In this Halloween live episode from Eagle Pass, I kick things off with some seasonal memories and safety reminders before settling into a conversation with author and historian Scott Badler about his new book, Becoming JFK: John F. Kennedy’s Early Path to Leadership. We dig into the lesser-known, formative years of JFK—from his health struggles and family dynamics with his brother Joe Jr., to the “Muckers” episode at Choate, his pre–World War II travels through Europe, and the harrowing PT-109 incident. Scott shares why this 11-year span shaped Kennedy’s persistence, worldview, and leadership style, and how fresh archives and research challenge long-held myths about the Kennedy brothers. We wrap with takeaways for young readers, the value of curiosity and grit, and where to find Scott and his work.
Plus, I lay out what’s ahead for the show this weekend—including an in-studio chat with local host Ruben Camarillo and our recurring crypto segment with Marissa Lee—and how to stay connected via our website and socials. Thanks for spending part of your Halloween with us—see you tomorrow at 11 AM CT.
Joe's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/raise-funds-to-cover-mortgage-escrow-shortage
FOLLOW US ON:
RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/joerooz
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@joerooz
TWITCH: https://twitch.tv/joerooz
X: https://x.com/joerooz
Facebook: https://facebook.com/joeroozpodcast
Minds: https://minds.com/joerooz
GETTR: https://gettr.com/joerooz
Special thanks to:
Executive Producer Wayne Rankin
Executive Producer Rosanna Rankin
Executive Producer Carolina Jimenez
Executive Producer Marisa Lee
Executive Producer Angela Wetuski
Sponsored by:
Podhome https://Podhome.fm
TNE Energy
(01:35) Cold open: spooky soundboard and eerie lines
(04:05) Live from Eagle Pass: the Joe Roos(e) Show kicks off
(04:55) Its Friday and Halloween: safety, kids, and candy bag checks
(06:35) Horror night plans: Terrifier, All Hallowsa0Eve, and Art the Clown
(08:02) Host ramble, feeling sick, guest shuffle, and housekeeping
(15:02) Introducing guest historian Scott Badler and his JFK book
(17:17) Audio fix, politics preamble, and icebreakers with Scott
(19:14) From martinis to bourbons: unwinding talk and weekend vibes
(19:24) Why Kennedy? Launching into JFKs early years research
(21:48) Do we need another JFK book? What makes this one different
(23:58) Brothers in contrast: Joe vs. Jack and the Edgartown episode
(27:03) The Muckers at Choate: mini insurrection and rescinded expulsions
(28:33) Writing style: novelistic nonfiction and balancing accuracy
(28:48) PTa0109 deep dive: patrols, missteps, and the Amagiri collision
(35:43) Challenging myths: was Joe truly the heir apparent
(37:44) Illness and endurance: Addisons, Mayo Clinic, and the bad back
(39:57) From frailty to leader: war lessons and perseverance
(43:07) Contemporary reflections: who inspires today
(45:38) Is another Kennedy possible? On inspiration vs. imitation
(46:16) Where to find Scott Badler and Becoming JFK
(47:19) Wrap with guest and host sign-off into show business
(49:22) Announcements: mailing list, veterans food drive details
(50:23) Weekend programming notes: studio guest and crypto segment
(52:14) Socials rundown and upcoming Minds interview
(53:28) Producer shout-outs, prayers for Wayne, and support tiers
(56:05) Value-for-value close: sats, wallets, and modern podcast apps
(56:52) Final thanks and sign-off: see you tomorrow at 11AM CT
- Wayne Rankin
- Rosanna Rankin
- Carolina Jimenez
[00:01:35]
Unknown:
Came spotter, please. Lights are flashing. Doors are slamming, never know what's real here. Soon, every vampire, every werewolf, came sparkly voice and
[00:03:54] Unknown:
The scarecrow walks at midnight and he will kill you. You will die.
[00:04:06] Unknown:
Transmitting live from the asylum studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas, it's the Joe Rouge show. The show where we talk about anything and everything. Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC.
[00:04:28] Unknown:
Alrighty. Hey folks, this is Joe Roos, and it is great to be with you once again transmitting live tonight from the asylum studios from the pimple on the backside of Texas, the beautiful city of Eagle Pass. And we are gonna do the very best we can to bring you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster. Welcome to the Joe Russo. Alrighty. It's Friday. Yes. It is Friday. Finally Friday. Beginning of a weekend, it is Halloween, happy Halloween everybody, I hope you guys are enjoying it and playing it safe out there on the streets, if you're out there trick or treating or were out there trick or treating or will be out there trick or treating.
I don't know how to put it, because we're doing the show live, of course, and doing the show live. I'm not sure how many people are actually watching it, you know, if they're trick or treating. But, I hope you guys are safe out there. That's the that's the most important thing. Most important thing. I remember when my kids were young, and we used to take them out trick or treating, and, probably the most fun that I had out of the whole thing was getting to kinda go through the bag, you know, when the kids went to bed. Kind of filter through everything to make sure, you know, there's nothing in there inappropriate or dangerous or anything like that, you know. I think all parents do that. At least, hopefully, you still do that. I mean, you have no idea what people are dropping in these bags sometimes.
And, so please be careful out there while you're doing it. We gotta think of the graphic. I mean, is it, like, you know, too much? Too little? I don't know. I saw it. I said, let me try it. Let me see. Let me see how it looks. But, we'll see. We'll see how it goes throughout the night. If it starts to annoy me having that, that green thing pointing right there in my forehead, it's, you know, that's, that's gonna be kind of annoying tonight. But, but, yeah, that's that's it's Halloween. And here we are, the All Hallows Eve. That's what I'll be doing tonight, by the way, after the show. The kids and I are gonna, are gonna settle down, and we're gonna watch, the Terrifier series.
The three of the movies, if I can. I don't know. They're they're kinda long. And, you know, there's three movies to watch tonight is a bit much, but, we'll see. We'll see. Because, you know, there's more than just the the terrifier movies, you know. Art the Clown, the, the protagonist in the movie. He basically he got his start in in a in a short called All Hallows Eve. And, it it was actually, you know, considering that it was a very low budget film, it was it was pretty good. It was that was my introduction to Art the Clown. That and, another podcast host did a review of, of All House Eve and the Terrifier movies, and and I asked her about it. And she was like, oh, no. If you haven't seen it, you gotta check it out. So I did.
And, lo and behold, I became a fan, watching it. It's it's pretty interesting. People think I'm crazy for liking that stuff. Yeah. Hey, you're a Christian. You shouldn't be watching those kind of movies. Yeah. I I get it. You know, you don't really wanna allow those kind of things into your life, into your home, and and whatnot, but it's all what you do with it. That's what it's it's all it is. It's all what you do with it. You know, if that becomes the focal point of your existence, you know, just sitting there watching these things, trying to emulate what you're seeing on the TV, that's that's another story altogether. You know, so it's, it's it's one of those, you know, it's just one of those things that you just do. You know?
That's how you celebrate your that's why I celebrate Halloween. And and as far as the the, I'm rambling. Aren't I? Yeah. I am. I'm gonna tell you why I'm rambling. I'll I'll be very frank with you. I'm not feeling great. I woke up this morning, and I and I I I was all congested. The chest is hurting from coughing in the back, and I'm all I'm all all over the place. And, we had a guest lined up for 07:00, but, they weren't able to make it tonight. And then I see our 08:00 guest has checked in already, so we appreciate that, that Scott Badler's here already. And, we're gonna come into him here just momentarily. Let's so let's do some of the housekeeping stuff, and let's get that squared away.
So as always, the show is brought to you tonight by podholm.fm. Podholm.fm is the most modern and easy to use podcast hosting platform on the market today. Use it to publish your episodes and answer audio and automatically generate transcripts, chapters, titles, show notes, and more. And you know something? You could even podcast live. Yeah. You could. You could even podcast live, and that's that's your audio stream. We're we're streaming our audio live across the modern podcast app two point o apps that are out there, like Podverse and, Podcast Guru, fountain.fm, and Pocketcast, and all those apps that support live streaming the audio. We're on those right now, just like we're on the video stream with with Rumble and Twitch and, and and Facebook and and x and YouTube. So, check out podhome.fm.
Check them out. It's a fully packed service. You will be so incredibly pleased with it. It is a great service. I've been with them for about three years. Cannot complain at all. So in addition to Podcast Live, you could also if you have a website, you can get you can download their HTML player, install that on your website, and you can stream your live audio directly through your website, which is what we do as well. So, you could check that out. And if you don't even have a website, Pod home will give you one for free. Yeah. That's right. Free. Absolutely free. Now, how much do you think you're gonna pay for services like that? Like I said, you have the the automatically generated chapters, try titles, transcripts, show notes, all that great stuff, plus a website, plus streaming your audio live across the modern apps, how much do you think you're gonna pay for that? Well, what if I told you you're gonna get thirty days free at sign up, and then it's a monthly subscription of just $15.99 a month. That's it. Just $15.99 a month. Now I've been on other platforms. I've used other platforms, as my audio host. Remember, the show started audio only. We never did video.
Not a big fan of the video stuff, but we do it because we do it. It's like one of it's like a government program. You know, once it gets started, you just can't seem to get rid of it. So that's why we're here. And, and we, so so it started off as audio, and I've been on other platforms. And I'm telling you, you're gonna pay double, maybe triple what you're paying at Pod Home for less, infinitely less. So check them out. Podhome.fm podhome.fm. Everything that you need in one place with for once affordable subscription. $15.99 a month, and don't forget, thirty days free. So try them out. And you know what I forgot to do? I forgot to put their banner up. Up. Yeah. Not good. Alright. See, you can tell I'm not feeling well. I'm a little slow to down the trigger. Alright. So podhome.fmpodhome.fm.
Alright. Also, I wanna tell you about TNE Energy. TNE dot energy. Electricity is essential, and TNE Energy helps make it affordable and personal with more than 1,000,000 customers across The US trusting them to power their homes and earn free energy for referring their family and friends as well. You can visit tne.energy and explore all of the options that are available for your home today. Take care of that today. You're talking great products, great pricing, great customer service. Check them out. If, if I didn't think that was the case, I would not refer them to you. So check them out. T n e dot energy. And we talked to them. Let them know you heard it here on the Joe Ruse Show.
Alright? Also, don't forget, if you would, please head over to our website, joroos.com. Joroos.com. And when you get there, look for that little contact form, open up the window, send us over a message, let us know whatever's on your heart, whatever's on your mind, any questions, comments, cares, or concerns that you might have. You can also send us any complaints that you might have. You can send us, any suggestions for a show topic, a guest, or whatever whatever tickles your fancy. Alright. It's Friday, we could say that. Whatever tickles your fancy, send them on over to us. Alright. We'd love to hear from you guys. And if you don't wanna use the web form, fine. You can email it to me directly at [email protected]. [email protected].
And, another idea is you can drop it right down there below. There's a comment section. You can just drop it right down there. It's there in perpetuity, so we'll be able to always go back and check it out. Alright. So please drop a comment, shoot us an email, contact form, however you wanna reach us, we would appreciate that. It's always, always helpful. Alright. Also, while you're on the website, if you would, just head over to the support page, and if you wanna help us out with a donation, greatly, greatly appreciate that. We do rely on your donations to help fund pretty much everything that we're doing. Yes, we do have some sponsors, but those are those sponsors, we don't really get paid for the sponsors. It's a value for value system. It's value for value. So and value for value basically means this. If you're receiving anything of value from what we're putting out, we're asking to return that value in the form of a donation. And that donation could be your time, your talent, or your treasure.
Any one of those three things or all three of those things. However you can do it, as long as you have the means to do it and you don't put yourself into debt to help a struggling podcaster. Alright? Also, just wanna remind you that we still have our GoFundMe set up. So if you're able to help us out with that, we would appreciate it. It is crunch time. It is crunch time. So we have, the story basically is this, is we have learned of a, well, now it's a $2,800 escrow shortage here at the asylum. And, we could either come up with a lump sum payment, or we can break it up over the course of time and pay. Now breaking it up over the course of time will increase our monthly payments here by at least $400 a month, which will make it very very difficult for us to continue doing as many shows as we do with the type of guests that we get. So, we really don't wanna do that. We have good momentum going here. We're we're growing steadily. So if you would, help us out. We would appreciate that. Scan the QR code. The, link to the GoFundMe is down below in the in the in the, show notes. And, however you can do it, we would appreciate it. Alright? And And again, you know I hate asking. It's it's one of those things that just really irritate me. And, you know, I don't wanna get started on taxes and and all that stuff because taxes is what's causing this this escrow shortage. The school district tax here in Eagle Pass is absolutely freaking ridiculous.
Ridiculous. It's the Believe it or not, it's the highest tax out of all the taxes I have to pay to live here. And I don't even have kids going to school here. So it's it's one of those things that really just just irritate me to no end. And, of course, at the end of the show, we'll go into all the other ways that you can help us out by your donations and becoming a producer or an associate producer or an executive producer of the show. Alright. Well, with all of that said, let's see. Most portraits of John f Kennedy begin with his presidency, but the crucial journey of his early years from 1935 to 1946 are often overlooked.
How did a young man plagued by illness, intense family, pressure, and his own rebellious streak develop the strategic acumen to become a world leader? Joining us today is author and historian, Scott Badler. Scott has spent years researching the Kennedy family and his new book, Becoming JFK. John f Kennedy's early path to leadership offers a fresh, meticulous research look into the man behind the myth. Using a compelling narrative style, he offer he explores everything from JFK's eye opening travels in pre World War two Europe to his harrowing character, The Finding Experience, on PT one zero nine. Scott, we are absolutely thrilled to have you here with us tonight to discuss the making of an American icon.
[00:15:54] Unknown:
Great to be here, Joe.
[00:15:56] Unknown:
Excuse me. I'm sorry. I have, I've got some I was fine yesterday. Woke up this morning sick as a dog. So Okay. Maybe by the time we're done here, we'll, you'll be cured. We have sort of an echo. Oh, yeah. Let me fix that. I'm sorry. That should do it. No more echo? Yeah. No more echo. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So the story behind that echo is this, with, with with StreamYard, which is what I use to to stream the show. If I if I leave echo cancellation on when I run through the opening of the show, it makes all the audio sound like it's warbling. Mhmm. So, I shut it off, broadcast it in stereo, then usually when the guest comes on, I turn it off. I just will slow on the trigger tonight, like I said before. So No problem. So, Scott, great great to have you here. This is this is fantastic. I was I was looking forward to talking to you. JFK is, probably, I I would think is probably the the last of the true Democrats.
I mean, you have to see what the Democrats have descended into now. I don't think JFK would recognize the party if he were here to see it. So, so I I really looked at and examined his life over the course of, you know, my growing up in school and and so on and so forth. So so, this is really interesting to me and and and it's a subject that I that I really like to talk about. And, so I'm really looking forward to this. But before we get into it, usual, I have two questions I like to ask every guest before we get started. The first one is, what is something that most people don't know about you but should?
[00:17:30] Unknown:
Well, they put me on the spot there. Usually do. Let's see. First thing I remember about Kennedy is yelling Nixon on the, playground during election day nineteen sixty. Most people, I guess, wouldn't know that. Really? You were you were that involved that young? Well, I was, you know, you know, but you you know, I wasn't, you know, very old, but I guess my parents were for Kennedy, and so it was election day. So I was just, you know, mimicking what they I gotcha. I don't know. Second grader, I don't know if they came up with this word nicks, but, you know so that that that's my last memory. My first memory is yelling nicks, un nicks it. So I guess most people wouldn't know that about me. Well, that's great. That's it. I like that. That's good. And, so what's your go to beverage? What's your go to thing to do to unwind at the end of the day? You know, I like a good martini.
Good gin martini. You know, the olives gotta have that right glass. So doesn't have that good glass. It's just some sort of goblet or something, you know. Take it somewhere else. So it's gotta have that glass. So,
[00:18:29] Unknown:
that's my go to. That's good. I like that. I I get a lot of Mountain Dews. I get a lot of, I got my first diet Mountain Dew the other day. A lot of waters, but, very few people actually admit that they like to have a nice adult beverage to to help them unwind. That's that, honestly, that's my go to on the weekend. After a long week of, realizing that, you know, I got through this week, I didn't kill anybody this week. So let me let me celebrate by, I I I like to have a nice bourbon. I'm very big on bourbons. I love bourbons. So that's usually my go to on a weekend. I'll sit out in the backyard, you know, by the fire pit. A bourbon something nice. A bourbon and cigar on the beautiful starry night down here in Southwest Texas. So it's a it's a it's a beautiful thing, and, I I look forward to it. Not gonna be doing it this weekend because feeling like this, I don't think I should be.
[00:19:20] Unknown:
Lay off that stuff. Right? Yeah. Exactly.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
Alright. So let's let's start with Scott Badler. Alright? Tell us a little bit about the moment that you decided to research the life of John F Kennedy. Was there something at first that made you really want to explore his life, before the presidency? Or or what was it that motivated you to do this?
[00:19:40] Unknown:
Yeah. Let's see. You know, I've always sort of been interested in the Kennedy's are you hearing me? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Always been interested in the Kennedy's. And, so several years ago, I I started to investigate, young Kennedy, and I was surprised to learn about some things you wouldn't expect. You know, we think of Kennedy as this, you know, sort of handsome, perfect person who was, you know, killed right in the middle of his life and, charismatic and everything, beautiful kids. And so I started to research a little bit more, and I see where, he sees a therapist, you know, when he's in high school, that he's, you know, kicked out of, prep school, then then it was rescinded. He leads an insurrection at the prep school, and his best friend was gay, that he was in jail. You know? So, wow. This this is different than normally, you know, we're used to to seeing and hearing about, you know, 90% of the books about Kennedy or, you know, the assassination, the presidency, Jackie's civil rights, Vietnam, so forth. So it was interesting to go way back to, you know, the first book I wrote was, JFK and the Muckers of Choate, which was historical fiction about JFK at Choate Preparatory.
And that's where these things was in, in high school or in in the preparatory school happened. And then, the book that come is coming out now, which is now nonfiction, takes off right from there. At age 18, it takes it till, 29.
[00:21:07] Unknown:
Outstanding. Now now did you always know that you wanted to write a book or or or this kind of this project kind of take you by surprise?
[00:21:14] Unknown:
You know, I've written a couple of humor books before. I never read any you know, written anything real serious that had a certain length. So it's it's it's a thing that sort of just evolved. There's more and more material, more and more research you do. You you see there's you know, things can be developed that, this could be, you know, lengthened and, you know, at some point, it kinda turns into a book.
[00:21:36] Unknown:
Alright. I had to I had to adjust your mic there for a second. I'm sorry. Just give me let me fix that. I don't know why you your your volume just dropped, like, dramatically all of a sudden. But I got you. I got fixed you. I fixed you. Alright. So, alright. So so why do you think why did you feel like there was a need for another book about JFK? What what makes, becoming JFK JFK so different?
[00:21:58] Unknown:
Well, there hasn't been, a book in about thirty or forty years. There was one, thirty, forty years ago. It's called, JFK Reckless Youth. So that was a long time ago. And since then, there's been a lot more research. I was able to delve into the archives at the Kennedy Library. You know, a lot more material is out. And, I just felt it was time for, you know, take a refreshing look or, at his life in that early age. And, And, you know, there's so many books coming out on him when he's, like I say, when he's older. But what about when he's younger? And just to focus on that period, nothing else, just these eleven years. I mean, this was a this is really a defining point of his life. I mean, there's PT one zero nine. He's, you know, World War two. He's, you know, right before World War two, he's traveling through Nazi Germany, sees Mussolini.
You know, he writes his first book during this period. So a lot his first and only love affair really, happens then. So this is kind of, to me, the defining period. And, of course, it ends when he, wins his first, congressional seat.
[00:23:07] Unknown:
Now now, in in the book, you portrayed JFK as kind of like this scrappy underdog. Can you explain what you mean? Like, how is that so?
[00:23:18] Unknown:
Well, how am I say so? I would say the the publisher sort of pushed that a little bit more than I would. Okay. So, Bless the publisher. Him about that. I I'm not sure. You'd say underdog in that, you know, maybe he's trying to say the older brother, Joe, He's the one that's going to, become president. He's the one everyone's counting on. And, you know, young Jack is, you know, he's underweight. He's ill all the time, and he's just trying to get some crumbs or something like that. You know, he's waiting in the background. He's sort of afraid to take the the top spot.
So perhaps that's what he means by that. I mean, you know, underdog. I don't know.
[00:23:59] Unknown:
But you you kinda touched on my next question. Might had had to do with his older brother, Joe. You know, trying exploring a little bit of how that rivalry between himself and his older brother shaped the man that that, John Kennedy became.
[00:24:14] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, they competed like, older and younger brothers do. And, you know, growing up there, you know, Joe was sort of a bully, and he was much stronger and bigger than Jack. So, he kinda bullied Jack a lot. And, at one point, they went to Chill Preparatory School together, and, you know, Joe was the, one of the most popular guys at school. He was a top athlete, top student, and, Jack felt he couldn't compete with his brother. Mhmm. So he opted to opt out, meaning, he didn't try his best to get good grades. He was lazy. You know?
He led this insurrection. He felt like he couldn't compete with his older brother. And, so that changed after after high school, I think. They had this event where they both, one big event was, they went to sail in Martha's Vineyard at, the Edgartown races. And, you know, they they had one boat, and one day, Joe is the captain. The next day, Jack is the captain. Actually, in the two different days, Jack, his time was a lot better than his brother's. But there was a the father gave him, money to have a party, and the party got out of hand. And, you know, Joe is the older brother, so he's supposed to kinda you know? I think Jack looked up to him to kinda settle things down, make sure there wouldn't be any further trouble, and, you know, that didn't happen. You know? So the police came and, you know, they're hauled off to jail. The father could have bailed him out, decided not to let him, you know, stay in the jail a little bit. And I think after that point, you know, Jack realized, you know, he couldn't sort of count on his brother. He wanted to go his own way.
So I think it was a a bit of a defining moment there when he was, nineteen thirty five when Jack had just turned 18. Now the And then, they competed, you know, with women. You know, they tried to steal each other's women. So it continued until, you know, to tell you the truth, till Joe died.
[00:26:13] Unknown:
Now now you you said the word insurrection twice so far. So so tell us about this insurrection.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, it's actually kinda mild. That's well, that's a bit of a strong word. But, you know, the the head of school at, Choate, he he called everybody into the chapel, and he he probably did this everywhere, but he he called everyone. He didn't say names, but he called everyone who, you know, he says we have a bunch of muckers at this school. Muckers has a lot of different, you know, meanings. You know? It can be someone who sort of screws up. It can be the, the Irish where, back in the day, they cleaned up the muck, which was the, you know, the horse crap in the streets. Right. So perhaps, you know, Jack took that kinda seriously, and so he formed this, group, the Muckers.
And, you know, for a couple of months, they just sort of, they didn't really do anything bad. You know? It was just sort of an attitude. And but at this very strict school, you know, the head of school wouldn't have it. So he called them all in and said, you know, there's a train leaving, in the afternoon, and you need to be on it because you you're gone. And in those few hours, things change. The teachers came over to the head of school, changed his mind, and so the, you know, the expulsion was rescinded.
[00:27:34] Unknown:
Now now the book now your style of writing is with this particular book is novelistic. How do you balance how do you balance the, I guess, the historical accuracy with that kind of storytelling?
[00:27:45] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, you know, you know, I stayed, you know, the first one is historical fiction. This one is nonfiction, but I I take a little bit of liberty. You know, all the, characters or I didn't make up any characters or any scenes or anything. I did you know, where I I knew something had happened, but I didn't have any dialogue. I would put in a little bit of dialogue there, just to balance things out, you know, liven it up a little bit. Because sometimes history can be a little bit dull. So I just wanted to add some something a little more visceral, some dialogue, some some details that would kind of liven up. But it is, you know, historically accurate.
[00:28:20] Unknown:
Now was there a particular part of the story, of writing the story that stands out as being more difficult than others?
[00:28:30] Unknown:
In terms of what? I mean, explain a little bit further. It'd be more difficult in terms of,
[00:28:39] Unknown:
Well, as far as as far as telling the story, getting the getting the the the the factual data straight enough that you can actually weave it into a story format.
[00:28:48] Unknown:
Yeah. I think, you know, I had to do a lot of research regarding, you know, the p t one zero nine crash, what really sort of happened there, and sort of figure out the details, and kind of, in a certain way, make up my own mind what happened there. Some new evidence has recently come out in the last few years. So, you know, kind of figuring out my own mind and and putting into words what what happened there, what was Jack's responsibility, You know? Why did they make him a war hero?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
You know, I just want I didn't wanna just gloss it over and make him, you know, a war hero because there's there's a lot more to that than, you know, meets the eye. Right now, though, a lot you know, for people who don't understand what PT one zero nine is, can you can you kind of elaborate a little bit on that? What exactly is PT 109? What was his role in?
[00:29:37] Unknown:
Okay. Yeah. He was the skipper of a PT boat called you know, it's the PT 109, and he was out in the South Pacific. And, you know, for the major part, he was there. He would go out on patrols and, you know, help out, in a in a bunch of different ways. And they they would kinda look for, you know, Japanese, small ships, but they never found any. So it was just a lot of patrolling. A lot of times when they were coming back to port, they'd, they only went out at night, and the Japanese would float planes would come over and, you know, send their torpedoes at them. So there's a couple of close calls. So, anyway, he was the skipper of the one zero nine, and, in early August, word came out that the Japanese were going to be convoy, it was going to supply a base. Mhmm. And so, you know, at a moment's notice, destroyers are sent out and ships and planes. It was a massive kind of effort, but it was, you know, it wasn't well planned.
And, you know, it was a it was a moonless night and very dark and, you know, there was four different patrol PT boat, patrols, but they they all got separated. There was no radar. It was sort of a disaster. And,
[00:30:54] Unknown:
you know I'm sorry. Now I was coughing.
[00:30:56] Unknown:
Oh, okay. So at one point, you know, it's at midnight. You know, there hadn't been any action or anything, and, you know, Kennedy receives word. We just recently found out that, you know, there'd be Japanese there was Japanese ships seen in the area. Up to that time, they weren't really around him. So he receives word by radio. And he it makes a bit of a miscalculation. He had decided, in the previous couple of weeks to, because he'd been hit by all these floodplains. It would be better he decided just to have one engine going when he was, idling. Because you have three engines going, you have this, you know, phosphorescent streak coming out of the back of the boat. Right. What's happening, the Japanese, you know, floodplains were seeing that, and they're dropping their bombs, and they almost got hit a couple of times.
So he receives word at at twelve that, there's Japanese, destroyers, but he doesn't adjust to that. He figures maybe it's still safer to go with one engine. And, so when the, you know, at that point, his crew was sort of on relief. Several of them worked alert. They were sleeping. So, and, all of a sudden, this Japanese destroyer, you know, comes out of the blue, and he has, like, fifteen seconds to get out of the way. And with one engine sputtered, he he couldn't get the other ones going in time. And so, that's when the Amaguri, the Japanese destroyer, just sort of almost cut it in half. Wow.
[00:32:25] Unknown:
Each I'm trying to picture all this in my head as you're as you're describing it. I'm trying to describing it and trying to get a visual of what it must have been like to be in a situation like that.
[00:32:33] Unknown:
Yeah. It's just looming over you when you think about it. That's you know, and I tried to write it that way. You know, it it's come out of the blue. At first, he thought it was an American chip, and then it's just sort of on them, and there's nothing you can do. And, you know, he he writes, you know, he he thought he was gonna die and two of his crewmen did, which, I think had a major effect on the rest of what happened to, his crew, the rest of that day in terms of rescue and everything. Yeah.
[00:32:57] Unknown:
I I would imagine it would. Now what what was there was there a moment during your research where, or the or the process of writing the book that that kinda changed your direction or changed the conclusions that you came to?
[00:33:14] Unknown:
Well, there were certain things that, you know, I'd always been led to believe that, like most of us, if you ask any person and they know about the Kennedys and the Kennedy brothers, they would, you know, they would say, well, Joe, he was the guy who's going to groom to be president. And, you know, that's one of the myths that I think, that I challenge, that Jack had already passed him by by the time Joe had died in the, in World War two. Mhmm. I mean, there's a lot of evidence. And then so, you know, one thing well, he'd written a book, why England slept.
Joe had tried to get a book published regarding, the troubles in Spain, but didn't have any luck. You know? Even I think his father respected him more. You know, at at one point, Joe was out in, this is actually even before the war, but in 1940, he was out at Stanford just sort of auditing some classes. And ambassador came out to California, told him he was going to resign as ambassador. And, you know, he had a very bad reputation in The US because he was an appeaser. Mhmm. And he asked Jack for help in improving his, public persona.
You know? So he didn't go to he didn't go to Joe. He went to Jack, for that. And and also there was, you know, right on the eve of World War two in '39, this ship, British ship, the Athena, with, I think it was a 128 American passengers aboard as well as other, yeah, other in British people aboard sank. It was sunk by a German submarine, and, I think 28 Americans died. But another 100, escaped, and they were, sent off to to Scotland. And, so they they they were worried about getting back to The United States. They wanted a convoy to take them back. And, so the ambassador sent, you know, Jack to to deal with the situation, to find transportation for them to allay their fears. Just, and I think he realized Joe was a hothead, and it wouldn't it wouldn't have worked if, he just sent Joe out there. So and even symbolically at the very end, you know, Jack was, you know, lieutenant, and, Joe was, lieutenant junior grade. So symbolically, he had passed him there also. So I think the ambassador had come to the point where, he's gonna let events play out and see what happened as opposed to giving, you know, Joe, you know, first chance.
[00:35:44] Unknown:
So what was the biggest why behind this book? You know, the the message or or or the or the truth that you wanted to share about Jack's life?
[00:35:54] Unknown:
Well, we we always see Kennedy as this, sort of semi perfect in in except for sort of the womanizing as kind of this semi perfect human being, beautiful family, very handsome, beautiful kids, you know, save the you know, save maybe the world, you know, the Mhmm. Cuban missile crisis. And I just wanted to show that other side of him. We all have frailties as humans. And, you know, I wanna show the other side that, you know, is is not, you know, is not as well known and, you know, it's something that's it's not as, you know, positive that he was a, you know, a cheapskate. It's it's hard to think of, you know, Kennedy as a cheapskate, but his father was. He got it from him. So, you know, he'd go around with his friends, and he wouldn't have any money. And, you know, they'd pay for him, and it was very hard to get him to pay him back so that he was a cheapskate. You know? You know, he's pretty narcissistic. You know? He wasn't a guy you would ask to do favors for. You know? He wasn't that type of person. So, you know, there is that other side and, you know, he was certainly a, you know, in terms of women, you know, he was pretty ravenous and, you know, objectified women. And he was he admits he was only there for sort of one thing, which was sex until he, you know, he met Inga Arvid, and they had a little little bit more of a balanced, relationship.
[00:37:13] Unknown:
Now it in in listening to how you're describing all this, it it to me, it seems like, you know, there there are really are some pretty important lessons that we can pull out from the book. You know, like, for example, president doesn't always start out, in in the in the best situations in life, you know, with, and he doesn't usually get, you know, go through life without any kind of troubles or anything like that. And you you've talked about some of the things that he's been through and some of the hardships he's been through, because it one thing that we didn't mention was the fact that, you know, he was a very sickly man too. He wasn't in the best of health either. Correct?
[00:37:45] Unknown:
Yeah. That's correct. I mean, that started very early. You know, three years old. He had scarlet fever. But, you know, he had, you know, you know, immune disease, and that, you know, was with him for the rest of his life, which was related to Addison's disease. So he, you know, he was in and out of the hospitals all the time. I couldn't believe it. A lot of times, you know, he was at the Mayo Clinic for, a week to ten days, and they were trying to figure out what's wrong with him. He'd lost a lot of weight. He'd have he'd have terrible stomach cramps. And today, we call it celiac disease, but back then, they they really didn't know. So he, you know, he was ill, you know, so often. And, of course, the back, something that really plagued him, and that was something that interesting. He, he was getting ready to go to to Europe to be the eyes and ears for his father as well as research his senior thesis. And, he goes to the Mayo Clinic, and he's really fatigued. He's lost a lot of weight, and, it seemed like very difficult for him to get through a three month trip through Europe. So, at that point, they had just sort of developed a certain steroid, and so it was kind of experimental.
So, what what happened was they they sort of cut a a little slit in his leg and, you know, stuck that pill in there that would dissolve through his body. And that, you know, gave him a surge of energy, and he was able to complete the trip. You know, there there apparently was some side effects to that, though, that, you know, it led to some, apparently, some osteoporosis and some problems with his back. So,
[00:39:18] Unknown:
you know, it was a a two edged sword there. Right. And the and the back problems he experienced, that that lingered throughout his entire life. Even throughout his presidency, he he was constantly on the pain medications at at points where he couldn't even he he would sleep on floors from what I I read someplace that it it it had to be excruciating. I I I could like, I get some back pain every now and then, and trust me crazy. Yeah. Imagine going through your whole life like that. That's
[00:39:42] Unknown:
that's that's Yeah. When he was at Stanford, you know, as soon as he found an apartment, they went around looking for a board to sleep on. Same thing was in he was training at, at, in Rhode Island, you know, went around with another person to to just get a board because he couldn't sleep on a bed.
[00:39:58] Unknown:
But how do you think that all the things that JFK went through in his in his young life, health health issues, his his military experience, how do you think all of that, went through and shaped him to become a president?
[00:40:15] Unknown:
You know, I I think, one thing that certainly comes through is that persistence. I think most people, you know, having gone through all the the health illnesses he did probably would have sort of backed off from any public persona of of really, you know, you know, campaigns are very, take a lot of energy. We probably would have backed off from things like that that take a lot of energy. So I think that persistence helped when he, you know, had to you you know, it was difficult during the, the Cuban Missile Crisis. You know, that took a lot of energy, but he just really persisted.
You know, I think he he was he was a person that grew into his leadership. He really wasn't a leader until he was the PT boat skipper. Mhmm. I think, you know, he saw war, and, I think, you know, that's the biggest thing when people go to war, depending on what you're doing, that has the biggest effect on, you know, your later life. You know, the relationships you have, gives you a whole different world view. So he really wanted to, you know, avoid another war like that, and I think that really, informed his, presidencies, especially with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Oh, I I I agree with you. I agree with you a 100% on that. And, the one the one thing about
[00:41:31] Unknown:
the story about his younger life, his growing up, and and the things that he's been through, it really does serve as as kind of like a model for, you know, or or motivation for for folks to to to to work their way through the difficulties, work their way through the problems. You know, don't give up just because you're in pain, and don't give up just because things aren't working out exactly the way you would like them to work out. It's perseverance. He stuck through it. He he did what he needed to do, and and and eventually I mean, I'm sure I know he has, you know, the family history, the backgrounds of the family, a lot of resources that most people don't have. Right. But, but still, it's a very motivating story to to to see the things that he went through in his in his life to get him to the point where he did ascend to the presidency.
I mean, that that's that's an amazing story.
[00:42:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I I mean, I think it's it could be very motivational for for young people to read about what he did in the war, you know, even the traveling. He had the urge to travel and see things, build curiosity. So I think it could be very motivational for for young people reading that. Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that because because I was gonna ask you, you know,
[00:42:38] Unknown:
what do you hope that this conversation tonight, that that the audience would take away from our conversation here? And I think that's that's a great that's a great takeaway from this whole thing to begin with. It's it's just the the motivation, perseverance, and and to stick to it.
[00:42:54] Unknown:
Yeah. I think there's there's a lot of lessons there. What, what Kennedy did that, you know, we can all learn from whether we're actually, you know, ten, twenty, or, you know, 40, or 50, you know. Yeah. Persist and, you know, move forward.
[00:43:07] Unknown:
I agree. Now, so fast forwarding to more contemporary times, who who who is somebody that you respect right now? And and what are they doing that inspires you?
[00:43:22] Unknown:
Let's see. You know, I'm sort of looking ahead to 2028 and, trying to think of someone who might be a, whatever. Call it a Kennedy like president, but some someone that, I could really respect and go after. It's it's a little bit too early to tell. You know, I just know a little bit about this guy who's running for mayor, in New York City. You know, we have governor Newsom out here in California, which I have mixed feelings about. So I wouldn't say there there's somebody that I I I've always, you know, like Bernie Sanders, but he's not gonna be president at this point. But he still has a very strong voice, and I hope, you know, he is in his eighties, we'll have him around a lot longer. But I he's certainly someone who I respect and, you know, we should listen to. So Bernie Sanders, I I guess, would be one of them.
[00:44:11] Unknown:
Yeah. That's it. You're the first person to say that. Is that right? Yeah. And if everybody, if I ask that question to you, the first person to bring up Bernie Sanders. That's surprising. What do most of them say? Usually it's somebody outside of politics, to be honest. Question. Mostly outside of politics. I had I had one person say that that well, they they they answered the question by asking me if does a person have to be currently alive? I was like, well, it would help. You know, just so I did what I asked. You know, and and I got I got actually, I had two people mention Thomas Jefferson
[00:44:45] Unknown:
and,
[00:44:48] Unknown:
out of politics, and the rest, you know, just people that that just come across every I think probably one of the nicer ones I I I heard recently was, one of my guests said that someone that they respect very much right now is their wife. And, and he went on to explain some of the things that she does to help him get through the day and inspire him to keep doing what he's doing.
[00:45:06] Unknown:
Okay. And I thought personal as opposed to someone, you know, some public figure in It could be anybody. No. Who don't know public figures, you know, that well. I mean, I've you know, doing some research and, I was just sort of looking at, you know, Nixon and, you know, his personal attributes. You know, there's the public and the, you know, private persona, and they're very different. You know, same thing, you know, with Kennedy. You know, it's public and and private are are are kinda different. So, we never know what we're getting necessarily with, you know, our our public officials. Yeah. Very true. Happen. You know? Very, very true. Do do you think that in the in the
[00:45:44] Unknown:
contemporary Democratic Party, there could be another Kennedy?
[00:45:47] Unknown:
I don't even want to, you know, I I think it's sort of, not a good thing to to look for someone who's in the past that, you know, they've been doing trying to do that for for so many years, and no one is like anybody else. So, of course, it'd be nice to find someone inspirational. I think Obama was inspirational. Mhmm. Now, you know, don't be Kennedy like. Just be, you know, whatever, a good candidate. I'll take that.
[00:46:15] Unknown:
Fair enough. Fair enough. Alright. Scott, where could the audience go to get more information about you, your book, and, and to find out more about what you're doing and follow you around? Right. You can look on my web site, scottbadler.net.
[00:46:27] Unknown:
You know, I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and, the book is available on Amazon and and other bookstores. So you can find it readily. There's a big article in People magazine couple weeks ago that'll give you little tidbits on on his life. So, you know, check that out too. Outstanding.
[00:46:42] Unknown:
Outstanding. Scott, thank you so much for jumping on, especially earlier too. I I appreciate that. That was great. And, it gives me an opportunity now to go to go take some meds and and go, like, and rest. End the evening early. Good. Glad it worked out for both of you. Yeah. I I appreciate it, sir. Thank you very much. And I'd love to have you back on the show again another time, so let's keep in touch with each other and, talk about a few other things that going on with you today. Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Scott Badler. Thank you so much. All all all the information about Scott will be in the show notes, once we publish the show, when we're finished with everything here tonight. Alright. Scott Badler, thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. Alright. Thank you, Joe. Have a great one.
Alright. So make sure you go out and check out the book, folks. Check out the book. I got to I got the opportunity to read a couple of little passages out of it. And, very well written, and I think you should definitely check it out. He has some great great perspectives on that. Alright, folks. So what we're gonna do here is we're gonna just gonna start to wrap up the show here tonight. And, before we do that, just wanna mention a good friend of ours, Pro HVAC r Solutions. Pro HVAC leverages over thirty years of ex expertise, providing premier HVAC sales and repair services, specializing in both residential and commercial installations.
Pro hvac Pro HVAC's team of skilled technicians is dedicated to providing efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions for your home or business. With a focus on quality workmanship and customer satisfaction, Pro HVAC ensures your comfort all year round. Contact Pro HVAC Solutions today for reliable HVAC services tailored to your needs. Website is right up there on the screen, prohvacrsolutions.com, prohvacrsolutions.com. Alright, folks. Also, I wanna remind you about some just some quick announcements here. Our email list. Please head over to the website, joeroos.com, joeroos dot com. And when you get over there, just please, fill out that little pop up that's gonna come up on the homepage and get yourself on the mailing list. We're not gonna sell you stuff. We're not gonna send you things you don't want. We're just gonna send you information that has to do with the show.
Programming, upcoming shows, guests, so on and so forth. So, very important to be on the list. It's really the best way for us to reach everybody. So, if you could get yourself on the mailing list, we really would appreciate that to no end. We're trying to build this list. We're stuck at a certain number. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but we're stuck at a certain number. You've been there now for a couple of weeks. We we need some more folks to get on that mailing list. So head over to the website, that little pop up, thingy shows up, get yourself on there. It's free, don't cost you nothing.
We're not gonna spam you. We're not gonna sell your information. We're not gonna share it with anybody. It all stays with us. And, so so get yourself on the mailing list and stay in the know. Alright. Also, I wanna remind you of the veterans food drive. This is extremely important to me. I did not serve in the military. I'm not a veteran, but veterans to me are are some of the most courageous people that you'll ever meet. And, I don't think enough is done to help our veterans, especially as they're aging and getting older, and, all the issues of life start to catch up to them. So things like this, this veterans food drive that we're doing here on, November 3 at from 7AM to 12PM at the Maverick County at the Maverick Food Pantry at 1823 South Veterans Boulevard, is incredibly important. So now if you're interested in helping out, if you wanna volunteer or just get more information, you can always call (956) 291-9093.
That's (956) 291-9093. Alright. And also another announcement. So the part of the reason why we're, you know, not only the fact that I'm not feeling well is that, we're cutting it a little bit shorter tonight is because we have, we have three show well, two shows that we're doing tomorrow. So it's gonna be very very interesting day. So we have we're gonna have a an an in studio guest with us at, at 11AM central time, right here in the studio. And, we're looking forward to meeting Ruben Camarillo, who is a podcast host here in Eagle Pass. He's a host of the Now You Know Eagle Pass podcast, and, had a great conversation with him. And we're looking forward to having him here in the studio with us. And, so that'll be tomorrow at 11AM.
I'm not sure if we have a second guest for that day for tomorrow. But if not, we'll just carry on with with with Ruben. And if we do, we'll integrate. How about that? We can integrate. Alright. And then at 3PM tomorrow, we'll we have our resident crypto psychic, Marissa Lee, joining us, for our every, our biweekly? Is it biweekly? I get confused sometimes. So with our biweekly cryptocurrency discussions. So make sure you check us out tomorrow. We are gonna be very, very busy. And then Sunday, we have our Sunday show, so we're gonna be doing three shows in two days.
It's gonna be a wild weekend here at the asylum. It's gonna be it's gonna be a crazy weekend at the asylum. That's why we call it the asylum. Alright. Now you get it. Now you see it. Now you understand. Keep it that way. Alright. So join us tomorrow at 11AM right here on Rumble, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, x. I think that's it. For the video. And then audio, wherever you get your audio podcast. So make sure you check them out. Alright? Also, if you wanna follow us on our socials, you could follow us on Twix at, at Joe Ruse. Truth social at Joe Ruse. Mines at Joe Ruse. Get on Mines, please. Mines is a great platform. Check them out.
Check them out. Mines is a great platform. Get on Mines. I've been on Minds for years. And, I have believe it or not, for a for a lesser known social media platform, unfortunately, a lesser known social media platform, I have more engagement on Minds than I do on any of the more mainstream, social media platforms. So check out Minds. As a matter of fact, on November 21, we will be having, CEO of Minds, Bill Ottman. He's scheduled to be with us, on the twenty first at 7PM Central Time. So make sure you bookmark that date and check it out. It's gonna be a lot of fun. If you wanna check us out on Fakebook, you can go to the, you go to, our show page is Joe Ruse Show.
Instagram is not Joe Ruse. TikTok is Joe dot Ruse, and get her, Joe roos. Oh, you know what? I had a clip that I wanted to play for you from Getter. We'll save it for tomorrow. Yeah. We'll do that. We'll share it with Reuben, get Reuben's thoughts on the whole thing. Alright. Shout outs tonight to our executive producers, Wayne Rankin. Now I just wanna interrupt there for a second. Wayne, by the way, today ended up having to have surgery on his, on on on his shoulder. So, pray for him. I did get an update a little while ago that, that he's out of surgery. He's he's doing okay. So but continue to pray for him. Pray for his healing. And, and that, he'll he'll still retain the range of motion, in his shoulders. Alright. So let's keep praying for Wayne. We gotta get him healthy because we we miss him on our Wednesday night on our Wednesdays with Wayne segment. So we gotta make sure we get him back here quickly. Alright?
So again, shout outs, executive producer Wayne Rankin, Rosanna Rankin, Carolina Jimenez, Marissa Lee, and anonymous Angela. Thank you guys so much for all that you do. Couldn't do this without you. I really couldn't. You guys that, you know, they're they're these folks are donating their time, their talent, and their treasure. Alright? And that's incredibly important to us. Incredibly important. You know, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do without their contributions. So I I we really do appreciate it, and we're we're gonna ask you guys if you wanna step up to the plate and, and join up with our producing team. I'm gonna tell you how to do that right now. You can do if you wanna be an associate producer of the show, you can sign up for a monthly recurring donation of $17.76.
If you wanna be a producer of the show, it's $18.36. Executive producers are $25 and up every month. Alright? Recurring monthly contributions. All of the producers get the shout out like you just heard. You also get included in all of our show notes, all of our emails, anything that goes out from the show, all has your names on it because you are producers of the show. And as producers of the show, you get the credit for it. Alright. Now you could also help us out with a one time donation in any amount, a recurring donation in any amount. All of those things are incredibly helpful to us, and we really do appreciate those. One more shout out to John Seeley for his $25 donation. Thank you, sir, very much. I appreciate it. And, also, if you wanna help us out with donations of cryptocurrencies, you could do that by clicking on onto our or checking out our wallets on our support page, Ethereum, Tether, Bitcoin, Texacoin, whatever it is that's up there. You could just easily just scan the QR code, and you can connect your wallet and make a donation. We really, really appreciate that. And of course, you know, talking about the modern podcast apps, that we were mentioning earlier, you can, through the modern podcast apps, you can stream SATS to us. Now, Sats are just the micropayments of Bitcoin.
And, when you sign up for these modern podcast apps like Pod Home or Podverse or, fountain.fm and and, podcast guru, those sites like that, you can connect your crypto wallet to it. And it's really easy to do. If I was able to do it, and I'm an old guy, you can do it too. Alright? So it's very very simple to do. So please just check it out if you wanna if you wanna help us out. You can send boosts, send boostograms, and all that stuff through the modern podcast apps. And that would be great. We'd appreciate that very much. Now you can get some of these modern podcast apps by visiting modernpodcastapps.com or podcastindex.org.
Or, actually, you can actually go to, your app store on your on your iPhone or your Android phone, and you can download a great number of these apps, through there as well. Alright. Well, I think, that should just about do it for us for tonight. So folks, again, thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight. Really do appreciate it. Remember, it's Friday. Have a great weekend. And, don't forget to make Texas independent again. Go podcasting, keep a steady stride, and keep talking tomorrow 11AM Central Time. See you there.
Came spotter, please. Lights are flashing. Doors are slamming, never know what's real here. Soon, every vampire, every werewolf, came sparkly voice and
[00:03:54] Unknown:
The scarecrow walks at midnight and he will kill you. You will die.
[00:04:06] Unknown:
Transmitting live from the asylum studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas, it's the Joe Rouge show. The show where we talk about anything and everything. Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC.
[00:04:28] Unknown:
Alrighty. Hey folks, this is Joe Roos, and it is great to be with you once again transmitting live tonight from the asylum studios from the pimple on the backside of Texas, the beautiful city of Eagle Pass. And we are gonna do the very best we can to bring you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster. Welcome to the Joe Russo. Alrighty. It's Friday. Yes. It is Friday. Finally Friday. Beginning of a weekend, it is Halloween, happy Halloween everybody, I hope you guys are enjoying it and playing it safe out there on the streets, if you're out there trick or treating or were out there trick or treating or will be out there trick or treating.
I don't know how to put it, because we're doing the show live, of course, and doing the show live. I'm not sure how many people are actually watching it, you know, if they're trick or treating. But, I hope you guys are safe out there. That's the that's the most important thing. Most important thing. I remember when my kids were young, and we used to take them out trick or treating, and, probably the most fun that I had out of the whole thing was getting to kinda go through the bag, you know, when the kids went to bed. Kind of filter through everything to make sure, you know, there's nothing in there inappropriate or dangerous or anything like that, you know. I think all parents do that. At least, hopefully, you still do that. I mean, you have no idea what people are dropping in these bags sometimes.
And, so please be careful out there while you're doing it. We gotta think of the graphic. I mean, is it, like, you know, too much? Too little? I don't know. I saw it. I said, let me try it. Let me see. Let me see how it looks. But, we'll see. We'll see how it goes throughout the night. If it starts to annoy me having that, that green thing pointing right there in my forehead, it's, you know, that's, that's gonna be kind of annoying tonight. But, but, yeah, that's that's it's Halloween. And here we are, the All Hallows Eve. That's what I'll be doing tonight, by the way, after the show. The kids and I are gonna, are gonna settle down, and we're gonna watch, the Terrifier series.
The three of the movies, if I can. I don't know. They're they're kinda long. And, you know, there's three movies to watch tonight is a bit much, but, we'll see. We'll see. Because, you know, there's more than just the the terrifier movies, you know. Art the Clown, the, the protagonist in the movie. He basically he got his start in in a in a short called All Hallows Eve. And, it it was actually, you know, considering that it was a very low budget film, it was it was pretty good. It was that was my introduction to Art the Clown. That and, another podcast host did a review of, of All House Eve and the Terrifier movies, and and I asked her about it. And she was like, oh, no. If you haven't seen it, you gotta check it out. So I did.
And, lo and behold, I became a fan, watching it. It's it's pretty interesting. People think I'm crazy for liking that stuff. Yeah. Hey, you're a Christian. You shouldn't be watching those kind of movies. Yeah. I I get it. You know, you don't really wanna allow those kind of things into your life, into your home, and and whatnot, but it's all what you do with it. That's what it's it's all it is. It's all what you do with it. You know, if that becomes the focal point of your existence, you know, just sitting there watching these things, trying to emulate what you're seeing on the TV, that's that's another story altogether. You know, so it's, it's it's one of those, you know, it's just one of those things that you just do. You know?
That's how you celebrate your that's why I celebrate Halloween. And and as far as the the, I'm rambling. Aren't I? Yeah. I am. I'm gonna tell you why I'm rambling. I'll I'll be very frank with you. I'm not feeling great. I woke up this morning, and I and I I I was all congested. The chest is hurting from coughing in the back, and I'm all I'm all all over the place. And, we had a guest lined up for 07:00, but, they weren't able to make it tonight. And then I see our 08:00 guest has checked in already, so we appreciate that, that Scott Badler's here already. And, we're gonna come into him here just momentarily. Let's so let's do some of the housekeeping stuff, and let's get that squared away.
So as always, the show is brought to you tonight by podholm.fm. Podholm.fm is the most modern and easy to use podcast hosting platform on the market today. Use it to publish your episodes and answer audio and automatically generate transcripts, chapters, titles, show notes, and more. And you know something? You could even podcast live. Yeah. You could. You could even podcast live, and that's that's your audio stream. We're we're streaming our audio live across the modern podcast app two point o apps that are out there, like Podverse and, Podcast Guru, fountain.fm, and Pocketcast, and all those apps that support live streaming the audio. We're on those right now, just like we're on the video stream with with Rumble and Twitch and, and and Facebook and and x and YouTube. So, check out podhome.fm.
Check them out. It's a fully packed service. You will be so incredibly pleased with it. It is a great service. I've been with them for about three years. Cannot complain at all. So in addition to Podcast Live, you could also if you have a website, you can get you can download their HTML player, install that on your website, and you can stream your live audio directly through your website, which is what we do as well. So, you could check that out. And if you don't even have a website, Pod home will give you one for free. Yeah. That's right. Free. Absolutely free. Now, how much do you think you're gonna pay for services like that? Like I said, you have the the automatically generated chapters, try titles, transcripts, show notes, all that great stuff, plus a website, plus streaming your audio live across the modern apps, how much do you think you're gonna pay for that? Well, what if I told you you're gonna get thirty days free at sign up, and then it's a monthly subscription of just $15.99 a month. That's it. Just $15.99 a month. Now I've been on other platforms. I've used other platforms, as my audio host. Remember, the show started audio only. We never did video.
Not a big fan of the video stuff, but we do it because we do it. It's like one of it's like a government program. You know, once it gets started, you just can't seem to get rid of it. So that's why we're here. And, and we, so so it started off as audio, and I've been on other platforms. And I'm telling you, you're gonna pay double, maybe triple what you're paying at Pod Home for less, infinitely less. So check them out. Podhome.fm podhome.fm. Everything that you need in one place with for once affordable subscription. $15.99 a month, and don't forget, thirty days free. So try them out. And you know what I forgot to do? I forgot to put their banner up. Up. Yeah. Not good. Alright. See, you can tell I'm not feeling well. I'm a little slow to down the trigger. Alright. So podhome.fmpodhome.fm.
Alright. Also, I wanna tell you about TNE Energy. TNE dot energy. Electricity is essential, and TNE Energy helps make it affordable and personal with more than 1,000,000 customers across The US trusting them to power their homes and earn free energy for referring their family and friends as well. You can visit tne.energy and explore all of the options that are available for your home today. Take care of that today. You're talking great products, great pricing, great customer service. Check them out. If, if I didn't think that was the case, I would not refer them to you. So check them out. T n e dot energy. And we talked to them. Let them know you heard it here on the Joe Ruse Show.
Alright? Also, don't forget, if you would, please head over to our website, joroos.com. Joroos.com. And when you get there, look for that little contact form, open up the window, send us over a message, let us know whatever's on your heart, whatever's on your mind, any questions, comments, cares, or concerns that you might have. You can also send us any complaints that you might have. You can send us, any suggestions for a show topic, a guest, or whatever whatever tickles your fancy. Alright. It's Friday, we could say that. Whatever tickles your fancy, send them on over to us. Alright. We'd love to hear from you guys. And if you don't wanna use the web form, fine. You can email it to me directly at [email protected]. [email protected].
And, another idea is you can drop it right down there below. There's a comment section. You can just drop it right down there. It's there in perpetuity, so we'll be able to always go back and check it out. Alright. So please drop a comment, shoot us an email, contact form, however you wanna reach us, we would appreciate that. It's always, always helpful. Alright. Also, while you're on the website, if you would, just head over to the support page, and if you wanna help us out with a donation, greatly, greatly appreciate that. We do rely on your donations to help fund pretty much everything that we're doing. Yes, we do have some sponsors, but those are those sponsors, we don't really get paid for the sponsors. It's a value for value system. It's value for value. So and value for value basically means this. If you're receiving anything of value from what we're putting out, we're asking to return that value in the form of a donation. And that donation could be your time, your talent, or your treasure.
