I was with them. I'm just very glad to have made such good friends that when something like that happens, you know, you're not like, Oh, I'm a, I'm in a foreign country and I don't know what to do. It's like they were just on it. They were. They were amazing. yeah, so I'm okay. I'm a little sore. I was really shooken up last night, but we just got a good night's sleep. We took a shower. New day. It's all good. Everyone walked away. No one is hurt and that's all that matters. Even, none of the cars are hurt. No one is hurt. Lovely. So I'm deciding. I'm glad that you have them at least. Yeah, I'm, I'm so, I'm so fucking grateful they were in the car with me because, God, good God, help us and pray for us. yeah, and so that's, honestly, I've been gone since December 26th and that's really the only bad thing that's happened to me, knock on every piece of wood, like, I, we're all good, I'll take it. I'd prefer not to take it, for the record, for anyone who's listening. I'd prefer never. The bar is low. The bar is fucking low, my girl. The bar is low. In these streets. It's all good. Oh my god. It's all good. Today is a new day. It is fine. Everything is fine. And we are hashtag blessed manifest. It's like the, the meme of Elmo with the, when his hands are up and everything's on fire around him. Yes. It's like that. Everything is fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine. It's very Ross Geller who's had too many margaritas. I'm fine. Fine! Whoever does. I am fine. I have been doing a lot of yoga and I have not found Namaste yet, so I'll let you know. Oh, are you yoga ing? Yeah. Still hot yoga ing. Oh, that's cool. Oh wait, I thought you wanted to die the last one you went to. that was like the second one. It's way better now. I'm okay. Oh, fun. Look at you go. Yeah, yeah, how's your weight loss journey going? we're chilling. I don't know. I haven't, I'm going on Friday I haven't been in like three weeks. So we shall see. Do you only go once a month? Is that the only Yeah, I was supposed to go like bi weekly, but she was away like on vacation. So I'll be shooting myself up on Friday All right. All right. Well, that's easy with that I'm sorry. I mean, it's quite literally, it's the most literal statement. I'm shooting myself off a bit. I know, but I feel like there are better phrases. Stabbing myself with it. Is that better? If you know, you know, all right? You know what I'm referring to. I'm a fucking lunatic. Anything else? No. That's all I got. I have not brought nothing else to the table today but muscle. You better, you better fucking bring the heat next week. I will. I will. I have no plans this weekend, so it's not looking great, but you know, well, I'll try to make something up. Read a fucking book. Why don't you Google the news or some shit? Honestly, when I walk at the gym, I watch the news, I'm like, oh, woof. There's a lot of shit going on around the world. Welcome. Welcome, Colleen, to Planet Fuckin Earth. I'm not into it. I'm not likin it. Yeah, it's not, it's not chill. Hard pass, man. Hard fuckin pass. Hard pass. Alright, you ready for the topic of the week? I think so. So I pulled a Colleen, and this started off as something completely different, and then I went down a rabbit hole. Got it. I was gonna do a totally different story. Today, we are going to be talking about the curse of the dynasty and basically American royalty that is the Kennedy family. Oh God, I'm scared. Mm hmm. So, this could honestly be like an 18 part episode. This could be its own series. So, I'm just going to give you the high level summary of some of the things that have happened to the Kennedys. Gorgeous. Okay? Gorgeous. So, our story starts with Bridget Murphy and Patrick Kennedy. They were from Ireland during the war. the potato famine, and they could either stay and die, they could stay and live, but then they would be treated unfairly under British rule, or they could get on a boat that they called a quote unquote coffin ship, because so many people died on it, and sail to America and try to build a new life. What would you have done? I would like to think I had the balls to get on the coffin ship. But I also probably would have been like, just let the famine take me. I look skinny. I agree. Lose a couple pounds, you're off the taters. I will say, all these people say like, what person would you be in the apocalypse? Like if you could have a weapon, I'm like, none. I'd go out in the middle, I'd open my arms and say, it's her time. Yeah. No, I wouldn't even go. I would just sit my pretty ass down and I would wait. I would just wait for the sweet Lord to finally take me. Okay? That's what I would do. So they do that. They get on a boat, they sail to America, and they landed in the sweet docks of East Boston. Sorry to hear. Sorry for your loss already. Imagine getting so excited to like just get off the boat and be in this glorious land and that's where you are. Yeah, and it's just like we don't have this religious persecution anymore. We're not under British rule and then you get here and it's East Boston and nobody wants you here. Because guess what? They didn't like Catholics. They weren't fucking with the Catholics. And here we are, honestly. And here we are. So In this time, there was a ton of voter suppression, there was anti immigrant legislation, there were riots at the polls. In the mid 1850s, there was this Know Nothing Party and its hatred. Was mostly aimed at the Irish and at Catholics and if you've been in any of the Shannon family household You will know that there is a sign that when they would ask for people to apply to jobs They would write Irish need not apply. Oh really hard to be an immigrant during this time. How history loves to repeat itself. Anyway, so they stay in Boston. They have children. Those children have children. So now we get to the eldest grandchild, whose name is Joe Kennedy, who I will now call Joe Senior. Okay. What about like maybe like Joey? That, that could be cool. There's multiple of them. So I gotta go with Joe Senior. All right, Joe Senior. So Joe Senior as a kid is very smart. He's a fierce competitor. He's a superstar athlete. He was the class president. He ends up going to Harvard University and he has just big ambitions for his future in business and he actually graduates Harvard with a degree in economics, which will make a lot sense later. Yeah. Yeah. Joe Sr. meets Rose Fitzgerald when they are young kids vacationing in Maine, and their fathers were actually political rivals, and her father ends up becoming the mayor of Boston for a bit. Oh! And Joe Sr. would go on to court Rose for seven years, much to her father's disapproval, but he was ultimately successful. He graduated in 1912, and him and Rose got married in 1914. Okay. He becomes a bank examiner right out of college, which allows him to learn a lot about the banking industry and the stock market. And by 25 years old, he's the bank president. Like, that's how ambitious he was. Oh, that's quick. Think of totally think of like a classic Slytherin. He is like, everyone's playing checkers and he's playing chess. He understood the market in a way I can't really or will ever be able to understand or explain, but he loved to take risks and so he realized the stock market was going to crash so he pulled all of his money out before that it could happen and it says that he survived the crash quote, because he possessed a passion for facts, a complete lack of sentiment and a marvelous sense of timing. Okay. So during the great depression, he. It completely goes from like mediocre wealth to stupid wealthy by devoting most of his money into real estate. So in 1929, Joe Senior's fortune was estimated to be about 4 million, which in 2022 is like 68. 2 million, right? By 1935, his wealth had increased to 180 million, which is equivalent to 3. 