164: The Two Faces of Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.

We’ve been tracking Bobby’s misinformation, contradictions, and cursed networks for three years. And now he’s having his moment, and it’s anyone’s guess how far he’ll run. But why is he so appealing on the presidential stage? Why is he polling at 20%, with his favorability in double digits against Biden? It’s not just that his endless rhetoric appeals to libertarians on the right and paranoiacs on the left. It’s that he casts a charismatic spell that echoes, exacerbates, and amplifies some of the deepest conflicts in the American psyche—between tradition and rebellion, nostalgia and grievance, idealism and paranoia. Bobby, you see, is never quite who he seems to be. In one moment he’s the prodigal prince of Camelot, seen through a sepia lens. In the next he’s a tortured and braying conspiracy theorist, lit by the blue light of countless screens. Show Notes RFK Jr. says COVID may have been 'ethnically targeted' to spare Jews A Kennedy and His Mentor Part Ways Over River Group - The New York Times Robert F Kennedy Jr says he has ‘conversations with dead people’ | Democrats | The Guardian Transcript for Robert F. Kennedy Jr: CIA, Power, Corruption, War, Freedom, and Meaning | Lex Fridman Podcast #388 Beware: we ignore Robert F Kennedy Jr’s candidacy at our peril | Naomi Klein | The Guardian Most People Believe In JFK Conspiracy Theories | FiveThirtyEight Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices