Countdown to Dallas

The Aftermath Apr 30, 2024

The Warren Commission has been the subject of ridicule for decades. But conspiracy theorists often overlook one key thing about it. And—why have conspiracy writers—who have accused the Commission of overlooking things during its nine-month probe, overlooked things during a far longer time—two-thirds of a century?

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Stay subscribed for bonus content, coming soon!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Final Hour Apr 23, 2024

President and Mrs. Kennedy arrive in Dallas. The weather is spectacular, so the president’s top aide orders the Secret Service to keep the “bubble top” roof off Kennedy's car, so everyone can get a good look at the First Couple. The motorcade proceeds along a route that has been publicized for days, and large, friendly crowds give the Kennedys a warm welcome. “You can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,” Nellie Connally, the first lady of Texas, tells the president just moments before shots ring out in Dealey Plaza.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November 22, 1963 - The Morning Hours Apr 16, 2024

In Fort Worth, Kennedy makes jokes about being assassinated. In his final speech, he says the world is “dangerous and uncertain”. Oswald, meantime, drives into Dallas with Frazier, with a long, heavy-looking package in the backseat. He asks a co-worker which way the president’s motorcade is coming—though he and everyone else have already read about it in the paper.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Final Week, Part Two Apr 09, 2024

After learning that President Kennedy would pass right in front of his work place — the Texas School Bool Depository — Lee Harvey Oswald makes a surprise—and unwanted—visit to Marina Oswald, who is living with her two children at the home of Ruth Paine in Irving. He brings with him a 38-inch long bag—long enough to hold the dissented rifle that he kept—without Paine’s knowledge—in her garage. Meanwhile, in Houston, President Kennedy makes a joke about leaving office early. Later that night, in Fort Worth, at least nine members of his Secret Service detail hit the town.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Final Week, Part One Apr 02, 2024

While campaigning in Florida, President Kennedy takes his usual security risks—and comments in the possibility of being assassinated. Ahead of his upcoming visit to Dallas, President Kennedy's motorcade route is released to both of the city’s newspapers — where it is seen by Lee Harvey Oswald. Realizing that Kennedy would pass in front of the Texas School Book Depository, he asks a colleague for a lift to Irving, claiming he wants to pick up curtain rods for his room in a boarding house. Oswald’s room already had curtains.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Security Scare Mar 26, 2024

Final preparations are made for President Kennedy’s trip. Coming off the death of their son Patrick, Jacqueline Kennedy is eager to travel with her husband, but dreads Texas itself. In New York, a Secret Service agent aims his rifle at a motorist who gets too close. Meanwhile, in these final days, what was Oswald up to?

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential Security Mar 19, 2024

What was presidential security like before President Kennedy’s fatal visit to Dallas? Paul Brandus explores motorcades and more — plus, the attitude that 20th-century presidents had towards their own safety.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Preparing for Texas Mar 12, 2024

President Kennedy’s Texas trip takes shape. How were the arrangements made for Kennedy’s trip? Who decided where he would go and when?

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald and the Texas School Book Depository Mar 05, 2024

After failing to get a visa to visit Cuba — dashing his dream of joining Castro’s revolution — Lee Harvey Oswald reluctantly returns to the United States. He has no job and little money. He has been fired from two other jobs in the past six months. He has been arrested, and humiliated on a radio program, his lies exposed. He lives apart from his estranged wife — 8 1/2 months pregnant with their second child. Life is bleak. Oswald has few prospects and is desperate for work. But thanks to a group of suburban women having coffee, he lands a menial position at the Texas School Book Depository.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald in Mexico City Feb 27, 2024

Determined to get to Cuba—where he dreams of joining Castro’s revolution—Lee Harvey Oswald travels to Mexico City, where he hopes to get a visa. But he immediately runs into trouble at both the Cuban and Soviet Embassies. Meanwhile, the CIA—which closely monitors both communist embassies—tracks Oswald’s comings and goings. Conspiracy theorists cast doubt on whether this was really Oswald.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald in New Orleans, Part 2 Feb 20, 2024

After his arrest, Oswald — unemployed and relying on benefits from the government he claims to detest — goes on a radio show to brag about himself, but is instead confronted with his past. Meanwhile, he remains desperate to go to Cuba, which — after a disappointing two-and-a-half years in the Soviet Union — he thinks of as a better form of communism. But what to do about Marina, who is pregnant with their second child? Oswald comes up with a bizarre plan to hijack a place to Havana, but when that nutty idea collapses, he realizes that the best way to get to Havana is by getting a visa in Mexico City.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald in New Orleans, Part 1 Feb 13, 2024

Oswald leaves Dallas after getting fired from his job and returns to New Orleans - the city of his birth - looking for a fresh start. After securing the only job he can find - as the greaser of coffee machinery for the Reily Coffee Co. - he sends for his pregnant wife, Marina, and their daughter June. But Oswald’s time in New Orleans would be marred by more failure: He would soon be fired for poor performance. He also dove deeper into political activism, which would lead to his arrest. Meanwhile, tragedy would strike President and Mrs. Kennedy.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Walker Shooting Feb 06, 2024

Oswald carefully plans to assassinate retired U.S. Army General Edwin Walker, whose right-wing policies he despises. He takes reconnaissance photos of Walker’s Dallas home, studies maps — and practices with his rifle. On the appointed night, he leaves Marina detailed plans for his absence and sets off on his historic mission.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald's Guns Jan 30, 2024

Using phony names, Oswald buys a mail-order rifle and handgun. His wife Marina, pregnant and aware of how deprived their lives are, thinks he’s crazy. In the backyard of their shabby Dallas apartment, he forces her to take photos of him with his weapons. Oswald, meanwhile, keep drifting from job to job, and dreaming of being a revolutionary.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald Returns to America, Part 2 Jan 13, 2024

Oswald’s return to the United States attracts the attention of the FBI — but what about the CIA? Meanwhile, Marina Oswald makes a splash with the emigre community in Dallas-Ft. Worth — but fellow emigrates are quickly turned off by Oswald’s arrogance, rude behavior, and brutal treatment of Marina. We end on Thanksgiving Day, 1962, exactly one year to the day before the assassination.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing: History Daily Jan 09, 2024

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oswald Returns to America, Part 1 Jan 02, 2024

Oswald returns to Texas. “What, no reporters?” He asks his brother. Oswald has difficulty finding work and getting back on his feet. Marina is a hit with the emigre community in Dallas-Fort Worth but Lee — surly and angry as ever — turns people off. The episode ends on Thanksgiving Day, 1962 — exactly one year to the day before the assassination.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 3 Dec 19, 2023

Living in Minsk, a backwater Soviet city, and working a lowly and menial job in a radio-TV factory, Oswald soon learns that life in the USSR is anything but paradise, and schemes to return to America. But he doesn't return alone. When he lands stateside in 1962, he has a wife, Marina, and daughter in tow.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 2 Dec 05, 2023

Lee Harvey Oswald is living in Minsk, a backwater Soviet city, and working a lowly and menial job in a radio-TV factory. He soon learns that life in the USSR is anything but paradise, and schemes to return to America. The KGB worries he's a CIA spy. The CIA worries he's a KGB spy. And Oswald departs for America in 1962 — with a wife, Marina, and his daughter in tow.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 1 Nov 21, 2023

Deluded into thinking that the Soviet Union is a “communist paradise,” Oswald defects in October 1959, just weeks after leaving the Marines. At first, the Soviets don’t want him, and order him to leave. But after a suicide attempt, Oswald is given permission to stay. But not in Moscow. He's shunted off to Minsk, a secondary city, and given a menial job in a radio-TV factory. Meanwhile, the KGB worries that Oswald is a CIA spy. The CIA worries he's a KGB spy. And Oswald is clueless as ever.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharpshooter: Oswald in the Marines Nov 14, 2023

Hoping to escape his mother and his unstable home life, Oswald drops out of high school and enlists in the Marines at age 17. But the violent behaviors he learned in childhood go with him. Oswald’s antics get him court-martialed — twice. He serves at an air base in Japan, where the CIA is also operating, leading to claims that Oswald is somehow involved in espionage. Oswald also does something else in the Marines: he learns to shoot a rifle.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Violent and Unstable Childhood Nov 07, 2023

Lee Harvey Oswald’s childhood was difficult. He never knew his biological father. His unstable mother considered Lee and his two brothers burdens. They moved constantly. By the time Lee was 18, he'd lived in 21 different homes and attended a dozen schools. He was angry, a loner, and developed an erratic, sometimes violent personality. A young Oswald even said he would like to kill President Dwight Eisenhower.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happened in Dealey Plaza? Oct 31, 2023

In the series premier, we recap the basic events surrounding President Kennedy's assassination. We’ll discuss the formation of the famous Warren Commission, its findings — and highlight the one thing about its report that's often overlooked.

Buy the book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963 here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Countdown to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy Oct 10, 2023

Sixty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, former White House correspondent Paul Brandus takes an in-depth look at the seemingly unconnected events that led to that afternoon in Dallas, Texas. He explores the troubled and broken life of Kennedy’s killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, and challenges six decades worth of conspiracy theories––none of which have been proven.. Available October 31st in your favorite podcast app.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected