Eunice Kennedy Shriver may not be as well known as her brothers Jack, Bobby, and Ted, but during her lifetime, she worked tirelessly behind the scenes to influence public policy and serve the public good. In celebration of the centennial of her birth, we speak with biographer Eileen McNamara and her son Timothy Shriver, and hear from Eunice herself.

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The Kennedy that Changed the World

In this episode, Hemingway Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Hilary Justice gives us the background on the JFK Library’s collaboration with PEN America and Ernest Hemingway family’s support of the PEN/Hemingway Award, and we speak with the 2021 PEN/Hemingway winner, Kuwai Washburn Strong.

Meet the 2021 PEN/Hemingway Award Winner

Lauren Leander is an ICU nurse at the Banner University Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, who took care of the most critically ill patients in Phoenix and stood with colleagues in a counterprotest of stay-at-home-orders in the early days of the pandemic. As director of the Ohio State Health Department, Dr. Amy Action boldly proposed an aggressive shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and became the target of protestors and legislators who sought to limit her power. Both women never wavered in their work even when faced with public opposition. They are being honored with a special JFK Profile in COVID Courage Award for their selfless actions to help others during the pandemic.

COVID Courage: Health Care Heroes

Darrell R. Marks has spent his career helping his indigenous students at Flagstaff High School find new opportunities after graduation. But when the pandemic hit, his job changed from helping not only his students with their futures, but their families deal with the effects of the pandemic from shortages in food, water, and other basic necessities. Marks is one of seven people being honored with a special JFK Profile in COVID Courage Award for his selfless actions to help others during the pandemic.

COVID Courage: Darrell R. Marks

President John F. Kennedy felt a profound connection to the environment, particularly the sea. During his presidency, Kennedy would establish three national seashores including on Cape Cod. Learn about his environmental legacy from the Superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore and from his granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg.

Saving Our Shorelines

Thanks to a twist of fate, the archives of Ernest Hemingway have been mostly preserved here at the JFK Library. Learn more about that story from the Library’s Hemingway scholar in residence and hear from two of the filmmakers about how the Ernest Hemingway Collection played a key role in the new documentary.

Examining Ernest Hemingway

The United States saw the highest voter turnout in decades in the 2020 election. In many states, the increase in turn out was partly due to years of voter mobilization to bring in more historically disenfranchised voters to the polls. In this episode, we speak with one of the people who has been on the front lines of that movement - Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight and Fair Count - and take a brief look at the state of voting in the Kennedy era.

Voting Rights in America with Stacey Abrams

John F. Kennedy ran for president as television was beginning to change the game of presidential politics. The importance and power of presidents' use of the bully pulpit was growing as they could reach vastly larger audiences in a single presidential address live on television. This episode looks closely at one of Kennedy’s most trusted aides and speechwriters, and also hears from Dr. Vanessa Beasley, an expert on presidential rhetoric at Vanderbilt University.

Presidents and the Bully Pulpit

The long road to the White House in the 1960 campaign between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon comes to a dramatic end. In this final episode, we’ll look at the last days and hours before the election, the uncertainty of possible recounts afterward, and look ahead to how both candidates approached the future. We’ll also look at how lessons learned in 1960 still resonate today.

60/20: The End of the Road

On October 4, 1957, the successful launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik sparked fear of Soviet Union dominance in technology and space. In this episode, we’ll look at how John F. Kennedy used American fears of the Soviet Union and creeping Communism to his political advantage in the 1960 campaign. We’ll also look at how 60 years later, threats from Russia -- this time in cyber space -- linger over our elections today.

60/20: From Satellite Spies to Russian Trolls

As the Election of 1960 entered its final stage with the first presidential debate, who would benefit most-- Richard Nixon or John F. Kennedy? In this episode, we’ll tell you how that first debate changed the 1960 campaign and the many that followed.

60/20: The First Debate

In this episode, we take you on a journey that follows the 1960 campaign into millions of living rooms through television, and then explore how the Kennedy team used the new medium to connect with voters. We'll also look at Nixon's television strategy and how the 1960 campaign’s use of television would influence future presidential campaigns' use of the medium in the decades ahead.

The Campaign Comes to the Living Room

What would it take to win the White House in 1960?  For the Kennedy campaign, it started with building a trusted team, and a readiness to try new campaign strategies and tactics. In this episode, we’ll look at how Kennedy and Nixon’s campaign decisions helped make or break the election, and how some of those innovative strategies would influence modern campaigns through today.

60/20: A Tale of Two Campaigns

While John F. Kennedy was formally launching his run for president at the start of 1960, another movement was gathering steam. This week, we’ll find out how the emerging modern Civil Rights Movement affected Kennedy’s and Nixon’s campaign strategies, and see how Kennedy worked to win over Black voters who were skeptical of his commitment to civil rights. And we'll also discuss how racist Jim Crow laws in the South prevented Black citizens from voting, with a look to where we are today.

60/20: Unfinished Business

Despite clear victories over some of his opponents during the primary season, John F. Kennedy’s path to the presidency still wasn’t certain as he arrived in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention. In this episode, we’ll hear about the young senator’s rise to the top, the challenges he faced in uniting a fractured party, and how he would turn one of his biggest opponents into one of his greatest assets.

60/20: Into the New Frontier

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, inspired a generation that transformed America. But not everyone knows the stories behind the man - his experiences as a young servicemember in World War II, how he wrote some of his most memorable speeches, what sparked him to set the country on a path to the moon. Join Matt Porter and Jamie Richardson of the JFK Library Foundation as they dig into the archives at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and interview their colleagues to get a behind-the-scenes look at JFK’s life and legacy.

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