Memory – Audibly Speaking: A Site of History and Memory

We lost Ruth Paine this year on August 31.  Ruth was a great lady, one of the few heroes and persons of kindness in the run-up and the aftermath of the JFK assassination.  As Thomas Mallon has noted, we know so much about the moods, mind and appearances of Lee Harvey Oswald in the critical … Continue reading A Tribute to Ruth Paine, 1932-2025 →

Today, Sunday, November 10, 2023, I reflect on the events of Veterans Day Weekend 1963, when JFK and Oswald lived out their last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, November 10-12, 1963. We review what we know of those fateful days. Next, I talk about the events of Wednesday, November 13 through Friday, November 22, 1963, to … Continue reading NEW! 2024 Repeats the 1963 Calendar: JFK, Oswald and Veterans Day Weekend, From Sunday, November 10 to Tuesday, November 12 →

Listen to this audio version of my Youtube video explaining the “Single Bullet Theory” of the JFK assassination, and WHY IT IS TRUE.  Many conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination discredit themselves by disputing this thrice-confirmed theory first revealed by the Warren Commission in 1964.

Motive.  It is the thing that all juries want but do not need, in our system of justice, to determine guilt or innocence, The Warren Commission did not hazard a hypothesis on the question of Oswald’s motive, seen singularly.  But they did list a series of potential motives, seeded by his early life, and seen … Continue reading NEW! Chapter Seven of “The Warren Report:” Oswald’s Early Life and the Question of Motive →

This chapter may be seen as the Big Enchilada of the Report.  Did the Warren Commission provide a credible investigation of the possibility of conspiracy in the crime?  The staff wracked its collective brains to see where any possible conspiracy might have emerged given the facts in the case. It also tracked down leads offered … Continue reading NEW! Summary of Chapter Six of “The Warren Report:” “Investigation Into Possible Conspiracy” →

Continuing our summary of The Warren Report investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, we come to Chapter Five.  The whole tenor of the investigation changed with the subject of this chapter.  It concerned the events that led to the federalization of the investigation itself, the violation of Oswald’s civil liberties in the … Continue reading NEW! CHAPTER FIVE of “The Warren Report:” Detention and Death of Oswald →

In Chapter Four we have an overview of the evidence against Oswald.  Here I summarize the chapter.

A recent podcast episode by the excellent historians of the JFK assassination, Gerald Posner and Fred Litwin, prompted this podcast episode of mine. Given the need to speculate about so much that is important about the behavior of Oswald on November 21 (pre-assassination) and November 33 (post-assassination), is it possible to employ speculation as a … Continue reading A Question for Gerald Posner and Fred Litwin: Can Informed Speculation Equal Evidence? →

It’s core findings remain untouched.  Its conclusions have stood the test of time. In this episode we see the tour de force that lies at the foundation of this seminal chapter in The Warren Report: Chapter Three.  While subsequent research has expanded on the insights we gain from this chapter, which distilled the most important … Continue reading NEW! Summary of “The Warren Report’s” CHAPTER THREE: “The Shots from the Texas School Book Depository” →

Today I summarize the Warren Report’s Chapter Two, “The Assassination.” It is a chapter that promises much but really delivers less than meets the eye.  Focusing on the details that form the background of the assassination, and continuing by trading in the shadowlands of lacunae about the event, chapter two is a mere overture to … Continue reading NEW! Warren Report Summary, CHAPTER TWO, “The Assassination” →

The Warren Commission’s Warren Report, at 888 pages, is a long slog.  For those for whom it is too long, I begin here a series of summaries of each of the chapters in the Report.  Each chapter exhibits the strengths and weaknesses of the Commission’s investigations.  The Commission’s faults can be exaggerated and it accomplishments … Continue reading NEW Series: Chapter Summaries of “The Warren Report:” Chapter 1, “Summary and Conclusions” →

We have an intermission episode in this series on the JFK assassination, with a personal view of the memories of the host on the assassination and why he was not taken in by conspiracy theories, in contrast to so many of his boomer cohorts along the way.

Today, Audibly Speaking reviews the magisterial book by famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  We revisit the things that make it unique and utterly unanswerable as a riposte to the crazy conspiracy theories that still pollute the writings about the 35th US President.

In this sidebar episode tracing the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald and we step back from the forest to examine the trees of the story. In this politically portentous year of 2024, learn what the conspiracy nonsense can do to help us save American democracy. And begin to learn why the strengths of the Warren … Continue reading Why is the JFK Assassination Still Relevant? And Why is the Warren Commission’s Still Strong? Listen to One of My Best →

Why did Lee Harvey Oswald go east from his boarding house in the aftermath of the JFK assassination, only to go west before his fatal encounter with Police Officer J.D. Tippit on November 22, 1963? The only possible answer was that his plans must have changed, along with his destination, at least temporarily. Ironically, however, … Continue reading “Moving East to Go West: Oswald’s Twisted Path Pre-Tippit” →

We have now arrived at the critical moments.  What happened as the assassination occurred and what do we know of Oswald’s behavior during these most important of minutes? It turns out we know a great deal–so much in fact that we can even infer what was going on in Oswald’s mind on a minute by … Continue reading “Assassination and Escape: Oswald’s Actions, 12:30 pm to 1:50 pm, November 22” →

How to help students understand the overwhelming evidence against Lee Harvey Oswald (and Oswald alone)?  Given the power of the evidence, no help ought be needed! Perhaps a concise run-through will do the trick?  Or a solemn and stately documentary? In a time when facts alone hold no sway, what is an historian to do? … Continue reading Evidence Against Oswald: 8:00 AM, November 21, to 12:30 PM CST, November 22 →

What was Lee Harvey Oswald up to in New Orleans between his failed assassination attempt against Retired General Edwin Walker in April 1963 and his trip to Mexico City in late September in pursuit of a visa to Communist Cuba?  What was the mix of motives that drove Oswald in these critical months prior to … Continue reading Lee Harvey Oswald and Edwin Walker Redux: Resume Building and Plotting in New Orleans, April to October 1963 →

In this final part of the three-part podcast series, we look at Oswald’s interior concerns in the days and hours before 12:30 pm CST on November 22, 1963.  In so doing we elucidate the most elusive of questions, the question of motive.

In this three-part series, we go into the mind of the assassin and try to understand Oswald’s motives.  This helps us understand why conspiracy thinking about the assassination makes no sense. If you believe that Oswald lacked motive, ability or opportunity to shoot JFK, a conspiracy seems to be a necessary alternative. In fact none … Continue reading Lee Harvey Oswald and the JFK Assassination: The Stories Not Told →