84 billion in 2022. Ugh, it's just not fair. He also acquired enough capital to establish million dollar trust funds for each of his nine children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. Jesus. So, also, another thing he did is by the end of the 20s, between banking and real estate, he also went to Hollywood and he made all of these amazing investments in film. So they're filthy rich. Like in the 1930s, he's named the fourth richest man in America. He now has two to three hundred million dollars. Billions, billions and billions and billions of dollars now. That's annoying. Just like, there should be a cutoff, like you're done. So yeah, I agree. There should be no billionaires. So he comes a long way from his immigrant parents or grandparents, but he's not done. He wants to run for a political office one day, and he also wants all of his boy children to do the same. So, Rosa's at home popping out babies, so let's talk about these nine babies. Here is the order. Joe Jr., John, also known as Jack, also they all have nicknames, Rosemary, Kathleen, who they called Kick, Eunice, Patricia, that's a tough name, yeah, Eunice is tough, Eunice is tough. It just reminds me of she's the man, Eunice, Eunice, okay, Patricia, they called Pat, Robert, who they called Bobby, Gene. in Ed, who they called Ted. So by nickname, Joe Jr, Jack, Rosemary, Kick, Eunice, Pat, Bobby, Gene, and Ted. Wow. All super Irish Catholic raised by a super Catholic mother. I can't even imagine having that many children, let alone birthing them. Birthing them. It reminds me of, and I know you haven't seen this, but every, almost everyone else listening has Goodwill Hunting when he lists off his brother's names. That's what it sounds like when I list their names off. Now these kids had the best of everything. They had the best clothes. This is like privilege we would never. Even be able to understand the best schools. They vacationed in the best places. They own a home in the Cape They have a very strict household their father. He didn't even allow a small talk at the table They were only allowed to talk about the news or politics or something economic They were raised to be very competitive with each other in sports Academically, you name it. They an iron fist, you know in that house Joe Sr. is notoriously unfaithful. He sleeps with everybody. So he goes to L. A. because he's invested in all of these movies, and he was living his best life cheating and doing whatever the fuck he wanted because he was bringing home the bacon, and he becomes like a Hollywood mogul, and he ends up owning a bunch of lots, and he's just making more money than God at this point, while his wife is The ideal Susie homemaker. So he just thinks he's better than his wife? I mean, that's kind of how it went back then and it got so, it got so bad that he was cheating on her so much. She was pregnant with, I believe, kick her fourth child. She moved home temporarily, temporarily with her parents and says, I need to leave him. And her father says, divorce is not an option. You're Catholic. And she's a devout Catholic. So she. goes back home to him. And she has five more children. Correct. And she's, there's a lot going on in this house. And they're also only surrounded by the super wealthy and the super elite. So they become this kind of like American royalty type of family. Okay. So Joe Sr. wants his own political career, like I mentioned. So now that he has all this money and all this influence, he helps bankroll the election of President FDR, Frank Delano Roosevelt, and six years later FDR appoints him to the ambassador to England, which makes him the first Catholic man to do so. So he actually picks up the family and they move to London and they become immediate celebrities over there. There's video footage of these little kids, these little Americans, waving their hands around and Joe wanted to continue his life of luxury and bump elbows with the Queen and all these A list celebs, but it does not quite work out that way. Ah, great. War breaks out a year later and tensions are really high. Joe Sr. is convinced that Hitler's gonna win. He's like, this is it. America's just gotta ease into this because Hitler's gonna take it all over and we just gotta let him do it, basically. And he was trying to appease Hitler to try to avoid war. This obviously doesn't go over well. Why are we appeasing Hitler? Oh, for fuck's sake. Plot twist. So America and England are like, fuck you. So he has to resign and it kills his aspirations of becoming a president and the family goes home. So now all of Joe senior's personal ambitions are transferred to his children. He's a pusher. His eldest, his favorite, and his namesake, Joe Jr. Joe Jr. is a star athlete, super smart, he did everything his parents asked, he just wanted his dad's approval so fucking badly. He enlists as a Navy pilot, which his father agreed would be smart for a future president to do. So, every single move is like, how does this further your political career? How does this further the family name? No questions asked. Legacy. That's what they're about. We'll get back to him in a minute. But first we need to talk about the oldest daughter, Rosemary Kennedy. If I didn't preface this, just trigger warning for abuse and tragedy and trauma and miscarriages and death and every time you think it's going to get worse, it gets worse. Great. I weirdly think that Rosemary is such a cute name. It is. It is a really cute name. Uh, there was an issue with her at birth where the doctor was late and the midwife did something I'm so glad people don't do anymore where she essentially tried to push Ro Rosemary back in. To stall for the doctor. Okay. Yep, and that left her without oxygen for far too long and she suffered for the rest of her life because of it. She had the mental age of 11 years old forever. She didn't fit in. She suffered with anxiety and depression. She began lashing out and as she got older it even got violent. Joe, Senior, and Rose were horrified by this. You also have to remember that back then there was such a stigma against any sort of Mental incapacity, like this was not a thing. This was like something to be ashamed of instead of like, this person needs love and care I feel like I've heard about her before. You absolutely have, but for this part. So, they put her in a camp. Like a summer camp and it does not improve her behavior at all. It gets worse. They also fear at one point she might have gotten pregnant while she's staying there. There's just a lot of crap going on and after three weeks they remove her because she's a danger to herself and the other camp goers they say. And right after she left, Joe Sr. does something. So fucking heinous, there are just no words for it. So without her consent, she does not know what's happening. Joe allowed doctors to lobotomize his 23 year old daughter. Yay! They had her sing nursery rhymes and count back from a hundred. And when she could no longer do those things, they knew the surgery was successful, but it wasn't successful because the doctors ruined a much larger part of her brain that had absolutely devastating consequences. She woke up. She couldn't walk. She couldn't talk. She could never take care of herself again for the rest of her life. She was left at a psychiatric institution. Her father never visited her again for the rest of her life and her mother only visited her after 20 years. Why after 20? Because she was basically just whitewashed from the Kennedy ledger. She was embarrassing to them. They just like forgot about her. Like, okay. They were just like, she's a danger. She can't take care of herself. She's embarrassing to our name. So she, she doesn't live here anymore. Yikes. Not part of the family. She died in 2005, but like I said, her name was removed from the Kennedy letterhead. And this also set the tone for how the family would deal with tragedy and misbehavior in the future. Even though with her misbehavior, it's like she can't fucking help it. Yeah, that's fair. Okay. Justice for her. Yeah, justice for Rosemary, seriously. So, JFK is next. John Kennedy, who they called Jack. he wanted to follow in his brother Joe Junior's footsteps. So, he also joins the Navy. And he, this is just a crazy ass story. So, on August 1st, 1943, he's a Naval Lieutenant and he's on a boat. off of like Papua New Guinea, way out there. I know you're going to ask me where that is, way fucking out there. Doesn't sound safe. Is the Somalian island not safe? No, no. They had this