Countdown to Dallas

Countdown to Dallas

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.

Episodes

Introducing Countdown to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

October 10, 2023 • 3 mins
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 ...
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What happened in Dealey Plaza?

October 31, 2023 • 19 mins
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...
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A Violent and Unstable Childhood

November 7, 2023 • 30 mins
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...
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Sharpshooter: Oswald in the Marines

November 14, 2023 • 25 mins
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 shoo...
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Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 1

November 21, 2023 • 27 mins
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 ...
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Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 2

December 5, 2023 • 27 mins
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, Rou...
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Defector: Oswald in the Soviet Union, Part 3

December 19, 2023 • 31 mins
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 H...
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Oswald Returns to America, Part 1

January 2, 2024 • 23 mins
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 "Lu...
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Introducing: History Daily

January 9, 2024 • 19 mins
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Oswald Returns to America, Part 2

January 13, 2024 • 20 mins
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...
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Oswald's Guns

January 30, 2024 • 27 mins
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" t...
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The Walker Shooting

February 6, 2024 • 26 mins
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...
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Oswald in New Orleans, Part 1

February 13, 2024 • 22 mins
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 i...
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Oswald in New Orleans, Part 2

February 20, 2024 • 25 mins
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...
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Oswald in Mexico City

February 27, 2024 • 33 mins
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 Incre...
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Oswald and the Texas School Book Depository

March 5, 2024 • 24 mins
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 h...
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Preparing for Texas

March 12, 2024 • 21 mins
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
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Presidential Security

March 19, 2024 • 21 mins
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...
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Security Scare

March 26, 2024 • 21 mins
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. Ke...
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The Final Week, Part One

April 2, 2024 • 23 mins
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 ...
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