Fact vs fiction - I finished listening to the last episode in the Rest is History Podcast series on the JFK assassination. Overall I think it's a great series, really enjoyed it, you should definitely consider listenibg to it. However listening to the last episode I was struck by how much Tom and Dominic meld historical fact and totally subjective, basically arm chair psychology, without any clear demarcation.
I'm currently in Vietnam, a communist country. I've been here for about 3 years. So I have a literal different perspective than if I were in the UK. I suppose I'm more sensitive to the whole story. Especially the fact that Oswald had done a somewhat crazy trip to Russia when he was younger. I had no idea about that. Was it really that crazy? People from the UK have been doing crazy trips all around that part of the world and much further for hundreds of years.
Anyhow I'm not saying Oswald didn't do it, the evidence definitely makes it look like he probably did do it. But it was really apparent to me that Tom and Dominic seemlessly add in bucket loads of stuff that they are essentially just making up, that sounds very plausible. And with their very propper british accents, it's just so convincing. They are also quite dismissive of some theories. I found their attitude to be a bit assumptive and arrogant at times - all those other theories are rubbish, our theory is clearly what really happened, and it happened like that because, look at that evil moustache we just quite obviously painted on his face.
One thing I've learnt here is that really really weird things do happen. They aren't necessarily sinister, but they happen all the friggin time, every bloody day actually. You don't notice it when you are in your familiar home. Life is very strange, it's more noticeable in unfamiliar places. The picture they paint is very incomplete and misleading in that reguard. At least in my opinion it is.
It's a good reminder that historians and especially authors will be historians and authors. They need to create a great story, that's their game after all. I don't fault them for it, I still like the show and both Tom and Dominic, that's why I listen to it. It's easy to get carried away and stop thinking critically, and you have to be very mindful of that. Even people that we like have their own agendas, and that's OK. Just be aware of it. #