mission, where they, as they were going out and running supplies to ally ships, they were also told to bomb Japanese fighter boats. But, it was pitch black outside, no moon, no stars. They can't see shit. One of the crewmen said, quote, it was as dark as if you were in a closet with the door shut in the middle of the ocean. Oh, okay. I don't love that. So I actually said about the same thing about the Titanic, which is weird. So this is already an impossible mission in impossible conditions. And there are four boats and only one of them has radar equipment. Oh. So, three boats, one of them having Jack Kennedy on it, flying completely blind, which makes a lot of sense. So, they're chugging along, and they also have to keep their engines off because they don't want to be heard. They also don't want the boats to create a wake so that enemies can see the wakes. And this is where, plankton is a thing, so when water moves, it lights up. So, they are just Hanging, trying to bomb fighter pilots or fighter ships. Great. Makes a lot of sense. This is like when you were doing the Night Witches where you're like, cool. Cool. So we're just hanging out at the bottom of the planes. Yep. Exactly. Perfect. Perfect. So one of them yells, ship at two o'clock. And before they even have time to understand what the fuck is happening, they realize a massive destroyer, 388 feet long. Crashes right into them, snaps the boat in half, slams into them, breaks it in two, two men die immediately, instantly, of the 13 men. So there's 11 left, including Jack, and they're in the water. Now, Jack went to Harvard and was on the swim team. He also, like the rest of the Kennedy kids, grew up. incredibly athletic, but also spending their times on the Cape getting sailing and navigation lessons all the time. So he's suffering from a serious back injury, but one of the men was suffering from such bad burns that jack Kennedy cuts a strap from the guy's life vest and puts it in his teeth. He rallies the crew around each other, even though they're all spread out. He gets them together. And for the next four to five hours, he swims breaststroke style across open waters, towing the guy McMahon with the burns behind him with a strap in his teeth. Damn, Imagine doing that? No, like fucking no. So they finally reach land and he obviously gets violently sick because he's inhaled all salt water when he's done They're now on an island. There's no fresh water There's no food. He tries to go on a solo mission to alert ally boats where they are. It doesn't work. He tries another time to go out. He gets lost in a current. He spends all night at sea. He's like, okay, well this is it. And when he wakes up, he was miraculously pushed to the shore where the men are. Like he's on the same island. Hmm. He cuts the bottom of his feet really bad because he had taken them off in the water so the bottom of his feet are all fucked up. He then convinces them to go to another island where he thinks there will be food. So he again, straps up McMahon, puts his life vest in his teeth, and swims for another three hours. I would've like tapped out by then for sure. Yeah. the inner strength to him also. Fuck this guy. I would left. Ridiculous man behind What would you have done? Sorry, McMahon. I mean, I would try, I would think that I would do the same and then try to pass the strapper around so everyone could get his shot. I mean, I couldn't do that on my own. I would drown. Yeah. And then who are you helping at that point? I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty buoyant. Okay. Sure. So they're on Bird Island. They're drinking somewhat fresh water. They have coconuts. It's been four days and they see two men and they panic because they think they're bad guys. They think they're the enemy. They're two allies somehow. Jack takes a coconut and, with a knife, scraps a message into the side of the coconut, which then they delivered to New Zealand Infantry Patrol. In JFK later, when he became president, he carried that shell throughout all of war and he used it as a paperweight when he worked in the Oval Office as president. He kept it as a paperweight. Oh, interesting. Which I think is so cool. That is cool. So, when the PT Rescue Boat finally makes its rendezvous with this crew, PT 109, it's 1130 p. m. on August 8th, Kennedy calls out, where the hell have you been? To which the crew replied, we got some food for you. And Jack, never at a loss for words, answers back, No thanks, I just had a coconut. Okay. This is very on brand for him, he's very quick. So of the 13, the 2 that instantly died, all 11 men survived after that. Damn. So JFK was rewarded with the Medal of Heroism and received a Purple Heart. And what this means to Joe Senior, good old Papa Bear, is now like, I gave the prodigal son all my energy, but now I've got a son whose popularity with the American people just skyrocketed because of his heroic acts. So I guess I'm switching my favoritism from my eldest son to Jack. Yikes. I wonder how, uh, Jack feels about that. So Joe Jr., who has been groomed to be future president his whole life, literally when he was born, his grandfather said, this child will be the future president of this nation. Alright. No pressure, Joe Jr. Like, seriously, no pressure. Sure, everything's gonna go great. So Joe Jr. leaves his final year of Harvard to enlist. Like I said, he becomes a lieutenant. He completes 25 missions. It's right around the time that JFK gets saved, right? So he hears about all of this, and he's due to be sent home, Joe Jr. Okay. And he actively volunteers to do one more mission. Mmm. And in the documentary I watched on YouTube, which I'll cite at the end, Joe Sr. apparently even said to him, like, listen, you've done all you can, it's time to come home. And he was like, no, no, no, no, no, I have one more in me. Oh, he's gonna die, isn't he? Yep. So, I'm not going to go into too much detail here because it's a little complicated, but basically the mission was basically to drop bombs that were controlled remotely. That they would drop them and then someone else somewhere would go beep boop boop and then they would go kaboom where they wanted them to. Mm. So, although he was given warning that the bombs could detonate accidentally, Joe Jr. went ahead with the mission anyway, and on August 12th, 1944, the bombs blew up prematurely on their plane, instantly killing Joe Jr. and his co pilot, Willie. He was 29 years old. Ugh. It was nearly one year to the day they found Jack and his crew on the island, and now all hopes are pinned on Jack to become president. So the two eldest, Joe Jr., is dead, and Rosemary is institutionalized, and now we have Jack. Meanwhile, Kathleen Kennedy, also known as Kick, was the second daughter and fourth child of Joe Sr. and Rose. Now where the boys were taught how to be successful politicians, the girls, like I said, were taught how to be homemakers and very ladylike and very classy. Kick's kind of a baddie, though. Kick's like, she got her nickname Kick because of her quote unquote, irrepressible nature. She's whip smart. She's sassy. She plays football with the boys and tackles them in the yard. And she was just attracting men left, right, and center. And it was happening so much. And her, her mother didn't approve at all. So they sent her to an all girls school. They were like enough of this. Cause she was like in their eyes a hoe. Yeah. Well, no, not even a hoe. She just was, uh, she was a magnet. She just seemed like a really positive, big personality type of person who didn't take any shit. Got it. I love her nickname. Love it. Yeah, I do. Kick is cute for Kathleen. because she was one of the kids who went to London when she was little, it kind of influenced the rest of her life. She just loved London. She wanted to stay there during the war. She wrote home to her dad and her dad was like, uh, no, a war is about to break out. Get your fucking ass home. So. When she's home, she grows increasingly independent from the family and their very strict Roman Catholic church that they were very devout at. And she starts up a romance with this guy named Billy Hardington. He was, this is an exact line, 10th in line and heir to the Duke of Devonshire, which is a totally normal and relatable sentence. Her parents absolutely did not approve of this relationship. She wanted to marry him, but that means she'd be breaking Roman Catholic laws because that means she'd be raising her future children in the Church of England. We don't want that. So, no, Rose is not happy. And she, at one point, tried to physically keep them away from each other, but that doesn't stop Kik. They get married, May 6, 1944, uh, and as she got older, she got increasingly close to her brother, her big brother, Joe Jr., and he was the only person to attend their wedding. Jack was in the hospital and Bobby was in naval training, but her parents were not happy and they did not attend, so Joe Jr. was the only one there. That's really sad. A few months later, yeah, it's, it is really sad and because, you know, a few months later Joe Jr. dies and she's absolutely devastated and if that weren't bad enough, less than one month later, four months after their marriage, her husband Billy is killed in battle. He's shot by a sniper. So she loses her closest brother and her husband in a month. Less than a month. Yeah, so she mourns for a few years, but she's very popular She's in the social elite circuit in England. Everybody loves her and she starts seeing a man who on Wikipedia. This is his name William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth Fitzwilliam 8th Earl Fitzwilliam and they call him Peter Peter It reminds me of when Dumbledore says his name it's like Brian what what do you mean so I don't know what the monarchy is, honestly. So now the problem with this guy is he is still actively married. Woof. He is in the middle, he's in the process of getting a divorce, but he's not divorced. So when she calls her parents to tell them about this guy, you can imagine how absolutely livid Rose is. They're like, And she For real like just pick a normal one. Just pick a normal rich dude like the rest of us She threatens to not only to cut kick off but she threatens to disown her from the Kennedy family completely So she's not fucking around anymore She continues to see him anyway. She should. So she knows her mother won't budge. She's like, alright, I've lost mom on this one, but maybe I could spay my dad. So she arranges to meet with her father who's in Germany on business. So on May 13th, 1948, her and her boyfriend Peter fly to Paris, they get lunch with their friends, and a storm has been brewing all day. And so when they get to their plane, the pilot is refusing to fly. He's like, absolutely not. But Peter, the boyfriend, talks him around it. He, he, some people say they paid him off. I just like, I don't know why stories start like this. If you have to convince a pilot to do anything, then it's probably not safe. Like, why are we talking pilots into flying? Do we think? So the plane takes off three hours later than expected and it goes right into a storm. They lose contact with them about an hour into their flight, which is the middle of the storm. The cabin experienced, this makes me so sick to my stomach, 20 minutes of such horrible turbulence, the plane dropped up and down nearly thousands of feet at a time. Oh my god. So mind you, this is also in 1948 everybody, so if you get on a plane now, this will not happen to you. Everyone remain calm. That's like being on a golf cart in the air. That's correct. That is correct. Planes just were not built, and mind you, they're on a small plane. They're on a private jet. So this is not the way PIL planes are built now. The plane obviously not being able to handle this type of thing back in the day, falls apart in the air. Like the wings come off the, everything falls apart. The engine falls off, it knows, dives into a ravine and kills every single person on board. Woof. And this is four years after Joe Jr. died, and it is said that Joe Sr. was absolutely devastated by Kik dying. Uh, he actually flew to where the plane ended up, because it sounds like it hit the water and then coasted on land. he went to identify her. Yeah. And he said that she always kicked her shoes off when she was getting comfortable. Like she would always, before she jumped on a chair or anything, and her shoes were kicked off. And so I guess like some peace at knowing she was comfortable. I don't know. I don't know, man. I mean, whatever you need, take it. You know? Yeah. For real. And in the aftermath, uh, Uh, Joe senior already thinking about how to save the family's image on this one. They didn't want it to let out that she was with a married man on the boat, the boat, Bridget, the plane, sorry, getting all the tragedies confused. Uh, they didn't want everyone to know that she was on this plane with a married man. So they made up a story that she was with friends. They just kind of erase this scandal from the Kennedy sphere. We need a PR team like that. Yeah, for real. Turns out it's just Joe Sr. Uh, he was the only one to attend her funeral, and Rose refused, but she was later admitted to the hospital for quote unquote medical reasons, which, the fact you have to stay, I mean, obviously, as opposed to what reasons? Fair. So, I think that was, Had something to do with kick, but who knows. So now we're back to JFK. He's got two siblings dead in a plane accident and one institutionalized They also were not raised to cry at all about their families or their feelings or show weakness in any way, especially the boys No one has processed anything. No one is seeking any sort of help Jack puts everything he has into politics in 1953. He's elected to the U S Senate and he looked like the perfect candidate. I mean, he's young, he's attractive. He's from American royalty, silver spoon, et cetera, et cetera. War hero, rinse and repeat, but he's single in Joe senior knew that the American people would never vote for a single president, which now I'm like. Why wouldn't you? Yeah. What's what is the, they have more time on their hands. That's true. Less problematic. But the back in the day, you had to be like a family man, like they wanted the full American package, like you need the cute wife and the kids. Oh my fucking god, I can't. Right, and so he meets Jackie Onassis at a dinner party in Washington, and when he introduces Jackie O to his parents, they had one piece of advice for him, which was marry her immediately. She was smart. She was beautiful. She was also from money and power and the elite silver spoon high society stuff. So perfect for their little Jackie poo. Uh, they get married in September, 1953. I watched a documentary on YouTube and it says that Joe senior took over every ounce of wedding planning. She, Jackie thought she would have this beautiful wedding day. How crazy of her because he found it to be a perfect opportunity to do a fundraiser. It was like a campaign event. Yikes. Yeah. She didn't even get to pick out her own wedding dress and she would later complain that she looked like a lampshade. I disagree. She looked absolutely stunning, but fair enough. Her dress is now on display at the Kennedy Library in Boston for anyone who would like to see it. Uh, their wedding was considered the social event of the century. There were 700 guests at the ceremony and 1, 200 at the reception in Newport, Rhode Island. Holy shit. Yeah, so just a few people. Just like a, just a few people we know. It's just not enough. It's not. There, there must be more. So we've got this young, happy couple. They have a bunch of kids. They're beautiful and wealthy and basically, you know, just Perfect. Yeah, right? Jackie O is known to the American people as being this devoted wife and mother and she's chic and she's stylish and everyone's trying to copy her looks and her hair and her makeup while JFK is secretly running around and being a serial adulterer just like his dad. Can we not? On top of this, JFK has been sick his whole life. So he has Addison's disease. Which he's suffered from since he was a little kid and he actually already had a back injury and this war injury made it a thousand times worse. So he's always in pain. From my understanding, it's really rare. Oh, it sounds it. I've never heard of