Books, docs, and podcasts about RFK The Greater's life, and death.

One hundred years ago today, Robert F. Kennedy came into the world, so let's take a break from Jack's case file to consider that of Bobby, whom the Executive Action conspirators assumed would be president from 1968 to 1976. 

I'm not nearly as well versed in the 1968 assassination of RFK as I am in his brother's. I did pull A Lie Too Big To Fail: The Real History of the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy out of the inventory line, though – not that I put all my faith in the promise of "New Evidence Uncovered. New Facts Revealed.", mind you, but 1) it has an intro and blurbs by subgenre "names" and 2) you have to love an author bio whose lede says they got into the topic "while trying to win arguments on the internet." My people, truly. 

After a couple dozen pages, I've already whacked down a handful of Post-Its, so while I will keep going with A Lie, I don't know when – it's one of those painstakingly 360 case studies that you do study, versus merely reading, and I haven't got* that kind of time this month.

*What I HAVE got, as you know, is an all-true-crime bookstore that has many of A Lie's cited sources on the shelves and a #majorcase sale going on for the rest of November 2025 (and and you lot have a code at checkout: ExBlurred). Asking for a hand chasing down an elusive book or midcentury mag: always free.

A Lie's vibe in the early going is the presumption that "everyone" agrees Sirhan Sirhan got framed for RFK Sr.'s murder. I dimly recall this particular Kennedy conspiracy having a(nother?) moment of sorts in the late teens, when the RFK Tapes podcast came out; it feels like it's subsided again in intervening years, but Toby Ball and I talked about that podcast on The Blotter Presents 068.

I also wrote up the related book, Shadow Play, for The Blotter years ago:

If this one sounds familiar, it’s probably because Klaber is one of the hosts of The RFK Tapes, and if you enjoyed that podcast, you’ll likely enjoy the book, which was updated and revised for the 2018 edition I looked into. The murder itself was an extremely chaotic and confusing event, with a lot of people crammed into a space the authors describe as a subway car in size and density of people per square foot, with myriad secondary witnesses outside the kitchen, and the writing does a very good job locating you in the space and timeline.

But it may feel extraneous after the podcast, so I’m torn as far as a recommendation for those who did listen; it’s not a waste of time, probably, but it’s not a priority, either. If you find it at the vacation cabin, though, or aren’t a podcast person? - SDB, 7/22/19

I could have sworn I reviewed American Journey: The Times of Robert Kennedy somewhere; I'll find it someday. (Eve and I spoke about it last year.) The book itself isn't one people let go of and I can never keep it in at Exhibit B., but there are a dozen to be had on eBay as I write this, and a very good investment at six-odd bucks plus shipping.

CNN's 2018 docuseries on the family, American Dynasties: The Kennedys, is overall kind of predictable – the footage you'd expect; impressive talking heads from various biographers and present-day politicians like Elizabeth Warren; narration by Martin Sheen, who's played presidents fictional and real – but provides decent topline coverage of Bobby Sr. in the latter episodes. There's also nice footage of the funeral train, and Bobby Jr. makes some moving remarks. 

It's on HBO Max, but if you're over there, you might do better with HBO doc Ethel, a film about RFK's widow, directed by the child Robert and Ethel Kennedy were expecting when Robert Sr. was killed.

I've definitely written about Bobby Jr.'s JFK-conspiracy theories, which I don't recommend – but part of that day's entry also looked at true crime in PBS programming, and I can also recommend American Experience's 2004 look at Bobby Sr., narrated by Blair Brown. AE's availability is maddeningly diffuse, but for the moment you can watch "RFK" on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EezqRLoy6s

And you can read a little about Bobby Sr. in Maureen Callahan's Ask Not, which was disappointingly inexact on the subject of Bobby Sr. and Jackie's alleged sexual relationship, but had zero compunction about roasting Bobby Jr.

We'd love to hear your recommendations in the comments for RFK Sr. reading and watches/listens…