Any one of those three things or all three of those things. However you can do it, as long as you have the means to do it and you don't put yourself into debt to help a struggling podcaster. Alright? Also, just wanna remind you that we still have our GoFundMe set up. So if you're able to help us out with that, we would appreciate it. It is crunch time. It is crunch time. So we have, the story basically is this, is we have learned of a, well, now it's a $2,800 escrow shortage here at the asylum. And, we could either come up with a lump sum payment, or we can break it up over the course of time and pay. Now breaking it up over the course of time will increase our monthly payments here by at least $400 a month, which will make it very very difficult for us to continue doing as many shows as we do with the type of guests that we get. So, we really don't wanna do that. We have good momentum going here. We're we're growing steadily. So if you would, help us out. We would appreciate that. Scan the QR code. The, link to the GoFundMe is down below in the in the in the, show notes. And, however you can do it, we would appreciate it. Alright? And And again, you know I hate asking. It's it's one of those things that just really irritate me. And, you know, I don't wanna get started on taxes and and all that stuff because taxes is what's causing this this escrow shortage. The school district tax here in Eagle Pass is absolutely freaking ridiculous.
Ridiculous. It's the Believe it or not, it's the highest tax out of all the taxes I have to pay to live here. And I don't even have kids going to school here. So it's it's one of those things that really just just irritate me to no end. And, of course, at the end of the show, we'll go into all the other ways that you can help us out by your donations and becoming a producer or an associate producer or an executive producer of the show. Alright. Well, with all of that said, let's see. Most portraits of John f Kennedy begin with his presidency, but the crucial journey of his early years from 1935 to 1946 are often overlooked.
How did a young man plagued by illness, intense family, pressure, and his own rebellious streak develop the strategic acumen to become a world leader? Joining us today is author and historian, Scott Badler. Scott has spent years researching the Kennedy family and his new book, Becoming JFK. John f Kennedy's early path to leadership offers a fresh, meticulous research look into the man behind the myth. Using a compelling narrative style, he offer he explores everything from JFK's eye opening travels in pre World War two Europe to his harrowing character, The Finding Experience, on PT one zero nine. Scott, we are absolutely thrilled to have you here with us tonight to discuss the making of an American icon.
[00:15:54] Unknown:
Great to be here, Joe.
[00:15:56] Unknown:
Excuse me. I'm sorry. I have, I've got some I was fine yesterday. Woke up this morning sick as a dog. So Okay. Maybe by the time we're done here, we'll, you'll be cured. We have sort of an echo. Oh, yeah. Let me fix that. I'm sorry. That should do it. No more echo? Yeah. No more echo. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So the story behind that echo is this, with, with with StreamYard, which is what I use to to stream the show. If I if I leave echo cancellation on when I run through the opening of the show, it makes all the audio sound like it's warbling. Mhmm. So, I shut it off, broadcast it in stereo, then usually when the guest comes on, I turn it off. I just will slow on the trigger tonight, like I said before. So No problem. So, Scott, great great to have you here. This is this is fantastic. I was I was looking forward to talking to you. JFK is, probably, I I would think is probably the the last of the true Democrats.
I mean, you have to see what the Democrats have descended into now. I don't think JFK would recognize the party if he were here to see it. So, so I I really looked at and examined his life over the course of, you know, my growing up in school and and so on and so forth. So so, this is really interesting to me and and and it's a subject that I that I really like to talk about. And, so I'm really looking forward to this. But before we get into it, usual, I have two questions I like to ask every guest before we get started. The first one is, what is something that most people don't know about you but should?
[00:17:30] Unknown:
Well, they put me on the spot there. Usually do. Let's see. First thing I remember about Kennedy is yelling Nixon on the, playground during election day nineteen sixty. Most people, I guess, wouldn't know that. Really? You were you were that involved that young? Well, I was, you know, you know, but you you know, I wasn't, you know, very old, but I guess my parents were for Kennedy, and so it was election day. So I was just, you know, mimicking what they I gotcha. I don't know. Second grader, I don't know if they came up with this word nicks, but, you know so that that that's my last memory. My first memory is yelling nicks, un nicks it. So I guess most people wouldn't know that about me. Well, that's great. That's it. I like that. That's good. And, so what's your go to beverage? What's your go to thing to do to unwind at the end of the day? You know, I like a good martini.
Good gin martini. You know, the olives gotta have that right glass. So doesn't have that good glass. It's just some sort of goblet or something, you know. Take it somewhere else. So it's gotta have that glass. So,
[00:18:29] Unknown:
that's my go to. That's good. I like that. I I get a lot of Mountain Dews. I get a lot of, I got my first diet Mountain Dew the other day. A lot of waters, but, very few people actually admit that they like to have a nice adult beverage to to help them unwind. That's that, honestly, that's my go to on the weekend. After a long week of, realizing that, you know, I got through this week, I didn't kill anybody this week. So let me let me celebrate by, I I I like to have a nice bourbon. I'm very big on bourbons. I love bourbons. So that's usually my go to on a weekend. I'll sit out in the backyard, you know, by the fire pit. A bourbon something nice. A bourbon and cigar on the beautiful starry night down here in Southwest Texas. So it's a it's a it's a beautiful thing, and, I I look forward to it. Not gonna be doing it this weekend because feeling like this, I don't think I should be.
[00:19:20] Unknown:
Lay off that stuff. Right? Yeah. Exactly.
[00:19:23] Unknown:
Alright. So let's let's start with Scott Badler. Alright? Tell us a little bit about the moment that you decided to research the life of John F Kennedy. Was there something at first that made you really want to explore his life, before the presidency? Or or what was it that motivated you to do this?
[00:19:40] Unknown:
Yeah. Let's see. You know, I've always sort of been interested in the Kennedy's are you hearing me? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Always been interested in the Kennedy's. And, so several years ago, I I started to investigate, young Kennedy, and I was surprised to learn about some things you wouldn't expect. You know, we think of Kennedy as this, you know, sort of handsome, perfect person who was, you know, killed right in the middle of his life and, charismatic and everything, beautiful kids. And so I started to research a little bit more, and I see where, he sees a therapist, you know, when he's in high school, that he's, you know, kicked out of, prep school, then then it was rescinded. He leads an insurrection at the prep school, and his best friend was gay, that he was in jail. You know? So, wow. This this is different than normally, you know, we're used to to seeing and hearing about, you know, 90% of the books about Kennedy or, you know, the assassination, the presidency, Jackie's civil rights, Vietnam, so forth. So it was interesting to go way back to, you know, the first book I wrote was, JFK and the Muckers of Choate, which was historical fiction about JFK at Choate Preparatory.
And that's where these things was in, in high school or in in the preparatory school happened. And then, the book that come is coming out now, which is now nonfiction, takes off right from there. At age 18, it takes it till, 29.
[00:21:07] Unknown:
Outstanding. Now now did you always know that you wanted to write a book or or or this kind of this project kind of take you by surprise?
[00:21:14] Unknown:
You know, I've written a couple of humor books before. I never read any you know, written anything real serious that had a certain length. So it's it's it's a thing that sort of just evolved. There's more and more material, more and more research you do. You you see there's you know, things can be developed that, this could be, you know, lengthened and, you know, at some point, it kinda turns into a book.
[00:21:36] Unknown:
Alright. I had to I had to adjust your mic there for a second. I'm sorry. Just give me let me fix that. I don't know why you your your volume just dropped, like, dramatically all of a sudden. But I got you. I got fixed you. I fixed you. Alright. So, alright. So so why do you think why did you feel like there was a need for another book about JFK? What what makes, becoming JFK JFK so different?
[00:21:58] Unknown:
Well, there hasn't been, a book in about thirty or forty years. There was one, thirty, forty years ago. It's called, JFK Reckless Youth. So that was a long time ago. And since then, there's been a lot more research. I was able to delve into the archives at the Kennedy Library. You know, a lot more material is out. And, I just felt it was time for, you know, take a refreshing look or, at his life in that early age. And, And, you know, there's so many books coming out on him when he's, like I say, when he's older. But what about when he's younger? And just to focus on that period, nothing else, just these eleven years. I mean, this was a this is really a defining point of his life. I mean, there's PT one zero nine. He's, you know, World War two. He's, you know, right before World War two, he's traveling through Nazi Germany, sees Mussolini.
You know, he writes his first book during this period. So a lot his first and only love affair really, happens then. So this is kind of, to me, the defining period. And, of course, it ends when he, wins his first, congressional seat.
[00:23:07] Unknown:
Now now, in in the book, you portrayed JFK as kind of like this scrappy underdog. Can you explain what you mean? Like, how is that so?
[00:23:18] Unknown:
Well, how am I say so? I would say the the publisher sort of pushed that a little bit more than I would. Okay. So, Bless the publisher. Him about that. I I'm not sure. You'd say underdog in that, you know, maybe he's trying to say the older brother, Joe, He's the one that's going to, become president. He's the one everyone's counting on. And, you know, young Jack is, you know, he's underweight. He's ill all the time, and he's just trying to get some crumbs or something like that. You know, he's waiting in the background. He's sort of afraid to take the the top spot.
So perhaps that's what he means by that. I mean, you know, underdog. I don't know.
[00:23:59] Unknown:
But you you kinda touched on my next question. Might had had to do with his older brother, Joe. You know, trying exploring a little bit of how that rivalry between himself and his older brother shaped the man that that, John Kennedy became.
[00:24:14] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, they competed like, older and younger brothers do. And, you know, growing up there, you know, Joe was sort of a bully, and he was much stronger and bigger than Jack. So, he kinda bullied Jack a lot. And, at one point, they went to Chill Preparatory School together, and, you know, Joe was the, one of the most popular guys at school. He was a top athlete, top student, and, Jack felt he couldn't compete with his brother. Mhmm. So he opted to opt out, meaning, he didn't try his best to get good grades. He was lazy. You know?
He led this insurrection. He felt like he couldn't compete with his older brother. And, so that changed after after high school, I think. They had this event where they both, one big event was, they went to sail in Martha's Vineyard at, the Edgartown races. And, you know, they they had one boat, and one day, Joe is the captain. The next day, Jack is the captain. Actually, in the two different days, Jack, his time was a lot better than his brother's. But there was a the father gave him, money to have a party, and the party got out of hand. And, you know, Joe is the older brother, so he's supposed to kinda you know? I think Jack looked up to him to kinda settle things down, make sure there wouldn't be any further trouble, and, you know, that didn't happen. You know? So the police came and, you know, they're hauled off to jail. The father could have bailed him out, decided not to let him, you know, stay in the jail a little bit. And I think after that point, you know, Jack realized, you know, he couldn't sort of count on his brother. He wanted to go his own way.
So I think it was a a bit of a defining moment there when he was, nineteen thirty five when Jack had just turned 18. Now the And then, they competed, you know, with women. You know, they tried to steal each other's women. So it continued until, you know, to tell you the truth, till Joe died.
[00:26:13] Unknown:
Now now you you said the word insurrection twice so far. So so tell us about this insurrection.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, it's actually kinda mild. That's well, that's a bit of a strong word. But, you know, the the head of school at, Choate, he he called everybody into the chapel, and he he probably did this everywhere, but he he called everyone. He didn't say names, but he called everyone who, you know, he says we have a bunch of muckers at this school. Muckers has a lot of different, you know, meanings. You know? It can be someone who sort of screws up. It can be the, the Irish where, back in the day, they cleaned up the muck, which was the, you know, the horse crap in the streets. Right. So perhaps, you know, Jack took that kinda seriously, and so he formed this, group, the Muckers.
And, you know, for a couple of months, they just sort of, they didn't really do anything bad. You know? It was just sort of an attitude. And but at this very strict school, you know, the head of school wouldn't have it. So he called them all in and said, you know, there's a train leaving, in the afternoon, and you need to be on it because you you're gone. And in those few hours, things change. The teachers came over to the head of school, changed his mind, and so the, you know, the expulsion was rescinded.
[00:27:34] Unknown:
Now now the book now your style of writing is with this particular book is novelistic. How do you balance how do you balance the, I guess, the historical accuracy with that kind of storytelling?
[00:27:45] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, you know, you know, I stayed, you know, the first one is historical fiction. This one is nonfiction, but I I take a little bit of liberty. You know, all the, characters or I didn't make up any characters or any scenes or anything. I did you know, where I I knew something had happened, but I didn't have any dialogue. I would put in a little bit of dialogue there, just to balance things out, you know, liven it up a little bit. Because sometimes history can be a little bit dull. So I just wanted to add some something a little more visceral, some dialogue, some some details that would kind of liven up. But it is, you know, historically accurate.
[00:28:20] Unknown:
Now was there a particular part of the story, of writing the story that stands out as being more difficult than others?
[00:28:30] Unknown:
In terms of what? I mean, explain a little bit further. It'd be more difficult in terms of,
[00:28:39] Unknown:
Well, as far as as far as telling the story, getting the getting the the the the factual data straight enough that you can actually weave it into a story format.
[00:28:48] Unknown:
Yeah. I think, you know, I had to do a lot of research regarding, you know, the p t one zero nine crash, what really sort of happened there, and sort of figure out the details, and kind of, in a certain way, make up my own mind what happened there. Some new evidence has recently come out in the last few years. So, you know, kind of figuring out my own mind and and putting into words what what happened there, what was Jack's responsibility, You know? Why did they make him a war hero?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
You know, I just want I didn't wanna just gloss it over and make him, you know, a war hero because there's there's a lot more to that than, you know, meets the eye. Right now, though, a lot you know, for people who don't understand what PT one zero nine is, can you can you kind of elaborate a little bit on that? What exactly is PT 109? What was his role in?
[00:29:37] Unknown:
Okay. Yeah. He was the skipper of a PT boat called you know, it's the PT 109, and he was out in the South Pacific. And, you know, for the major part, he was there. He would go out on patrols and, you know, help out, in a in a bunch of different ways. And they they would kinda look for, you know, Japanese, small ships, but they never found any. So it was just a lot of patrolling. A lot of times when they were coming back to port, they'd, they only went out at night, and the Japanese would float planes would come over and, you know, send their torpedoes at them. So there's a couple of close calls. So, anyway, he was the skipper of the one zero nine, and, in early August, word came out that the Japanese were going to be convoy, it was going to supply a base. Mhmm. And so, you know, at a moment's notice, destroyers are sent out and ships and planes. It was a massive kind of effort, but it was, you know, it wasn't well planned.
And, you know, it was a it was a moonless night and very dark and, you know, there was four different patrol PT boat, patrols, but they they all got separated. There was no radar. It was sort of a disaster. And,
[00:30:54] Unknown:
you know I'm sorry. Now I was coughing.
[00:30:56] Unknown:
Oh, okay. So at one point, you know, it's at midnight. You know, there hadn't been any action or anything, and, you know, Kennedy receives word. We just recently found out that, you know, there'd be Japanese there was Japanese ships seen in the area. Up to that time, they weren't really around him. So he receives word by radio. And he it makes a bit of a miscalculation. He had decided, in the previous couple of weeks to, because he'd been hit by all these floodplains. It would be better he decided just to have one engine going when he was, idling. Because you have three engines going, you have this, you know, phosphorescent streak coming out of the back of the boat. Right. What's happening, the Japanese, you know, floodplains were seeing that, and they're dropping their bombs, and they almost got hit a couple of times.
So he receives word at at twelve that, there's Japanese, destroyers, but he doesn't adjust to that. He figures maybe it's still safer to go with one engine. And, so when the, you know, at that point, his crew was sort of on relief. Several of them worked alert. They were sleeping. So, and, all of a sudden, this Japanese destroyer, you know, comes out of the blue, and he has, like, fifteen seconds to get out of the way. And with one engine sputtered, he he couldn't get the other ones going in time. And so, that's when the Amaguri, the Japanese destroyer, just sort of almost cut it in half. Wow.
[00:32:25] Unknown:
Each I'm trying to picture all this in my head as you're as you're describing it. I'm trying to describing it and trying to get a visual of what it must have been like to be in a situation like that.
[00:32:33] Unknown:
Yeah. It's just looming over you when you think about it. That's you know, and I tried to write it that way. You know, it it's come out of the blue. At first, he thought it was an American chip, and then it's just sort of on them, and there's nothing you can do. And, you know, he he writes, you know, he he thought he was gonna die and two of his crewmen did, which, I think had a major effect on the rest of what happened to, his crew, the rest of that day in terms of rescue and everything. Yeah.
[00:32:57] Unknown:
I I would imagine it would. Now what what was there was there a moment during your research where, or the or the process of writing the book that that kinda changed your direction or changed the conclusions that you came to?
[00:33:14] Unknown:
Well, there were certain things that, you know, I'd always been led to believe that, like most of us, if you ask any person and they know about the Kennedys and the Kennedy brothers, they would, you know, they would say, well, Joe, he was the guy who's going to groom to be president. And, you know, that's one of the myths that I think, that I challenge, that Jack had already passed him by by the time Joe had died in the, in World War two. Mhmm. I mean, there's a lot of evidence. And then so, you know, one thing well, he'd written a book, why England slept.
Joe had tried to get a book published regarding, the troubles in Spain, but didn't have any luck. You know? Even I think his father respected him more. You know, at at one point, Joe was out in, this is actually even before the war, but in 1940, he was out at Stanford just sort of auditing some classes. And ambassador came out to California, told him he was going to resign as ambassador. And, you know, he had a very bad reputation in The US because he was an appeaser. Mhmm. And he asked Jack for help in improving his, public persona.
You know? So he didn't go to he didn't go to Joe. He went to Jack, for that. And and also there was, you know, right on the eve of World War two in '39, this ship, British ship, the Athena, with, I think it was a 128 American passengers aboard as well as other, yeah, other in British people aboard sank. It was sunk by a German submarine, and, I think 28 Americans died. But another 100, escaped, and they were, sent off to to Scotland. And, so they they they were worried about getting back to The United States. They wanted a convoy to take them back. And, so the ambassador sent, you know, Jack to to deal with the situation, to find transportation for them to allay their fears. Just, and I think he realized Joe was a hothead, and it wouldn't it wouldn't have worked if, he just sent Joe out there. So and even symbolically at the very end, you know, Jack was, you know, lieutenant, and, Joe was, lieutenant junior grade. So symbolically, he had passed him there also. So I think the ambassador had come to the point where, he's gonna let events play out and see what happened as opposed to giving, you know, Joe, you know, first chance.
[00:35:44] Unknown:
So what was the biggest why behind this book? You know, the the message or or or the or the truth that you wanted to share about Jack's life?
[00:35:54] Unknown:
Well, we we always see Kennedy as this, sort of semi perfect in in except for sort of the womanizing as kind of this semi perfect human being, beautiful family, very handsome, beautiful kids, you know, save the you know, save maybe the world, you know, the Mhmm. Cuban missile crisis. And I just wanted to show that other side of him. We all have frailties as humans. And, you know, I wanna show the other side that, you know, is is not, you know, is not as well known and, you know, it's something that's it's not as, you know, positive that he was a, you know, a cheapskate. It's it's hard to think of, you know, Kennedy as a cheapskate, but his father was. He got it from him. So, you know, he'd go around with his friends, and he wouldn't have any money. And, you know, they'd pay for him, and it was very hard to get him to pay him back so that he was a cheapskate. You know? You know, he's pretty narcissistic. You know? He wasn't a guy you would ask to do favors for. You know? He wasn't that type of person. So, you know, there is that other side and, you know, he was certainly a, you know, in terms of women, you know, he was pretty ravenous and, you know, objectified women. And he was he admits he was only there for sort of one thing, which was sex until he, you know, he met Inga Arvid, and they had a little little bit more of a balanced, relationship.
[00:37:13] Unknown:
Now it in in listening to how you're describing all this, it it to me, it seems like, you know, there there are really are some pretty important lessons that we can pull out from the book. You know, like, for example, president doesn't always start out, in in the in the best situations in life, you know, with, and he doesn't usually get, you know, go through life without any kind of troubles or anything like that. And you you've talked about some of the things that he's been through and some of the hardships he's been through, because it one thing that we didn't mention was the fact that, you know, he was a very sickly man too. He wasn't in the best of health either. Correct?
[00:37:45] Unknown:
Yeah. That's correct. I mean, that started very early. You know, three years old. He had scarlet fever. But, you know, he had, you know, you know, immune disease, and that, you know, was with him for the rest of his life, which was related to Addison's disease. So he, you know, he was in and out of the hospitals all the time. I couldn't believe it. A lot of times, you know, he was at the Mayo Clinic for, a week to ten days, and they were trying to figure out what's wrong with him. He'd lost a lot of weight. He'd have he'd have terrible stomach cramps. And today, we call it celiac disease, but back then, they they really didn't know. So he, you know, he was ill, you know, so often. And, of course, the back, something that really plagued him, and that was something that interesting. He, he was getting ready to go to to Europe to be the eyes and ears for his father as well as research his senior thesis. And, he goes to the Mayo Clinic, and he's really fatigued. He's lost a lot of weight, and, it seemed like very difficult for him to get through a three month trip through Europe. So, at that point, they had just sort of developed a certain steroid, and so it was kind of experimental.
So, what what happened was they they sort of cut a a little slit in his leg and, you know, stuck that pill in there that would dissolve through his body. And that, you know, gave him a surge of energy, and he was able to complete the trip. You know, there there apparently was some side effects to that, though, that, you know, it led to some, apparently, some osteoporosis and some problems with his back. So,
[00:39:18] Unknown:
you know, it was a a two edged sword there. Right. And the and the back problems he experienced, that that lingered throughout his entire life. Even throughout his presidency, he he was constantly on the pain medications at at points where he couldn't even he he would sleep on floors from what I I read someplace that it it it had to be excruciating. I I I could like, I get some back pain every now and then, and trust me crazy. Yeah. Imagine going through your whole life like that. That's
[00:39:42] Unknown:
that's that's Yeah. When he was at Stanford, you know, as soon as he found an apartment, they went around looking for a board to sleep on. Same thing was in he was training at, at, in Rhode Island, you know, went around with another person to to just get a board because he couldn't sleep on a bed.
[00:39:58] Unknown:
But how do you think that all the things that JFK went through in his in his young life, health health issues, his his military experience, how do you think all of that, went through and shaped him to become a president?