it, it says it's an uncommon illness that occurs when the body doesn't make enough of certain hormones, but it has crazy, crazy symptoms that make it very painful. So it's just a big old imbalance, essentially. Oh, for sure. For sure. So we've got that going on. Jackie then suffers. It's a miscarriage. She has stillborn. I mean, we're talking just, it is not sunshine and rainbows. We are talking trauma. But in November 1960, Jack is elected president. Of course, Jackie O becoming the first lady. In actually 1961, Joe Sr. has a stroke and he's impaired for the rest of his life. Woof. And Jack relied heavily on his father's advice and guidance and now he's kind of on his own. I mean, obviously he has a team of people, but he. feels lost without his dad. And during his presidency, there's a lot going on in the world. We had the escalation of the Vietnam War, the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, which was a huge setback for JFK, the civil rights movement, there's tensions with the Soviet Union, they're erecting the Berlin Wall in Berlin. I mean, it's, it's not cute out here in these streets. And this is on top of his own personal health struggles, his ailing father, he's sleeping around. So for the most part, though, people loved JFK, his short presidency led to, uh, Progression in civil rights, it led to the first moon landing, investments in the Peace Corps and education, healthcare, and there are a lot of people who love JFK. However, he was a Democrat and he was receiving death threats all the time from right wing extremists. And he was very specifically told not to go to Dallas because the FBI and anyone who's ever heard of Texas know it's not exactly the best place to go when you're JFK and you're a big old lefty. He goes anyway, and he goes with Jackie. And I saw somewhere that this was the first time she had ever joined him on a trip like this in his presidency. Hmm. And as we all know, on November 22nd, 1963, during a motorcade, John F. Kennedy is assassinated after a little over two years in office. He is shot, and he was 46 years old. Ugh. It only gets worse somehow. so buckle up. What are we on? Sibling number five at this point? Four. Okay. The announcement of his death was felt all over the world. Jackie O refused to take her bloodstained clothes off while she boarded Air Force One because she quote, wanted them to see what they've done to Jack. Jackie O planned the entire wake and funeral. She said, it said that she modeled it after Abraham Lincoln's services in an iconic photo and you can actually watch a video of this too. It, there's a picture of her walking down the church stairs, and John John, his son is on, or JFK Jr. is on one arm, and she's holding Caroline's hand on the other arm, and when they get in front of the casket, little John John, it's his third birthday, the day of the funeral, and he salutes his dad's coffin. It makes me sick. I know, and it's like an iconic photo, like if you Google it, it'll pop right up. So JFK now rests at Arlington National Cemetery and he has an eternal flame at his grave. So let's go to Ted. Ted is the youngest brother of all of the siblings. And a US Senator, when JFK dies, he wanted to honor his brother's legacy, so he helped vote through the Civil Rights Act, which was championed by JFK. And the night after passing. The Civil Rights Act, he's due to fly to the Democratic National Convention in Springfield, Mass. He's in a plane with his political aide and a few of his friends, despite the bad weather warnings, they took off anyway. Jesus Christ. Right before they're able to land, they hit fog and they crash. Ted Kennedy's aide and the pilot die instantly, while the rest of them live. Woof. Why? Why though? Ted, I, for real, Ted had a fractured spine, internal bleeding, and a punctured lung. But he lives. Somehow. Good lord. All right. So, at this point, I will stop here and just say, people are actively talking about a Kennedy curse at this point. Right. Like, he lived, but for the love of God. I think it's even Ted, Ted or Robert, I forget which one says it, says to one of their aides, someone does not like us up there. Clearly not. I mean, we're just, we're running through the siblings at this point. But I would also say, some are like, wow, oh my gosh, so much empathy for the Kennedys, right? And others are like, why do they always have to skirt the rules? Why are they constantly paying people off? Like, is it worth it? Do we think? That's fair. And their father was this big risk taker in business, and it paid off, but the Kennedy boys are out here with all that privilege, and they take way bigger personal risk, and it costs them sometimes their fucking lives. Mm hmm. It's like, can we just be a little more careful, for the love of God? So anyway. Let's go on to Robert Kennedy. Okay, Bobby Aka RFK also known as okay. He enlisted we'll come back to Ted in a second. He enlisted in the Navy He also went to Harvard, you know rinse and repeat Harvard Navy Harvard Navy. He served his late brother as an attorney general He was his closest advisor. He was the next Kennedy in line to have all of the energy poured into him He was a devout Catholic of all the Kennedy siblings. He was the most serious. He was the most somber And by the late 60s, he announces his candidacy for president. He's not only got the Kennedy name, he has their credentials, he takes a hard line on criminal enterprises like the Mafia, which is fucking hilarious because allegedly Joe Sr. was in the Mafia's pocket, but let's not even talk about that today. So Bobby continues on with his campaign. He's doing really well. He wins in California, in South Dakota, in the primaries. In the night, they're like announcing his win. He's in California. It's June 5th, 1968. He's at a hotel with his team and a bunch of supporters. Once they hear that he won California a little after midnight, he goes out, he does his speech about winning. He says something like, on to Chicago, like let's win over there. Everyone's excited. He's moving from one room to a press room to do interviews. He has a bodyguard, who used to be an FBI agent, who's like, do not go through the kitchen. I don't advise it. He's told at some point it's a shortcut, so they go through the kitchen. He takes a left. He shakes a busboy's hand. Someone steps out of the crowd, open fires, hitting RF Kennedy three times, and wounding five other people. For fuck's sake. He dies 26 hours later. Jesus Christ. His wife. was pregnant with their 11th child. Oh, good lord. And for anyone counting, this is five years after JFK, his brother. Does it get better? Like, what? No! Honestly, no. So, now let's go back to Ted. Ted, who survived the plane crash. He's the youngest Kennedy. To which I say again, no pressure, bud. It's giving final destination. For real. And he's a bit different. He gets into Harvard. He doesn't get great grades. He also, he asked, he was worried about passing at the end of the year so he had someone else take his Spanish test and they find out and they expel both of them. And they were basically told you can reapply in a year or two if you have good behavior, which I just feel so bad for that other kid because you know he's going to be fine. But that poor other kid probably doesn't come from the same you know, privileged background that this one does. So he enlists in the army for four years. For some reason, his father intervenes and is like, no, no, no, you're only doing two. He only does two, but then he like goes to one of the basic training camps and he gets just discharged for no reason. Like there's nothing about why there's just some, there's something that ain't right. Like, he's supposed to be deployed to the Korean War, but his father steps in and figures out a way to not send him. He ends up getting stationed in Europe. He travels extensively on the weekends and hikes mountains. Interesting. So, sounds pretty cushy to me. Yeah, the math, the math's not math. Listen, if you serve this country, you are a hero, and I love you. This seems cushy. I agree. This seems like a lot of strings being pulled, so that good old Teddy doesn't have to do shit. But anyway. He gets