Table of Contents

• The Lede

• What’s Next on the Are We Bad Dads Pod

• PT 109 by William Doyle

The Lede

As we dive into the story of the 1960s, I am noticing there are certain things that just stick with me, kind of like the peanut butter the kids spilled on the kitchen floor last week (and didn’t clean up), but better.

One of those sticky things was from the fantastic book PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy by William Doyle. I will confess, and it comes out in the beginning episodes for this season, that I am not a fan of President John F. Kennedy’s father, Joe Kennedy, Sr. I’ll say he might be one of the worst dads we’ve read about for this podcast, but the thing about shipwrecks is that they serve a purpose for those that don’t want to make the same mistakes. Here’s the quote from PT 109 I keep thinking about:

Joe Kennedy gave his kid lots of bad advice, not all of which I’m going to get into here, but it’s been a good reminder for me to be the person I tell my kids I am. It’s also been a good reminder for me to tell my kids to be genuine, honest, and authentic. Joe Kennedy, Sr. wasn’t a good dad, but sometimes the best thing you can do is to find bad advice and do the opposite.

What’s Next on the Are We Bad Dads Pod

Episode 1 of Season 3 is almost here. We’re planning for the episode to drop Tuesday, August 13th, but as a way of bridging the gap between the first two seasons of Are We Bad Dads? and our new way of storytelling in Season 3, we thought this trailer might be just the thing to tell you where we’ve been for the last two seasons and where we’re going with Season 3.

PT 109 by William Doyle

I referenced PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy by William Doyle in the lede, and it was really a great read. It’s not too long, only 345 pages, and it is a great book to give you the background of John F. Kennedy, his military service, and how he came to be President.

Doyle doesn’t shy away from the less savory parts of Kennedy’s character and activities, but he deals with the story in a way that is fair to Kennedy and what we know of history. That’s probably harder than you might imagine because the entire Kennedy family really did take their dad’s words to heart, and its awfully difficult when you read about any Kennedy to figure out who they were, and who they wanted you to think they were. Kennedy has a complicated legacy and this book goes a long way to helping the reader separate fact from fiction.

PT 109 gets a solid 5.5 cargo shorts from me.

Don’t want to take the time to read the book, but you want to see what I highlighted on my Kindle? I’ve got you covered.