back into Harvard. He graduates, but he does not get accepted into Harvard Law because he didn't get great grades. So he ends up going to get his law degree at Virginia School of Law, which started all this controversy because they were like, hey, do you remember that time he was expelled for cheating? What law school could you possibly get into if you weren't a Kennedy with that background? Unless you were paid off. A hundred percent. So, Classic Kennedy, he ends up graduating with a law degree and he runs for U. S. Senate. He wins. He's sworn in in 1962. Ted was actually working the day JFK was shot. And when they ran in to tell him, him and his sister Eunice had to fly back to the Cape and tell their father, their ailing father, the noose, which I'm sure was awful to do, because at that point, I'm pretty sure Joe Sr. couldn't talk, but he could hear and understand. Oh, God. At that point, like, why do you even gotta tell him? Just let him go. I know. I know, because he's still aware. Like, he's still, yeah, it's brutal. So, the plane accident happens, When he survives, he spends months in the hospital. He has back problems the rest of his life. He walks for with a cane for a while, but he recovers and he continues to get reelected for U. S. Senate, which brings us to 13 months after Robert's assassination. So RFK. Ted Kennedy walks into a police station in the Cape to report an incident which will be forever known as Chappaquiddick, which is what I started to do this on and then completely fell down this rabbit hole. I may do another episode on this and do a full deep dive, but. Let's just talk about Trapp Aquatic for a second. Do you know anything about it? Isn't that on the Vineyard? Yes. That's the only thing I know. So on July 18th, 1969, Ted's at a party. He's been drinking with some friends and a 28 year old woman named Mary Jo Kopechny. She's a young political aide who worked with RFK. She would type up his speeches. She was a hustler. She loved campaigning. They left the party together and he claims he was driving her to the ferry when he took a wrong turn and ended up on a one lane bridge. The car flips over. It lands in the pond. Ted is able to get himself free from the car. He claims to try to save Mary Jo to keep going down and grabbing her. He is unsuccessful and she dies by drowning in the car. Instead of reporting this to the police, he went to the Kennedy compound, and according to the New York Times, he made a bunch of phone calls to his families, his lawyers, and his friends, and all of the people that he works with, and it is said that they all gathered in one room and they decided to do what, what to do with Ted's political career while Mary Jo sat in a fucking pond, dead, while no one called the police. No one contacted the police, not once the entire night. They stayed up all night long. Poor Mary Jo. So, 10 hours later, the next day, he's been up all night, he walks into the police station and he tells them what happened, and they send out a dive team and they recover Mary Jo's body from the car, and there's a lot of speculation about this, and was at that party. And there's this thing about like boiler room girls, and it was all, you know, campaign aides who were single, and there were six married men there, and there were six single women there, but none of them are cheating or drinking. Interesting how that turns out. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. He denied drinking or having any misconduct with her at all. There's really no way to say what happened this night. A lot of people, like, if you could go down to Reddit, rabbit hole with this one. A lot of people think he didn't try and he was just worried about himself the entire night. Some people think they went into the woods to hook up and he crashed into a tree, killed her, and then they flipped the car to make it look like an accident. Like, there's just so much speculation. But at the end of the day, the only person who could tell us what happened is dead. So, and the other one's, you know, trying to save his own ass. So, so no one, what, whatever it might be. Ted pleaded guilty to a charge of leading the scene of an accident causing bodily injury. His attorneys argued that any jail sentence should be suspended and that the pro and the prosecutors agreed by citing his age, 37, character, and prior reputation. He lost his license for a year. And that's it? He killed someone. He killed someone. It's called vehicular homicide, my friends. I think it's called murder. Uh huh. And although They keep talking about his reputation. He did not, in fact, have a completely clean driving record, but who cares? Right? Who cares? He's a Kennedy. Those words are coming out of my mouth. There was an inquest into it because people were like, Hey, what the fuck? He needs to speak about this more. We do not have enough information. Kennedy lawyers hushed the whole thing up, paid a bunch of people. Jury wouldn't indict him on any further charges. He would never become anything more than a Senator after that, but. I mean, that's a small fucking price to pay, considering. So, extra, extra trigger warning here. Ted Kennedy's wife, Joan, was pregnant at the time of the Chappaquiddick incident. She was confined to bed because of two previous miscarriages. So while she's laying, I mean, I can't. But she attended, uh, Mary Jo's funeral. And she stood beside her husband in court. And soon after, she suffered a third miscarriage. And she would blame Chappaquiddick. Because of it. Yep. Mary Jo's family received a hundred and forty one thousand dollars From the Kennedy's insurance company aka pennies to them His son like Ted Kennedy's son says that his dad was self medicating and that He had never processed the death of his brothers and that there was a stigma around mental health But at the end of the day he had power he had wealth he put his career ahead of a young getting a young woman out of that pond Someone who could have lived or someone whose family could have known where she was but they decided to figure out his political career first It's he says it haunts him for the rest of his life. I mean do with that information what you will In November of that same year, so this is July in that November Joe senior dies He died at their hyenas port home In the cape and he died just his from all the heart attacks and strokes like his body kind of deteriorated And there's a picture of him someone is gonna be really offended by this It just reminds me of junior from The Sopranos No, like he had those big horned rimmed glasses Yes, yes, yes, like the big eye folds. And like, everyone called him for shit, and then one day, like, he can't function. Like, it's very much along those lines. Got it. It's giving junior. Okay, so like I said, there are so many tragedies. We could do a 16 parter on each one. This is the last big one I'm gonna tell you, and then I'll do a recap. So many years go by little John, John, little boy, JFK Jr. Who saluted his father's casket, right? Mm-Hmm. He grows up. a hottie. He's handsome, he's charming, and some would argue even more charming and handsome than his father. America is obsessed with him because he's JFK's son, he's a Kennedy, he's hot, they've watched him grow up, like, everyone's obsessed with him. He attends Brown University, he becomes a lawyer. He dabbles in acting, he starts a magazine, you know, rich people shit. I saw one article that called him the American Diana. Oh, that's saying something. Yeah, so they said that he had the charm of his dad and the poise of his mother. So, he dates Hollywood elite, he's a successful lawyer, he starts to gain interest in politics, he even shows up on the campaign trail for his uncle and Senator Ted Kennedy, who I just talked about. A lot of people speculated whether he would run for office or not. He was elusive. He didn't do anything to shut down the rumors. I think he was thinking about it. It sounded like it was in his future. You know, like all Kennedys. However, in 1998, JFK Jr. qualifies to be a pilot. And July 16th, 1999, he boarded his plane with his wife and sister in law to go to his cousin's wedding on Martha's Vineyard. He also had a cast taken off because he had a broken ankle. He had absolutely no fucking business flying this plane because you, it was back in the day when you had to use both arms and legs to control. And he had not. Yeah, for real, and he had done, he had not done enough missions, and they told him that the weather conditions were not going to be ideal. So, like, every Kennedy should stay off planes, period. If you get on a plane and you see a Kennedy, quietly and swiftly remove yourself. It's not good, okay? An hour after takeoff, the plane crashed, nosedive, Just right into the Atlantic Ocean, they couldn't find them for a bit. Rescue teams located three bodies off the tip of Martha's Vineyard on the ocean floor and identified them as JFK Jr., his wife, and his sister in law. Jesus Christ. And actually, my aunt Sue got married on that day, and I was a, I was eight. I was about to turn nine. And I remember. You'll have to ask my mother about it. I remember hearing people hear about it at the wedding and crying at the wedding that JFK Jr. died. That's powerful. His funeral was compared to Diana's and there was even a TV movie called America's Prince, the JFK Jr. story. So Rose Kennedy would go on to live to be 104 years old. She rarely ever missed mass, even until her dying day, she was always a woman of great faith. She left behind five of her children, 28 grandchildren, and 41 great grandchildren who survived her. There are other horrific stories, there's a tragedy of Michael Kennedy, son of Bobby, who would be killed at the age of 39 in a skiing accident. David Kennedy overdosed after getting addicted to pain medication. Maeve Kennedy, more recently, it's an awful story. Her and her son Gideon, he was eight years old. They went missing in a, like a little canoe and they found it overtipped and they found them days later. I mean. The remaining Kennedy children, like the OG9, Pat Kennedy married and had kids, but was known for being a socialite. Her and her husband were part of the Rat Pack with Freighton Sinatra. They would host these crazy, lavish parties in L. A. with, you know, Marilyn Monroe would show up. She was really good friends with Judy Garland. So that's what Pat was up to. She had a really unhealthy marriage, but she was living the life. The life. She's alive. Life. Yeah. No, they, they've all passed now. Oh yeah. She, yeah, she didn't, you know, go down in a plane crash. So that's good. Eunice was actually the founder of the special Olympics. She was a long time advocate for health and disability issues, and she created the national institute of child health and human development. The woman, this woman. The list of accolades and awards in charity work is so fucking long, I could do a whole episode on it. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1984. It's the nation's highest civilian honor for all the work that she's done. She actually grew closer to her sister, Rosemary, later in life, which made me really happy to hear that Rosemary, at least, had some family that came back to her. Thank God. Poor woman. Jean was the other sister. She was also super dedicated to helping people with disabilities. She started the very special arts department, which is now known as the VSA department at the John F. Kennedy Center for the DC. She was an ambassador to Ireland. They fucking love her over there. She was inducted to the Irish America Hall of Fame because of all of the work she did. She was also Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011. And of all the siblings, she died the most recently in 2020. And I'm assuming Eunice and Jean's future was about Rosemary. That they put all of their time and advocacy into disabilities. Uh, yeah. So if anyone would like to hear just the high level. Ready for this? This is the list. Okay. 1944, Joe Jr. dies in an aircraft that exploded while he was in the service. 1944, Kick's husband dies in the service. In 1948, Kick dies in a plane crash. Jackie O and JFK have two babies pass away in 1956 and 1963. Later that year, in 1963, JFK is assassinated. 1968, his brother, RFK, also assassinated. 1984, David Kennedy dies of a drug overdose, 1997. Michael Kennedy dies in a skiing accident. JFK Jr. dies in a plane accident. I'm sorry, it's not funny. It's just when you list them off. I, I, like, just can't imagine this much. No Kennedy should leave their homes, ever. Yep. Kara Kennedy died of a heart attack while exercising. In 2012, Mary Kennedy takes her own life. In 2019, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, uh, dies of an accidental overdose. Okay, that's actually the only one I knew about. Saoirse Kennedy Hill? Yes. Really? Oh wow, that's so interesting. Uh, 2020 is Maeve Gideon and like I said, her eight year old son Gideon. So those are the deaths and then the incidents. Rosemary Kennedy in the lobotomy at 23. That was in 1941. Ted Kennedy survives a plane crash in 1964. 1969, trapequitic happens and Mary Jo Kopechny dies. 1973, Joe Kennedy II was the driver of a jeep. He crashed and he paralyzed, uh, his passenger, Pam Kelly. Jesus Christ. And other people were injured. Edward Kennedy Jr. at 12, uh, had bone cancer and needed to amputate a right leg. And in 2006, Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, and I'm going to end with this one because it's a little lighter. It's not funny, but it's a little lighter. Patrick J. Kennedy crashed his automobile while intoxicated into a barricade on Capitol Hill in D. C. at 2. 45 a. m. He later revealed an addiction to prescription medications and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Oh wait, that's actually not that funny. You saying that is funny. Okay, because I thought when I first read it, I thought he crashed like into Capitol Hill. That's what I thought with his car. That'd be hilarious. It was just a barricade Like really crashing into the Abe Lincoln Memorial might be Addiction is not funny you crashing your car into a barricade and you were fine is kind of funny He had to pay a 350 fine and he had to serve one year of probation Yeah, yeah. And that is the curse of the fucking Kennedys. Woof, dude. I'm so glad not to know one. I will stay far away and whatever ones are left because they seem to be dropping like flies. They're just so risky. Like, there's so many stories about people telling JFK you shouldn't go to Dallas. They were super lax with security, don't do it, and he did it anyway. Or like Joe Jr. trying to outshine his younger brother, and he knows that his dad has a new favorite, and he's like, no, I'm doing one more mission, even though they're like, hey, by the way, you could blow up. Like for sure. you know, JFK Jr. You should not be dry. They were almost like too privileged that they never heard the word no. So they just didn't ever back down from things. Yeah. It's just like you're not unstoppable. You know what I mean? Like rules apply to you too. Yeah. You're not invincible. I also always thought Joe senior was an absolute Tyrant of a man and then I was listening to a podcast. Oh, wait, I need my sources So there's a podcast episode of betwixt the sheets that I listened to where they have a Kennedy expert on named Barbara Perry. She's great Kennedy's the curse of power. It's by history is ours on YouTube the Navy disaster that earned JFK two medals of heroism Uh, it's a history article, Kennedy immigration story by Time Magazine and every Wikipedia person page on every person I just read about. But that Barbara Perry on that podcast, she was saying it was actually the opposite and Rose was really strict with them. And because Joe senior was always out and about fucking flying to LA and having sex with everyone. He was the fun parent because when he came home, he didn't want to discipline, right? So he would come home and like, take them to games and take them to the movies. So they loved him and they actually thought Rose was stricter. Interesting. Yeah, which I always thought it was the opposite. I mean, who, who knows? But one woman says, I think it's her granddaughter, in the documentary I watched, said her parents would have her write thank you notes to her grand, her grandparents. And she wrote her grandmother a note, Rose, and she sent it back with spelling check ins. Like, you did this wrong. You did that wrong. Like, grammar checks. Damn. So they were strict. Like, they were no nonsense, classic Irish Catholic, shut up, make money, don't be faithful, just get power. Basically. And unless you're a woman. And in that case, it's pop up children, shut up, and make your house a home. My nightmare. Imagine we were still like that. No. No, I would be killed. I, I would be a little old cat lady on an island somewhere because I just simply cannot get back and that's not that long ago. No, not really, actually. I mean, I don't know. 2020, I mean, 2000 was like a million years ago to me. No. I mean, yeah, 2042, over two decades ago. Oh my god. So yeah, I started to do this on Chabaquiddick, and then I saw all the other stories. And I was like, this is just, this is This is so much tragedy. This isn't just like someone had a heart attack. This is people blowing the fuck up and getting assassinated regularly. That is a spiral city. Stop asking pilots to fly when it is not safe to plot twist. Money can't buy the weather and safety. Yeah. Like mother nature doesn't give a shit that you have places to be in. You're rich. What the fuck's wrong with people? Anyway. Ain't nobody want to be a Kennedy these days, I'll tell you. That compound though, looking real good. Yeah, compound does look good. There's still so many Kennedys in politics now, and Erin was saying that, she goes, you should mention that RFK Jr., so Robert Kennedy's son, ran a commercial during the Super Bowl that essentially was a JFK commercial. But with his face instead. Oh, I actually, and then later, wait, I didn't know, like tweeted at the family didn't know was I didn't know that was him though. Like on it? Yeah, like I thought it was a genuine like flashback. Wait, that's crazy. No, it's RFK Juniors and he basically like tweeted at his family like, sorry if I offended any, anyone And they were like, yes. Super fucking offended. By the way, don't ride your fucking dead uncle's coattails. Yeah, that's strange. I didn't realize that. Come up with your own shit. Be original. I actually remember watching it and being like, What the fuck is this? The History Channel? There's a lot of tea within the Kennedy family, too, of course. Because, like, can you even imagine? the drama within the family. Literally. I mean, that Thanksgiving must have been, that Christmas Eve, are you kidding me? I would have killed. My good lord. Anyway, please tell me you have some positive stories for us, because we need it. Oh, I do, actually. Oh, I do! And let me tell you, we're going across the pond for this one. Oh, fun! Yeah, right? It's from BBC, that's why. okay, my first one. And I probably am pronouncing the locations wrong, just because it's there a lot for me. It ain't. Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah, so we're in England now, okay? So, this one is called Book Loving Boy Reads to Care Home Residents. Get the fuck out of here. A book loving five year old has brought joy to care home residents by reading his favorite stories to them. Harry, who is five, spends his free time after school reading to residents in Penn Dine Park's Highfield Home Care in Wrexham. His mom, M U M, Laura, said it was his love of reading that inspired her to bring the book fanatic to the care home where she works. Harry has become a firm favorite amongst all the residents and his mom said their faces light up when he arrives. Oh my god, that's so fucking cute. If I show you his face, you'll literally pass away. I'll send it to you after. Like, oh, I want to throw up and I hate kids. Wait, I'm gonna, I'm gonna google it. The first two pictures. Stop it. The picture of him smiling. I could die. He's so friggin cute. Oh my god. So cute. okay, Laura, his mother is a senior care practitioner at that place and said staff also got to know him well and always shout hello Harry on his arrival. They all know him and enjoy hearing how well he's progressing with his reading. And Harry says it's great. I like to make them smile. And it's nice when they help me if I get stuck on anything. Oh, I want to cry. No, like I'm so upset. That's ridiculous. I see one place that's one part that says seeing him walk in the room always brightens up an afternoon. He's very clever and an excellent reader considering his age. They call him a little ray of sunshine. Get The fuck out of here. The last sentence gets me the most. It says that his mom says, it's always a good idea bringing older and younger generations together. They easily enjoy each other's company and can learn so much from each other. Like I will kill myself. Oh, that's so sweet. Fabulous. The second one I have is, of course, following the same fucking trend because I have issues. But, wedding recreated at a Bridgend care home for a bride's grandmother. Oh my god. Oh my god. I know. When Christy Thomas realized her 81 year old grandmother could not go to her wedding, she was absolutely devastated. And determined to have her in the wedding photos, the new bride put on her dress to recreate part of the day at the care home in Bridgend. She said her grandmother told her this is the day that I've been waiting for as well as added complications due to the coronavirus pandemic. her grandmother had dementia and could and could find changes in routine upsetting. but she was determined to have her play a part in her special day. Sorry, I have to scroll down. You know when the ads pop up on these types of websites? I can't. Yeah, it's so annoying. It drives me crazy. Okay, we're doing positive story time, Colleen. Keep it together. Uh, Christ, christy and her mother booked a visit to the grandmother's home after taking COVID tests. And then she was ushered into a side room to change into her wedding dress before making an appearance. And she said, as I got closer, her little face lit up and said, Oh, it's Christy. She was crying. I was crying. And she realized that it was me and my wedding dress. She just kept saying you look amazing and she offered to carry my train. She said this is the best day and this is the day that I've been waiting for. Stop. I know, I'm so obsessed. Stop it right now. Oh, how sweet. I just love sweet old people. Sweet old people, go and recreate your wedding at their fucking nursing home and make their goddamn year. Fucking do it! Do it! Okay? Do it for us! And that's all I got. Oh, wow. I'm so glad we did two positive stories at the end there. Honestly, it wasn't that much of a downer. I mean, a whole lot of deaths, but like they've been dead for a while where it's okay. That's true. It's not like serial killers from yesterday that are still lurking. Yeah. It's like, it's like now we don't know where he is. There's some time. It's unsolved. Yeah. I fucking hate the unsolved ones. I love the unsolved ones. All right, everybody. Well, listen, I hope you have a wonderful week. I hope that if you're on a plane with Aketani that you swiftly get off of it. Don't run because you don't want to cause a scene, but like. Abort the mission, you know? Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. You know what you have to do? I hope you're I hope you're having way more fun than Colleen is. Yeah. No. Right. And I hope, and I hope you are less sore than I am from waves and cars. I went to go say, Goodbye to the gals and the gays, but it just didn't come out of my mouth. I don't know why. Do you want to say it now? No. I lost the spark. yeah, next week I'll bring the spice. I'll bring the heat, baby. You better come at me with fuckin pop culture. New television, new movies, new books. I want a breakdown. I'm gonna be in Rio this weekend, so I can't do shit for next week's episode. That's fine. I will make it so your cup runneth over. I'm sure you will. I have all the faith in the world. I don't, but that's okay. I'm glad you do. Pfft. I love ya! Clean. Oh, good lord. Alright. Love you, mean it. Love you, mean it. Bye! Hi!
Bridget:This podcast was produced by me. Bridget, Shannon. Music is written and performed by Matt You can find his band super Stoker anywhere you listen to music.