[00:40:15] Unknown:
You know, I I think, one thing that certainly comes through is that persistence. I think most people, you know, having gone through all the the health illnesses he did probably would have sort of backed off from any public persona of of really, you know, you know, campaigns are very, take a lot of energy. We probably would have backed off from things like that that take a lot of energy. So I think that persistence helped when he, you know, had to you you know, it was difficult during the, the Cuban Missile Crisis. You know, that took a lot of energy, but he just really persisted.
You know, I think he he was he was a person that grew into his leadership. He really wasn't a leader until he was the PT boat skipper. Mhmm. I think, you know, he saw war, and, I think, you know, that's the biggest thing when people go to war, depending on what you're doing, that has the biggest effect on, you know, your later life. You know, the relationships you have, gives you a whole different world view. So he really wanted to, you know, avoid another war like that, and I think that really, informed his, presidencies, especially with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Oh, I I I agree with you. I agree with you a 100% on that. And, the one the one thing about
[00:41:31] Unknown:
the story about his younger life, his growing up, and and the things that he's been through, it really does serve as as kind of like a model for, you know, or or motivation for for folks to to to to work their way through the difficulties, work their way through the problems. You know, don't give up just because you're in pain, and don't give up just because things aren't working out exactly the way you would like them to work out. It's perseverance. He stuck through it. He he did what he needed to do, and and and eventually I mean, I'm sure I know he has, you know, the family history, the backgrounds of the family, a lot of resources that most people don't have. Right. But, but still, it's a very motivating story to to to see the things that he went through in his in his life to get him to the point where he did ascend to the presidency.
I mean, that that's that's an amazing story.
[00:42:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I I mean, I think it's it could be very motivational for for young people to read about what he did in the war, you know, even the traveling. He had the urge to travel and see things, build curiosity. So I think it could be very motivational for for young people reading that. Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that because because I was gonna ask you, you know,
[00:42:38] Unknown:
what do you hope that this conversation tonight, that that the audience would take away from our conversation here? And I think that's that's a great that's a great takeaway from this whole thing to begin with. It's it's just the the motivation, perseverance, and and to stick to it.
[00:42:54] Unknown:
Yeah. I think there's there's a lot of lessons there. What, what Kennedy did that, you know, we can all learn from whether we're actually, you know, ten, twenty, or, you know, 40, or 50, you know. Yeah. Persist and, you know, move forward.
[00:43:07] Unknown:
I agree. Now, so fast forwarding to more contemporary times, who who who is somebody that you respect right now? And and what are they doing that inspires you?
[00:43:22] Unknown:
Let's see. You know, I'm sort of looking ahead to 2028 and, trying to think of someone who might be a, whatever. Call it a Kennedy like president, but some someone that, I could really respect and go after. It's it's a little bit too early to tell. You know, I just know a little bit about this guy who's running for mayor, in New York City. You know, we have governor Newsom out here in California, which I have mixed feelings about. So I wouldn't say there there's somebody that I I I've always, you know, like Bernie Sanders, but he's not gonna be president at this point. But he still has a very strong voice, and I hope, you know, he is in his eighties, we'll have him around a lot longer. But I he's certainly someone who I respect and, you know, we should listen to. So Bernie Sanders, I I guess, would be one of them.
[00:44:11] Unknown:
Yeah. That's it. You're the first person to say that. Is that right? Yeah. And if everybody, if I ask that question to you, the first person to bring up Bernie Sanders. That's surprising. What do most of them say? Usually it's somebody outside of politics, to be honest. Question. Mostly outside of politics. I had I had one person say that that well, they they they answered the question by asking me if does a person have to be currently alive? I was like, well, it would help. You know, just so I did what I asked. You know, and and I got I got actually, I had two people mention Thomas Jefferson
[00:44:45] Unknown:
and,
[00:44:48] Unknown:
out of politics, and the rest, you know, just people that that just come across every I think probably one of the nicer ones I I I heard recently was, one of my guests said that someone that they respect very much right now is their wife. And, and he went on to explain some of the things that she does to help him get through the day and inspire him to keep doing what he's doing.
[00:45:06] Unknown:
Okay. And I thought personal as opposed to someone, you know, some public figure in It could be anybody. No. Who don't know public figures, you know, that well. I mean, I've you know, doing some research and, I was just sort of looking at, you know, Nixon and, you know, his personal attributes. You know, there's the public and the, you know, private persona, and they're very different. You know, same thing, you know, with Kennedy. You know, it's public and and private are are are kinda different. So, we never know what we're getting necessarily with, you know, our our public officials. Yeah. Very true. Happen. You know? Very, very true. Do do you think that in the in the
[00:45:44] Unknown:
contemporary Democratic Party, there could be another Kennedy?
[00:45:47] Unknown:
I don't even want to, you know, I I think it's sort of, not a good thing to to look for someone who's in the past that, you know, they've been doing trying to do that for for so many years, and no one is like anybody else. So, of course, it'd be nice to find someone inspirational. I think Obama was inspirational. Mhmm. Now, you know, don't be Kennedy like. Just be, you know, whatever, a good candidate. I'll take that.
[00:46:15] Unknown:
Fair enough. Fair enough. Alright. Scott, where could the audience go to get more information about you, your book, and, and to find out more about what you're doing and follow you around? Right. You can look on my web site, scottbadler.net.
[00:46:27] Unknown:
You know, I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and, the book is available on Amazon and and other bookstores. So you can find it readily. There's a big article in People magazine couple weeks ago that'll give you little tidbits on on his life. So, you know, check that out too. Outstanding.
[00:46:42] Unknown:
Outstanding. Scott, thank you so much for jumping on, especially earlier too. I I appreciate that. That was great. And, it gives me an opportunity now to go to go take some meds and and go, like, and rest. End the evening early. Good. Glad it worked out for both of you. Yeah. I I appreciate it, sir. Thank you very much. And I'd love to have you back on the show again another time, so let's keep in touch with each other and, talk about a few other things that going on with you today. Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, Scott Badler. Thank you so much. All all all the information about Scott will be in the show notes, once we publish the show, when we're finished with everything here tonight. Alright. Scott Badler, thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. Alright. Thank you, Joe. Have a great one.
Alright. So make sure you go out and check out the book, folks. Check out the book. I got to I got the opportunity to read a couple of little passages out of it. And, very well written, and I think you should definitely check it out. He has some great great perspectives on that. Alright, folks. So what we're gonna do here is we're gonna just gonna start to wrap up the show here tonight. And, before we do that, just wanna mention a good friend of ours, Pro HVAC r Solutions. Pro HVAC leverages over thirty years of ex expertise, providing premier HVAC sales and repair services, specializing in both residential and commercial installations.
Pro hvac Pro HVAC's team of skilled technicians is dedicated to providing efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions for your home or business. With a focus on quality workmanship and customer satisfaction, Pro HVAC ensures your comfort all year round. Contact Pro HVAC Solutions today for reliable HVAC services tailored to your needs. Website is right up there on the screen, prohvacrsolutions.com, prohvacrsolutions.com. Alright, folks. Also, I wanna remind you about some just some quick announcements here. Our email list. Please head over to the website, joeroos.com, joeroos dot com. And when you get over there, just please, fill out that little pop up that's gonna come up on the homepage and get yourself on the mailing list. We're not gonna sell you stuff. We're not gonna send you things you don't want. We're just gonna send you information that has to do with the show.
Programming, upcoming shows, guests, so on and so forth. So, very important to be on the list. It's really the best way for us to reach everybody. So, if you could get yourself on the mailing list, we really would appreciate that to no end. We're trying to build this list. We're stuck at a certain number. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but we're stuck at a certain number. You've been there now for a couple of weeks. We we need some more folks to get on that mailing list. So head over to the website, that little pop up, thingy shows up, get yourself on there. It's free, don't cost you nothing.
We're not gonna spam you. We're not gonna sell your information. We're not gonna share it with anybody. It all stays with us. And, so so get yourself on the mailing list and stay in the know. Alright. Also, I wanna remind you of the veterans food drive. This is extremely important to me. I did not serve in the military. I'm not a veteran, but veterans to me are are some of the most courageous people that you'll ever meet. And, I don't think enough is done to help our veterans, especially as they're aging and getting older, and, all the issues of life start to catch up to them. So things like this, this veterans food drive that we're doing here on, November 3 at from 7AM to 12PM at the Maverick County at the Maverick Food Pantry at 1823 South Veterans Boulevard, is incredibly important. So now if you're interested in helping out, if you wanna volunteer or just get more information, you can always call (956) 291-9093.
That's (956) 291-9093. Alright. And also another announcement. So the part of the reason why we're, you know, not only the fact that I'm not feeling well is that, we're cutting it a little bit shorter tonight is because we have, we have three show well, two shows that we're doing tomorrow. So it's gonna be very very interesting day. So we have we're gonna have a an an in studio guest with us at, at 11AM central time, right here in the studio. And, we're looking forward to meeting Ruben Camarillo, who is a podcast host here in Eagle Pass. He's a host of the Now You Know Eagle Pass podcast, and, had a great conversation with him. And we're looking forward to having him here in the studio with us. And, so that'll be tomorrow at 11AM.
I'm not sure if we have a second guest for that day for tomorrow. But if not, we'll just carry on with with with Ruben. And if we do, we'll integrate. How about that? We can integrate. Alright. And then at 3PM tomorrow, we'll we have our resident crypto psychic, Marissa Lee, joining us, for our every, our biweekly? Is it biweekly? I get confused sometimes. So with our biweekly cryptocurrency discussions. So make sure you check us out tomorrow. We are gonna be very, very busy. And then Sunday, we have our Sunday show, so we're gonna be doing three shows in two days.
It's gonna be a wild weekend here at the asylum. It's gonna be it's gonna be a crazy weekend at the asylum. That's why we call it the asylum. Alright. Now you get it. Now you see it. Now you understand. Keep it that way. Alright. So join us tomorrow at 11AM right here on Rumble, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, x. I think that's it. For the video. And then audio, wherever you get your audio podcast. So make sure you check them out. Alright? Also, if you wanna follow us on our socials, you could follow us on Twix at, at Joe Ruse. Truth social at Joe Ruse. Mines at Joe Ruse. Get on Mines, please. Mines is a great platform. Check them out.
Check them out. Mines is a great platform. Get on Mines. I've been on Minds for years. And, I have believe it or not, for a for a lesser known social media platform, unfortunately, a lesser known social media platform, I have more engagement on Minds than I do on any of the more mainstream, social media platforms. So check out Minds. As a matter of fact, on November 21, we will be having, CEO of Minds, Bill Ottman. He's scheduled to be with us, on the twenty first at 7PM Central Time. So make sure you bookmark that date and check it out. It's gonna be a lot of fun. If you wanna check us out on Fakebook, you can go to the, you go to, our show page is Joe Ruse Show.
Instagram is not Joe Ruse. TikTok is Joe dot Ruse, and get her, Joe roos. Oh, you know what? I had a clip that I wanted to play for you from Getter. We'll save it for tomorrow. Yeah. We'll do that. We'll share it with Reuben, get Reuben's thoughts on the whole thing. Alright. Shout outs tonight to our executive producers, Wayne Rankin. Now I just wanna interrupt there for a second. Wayne, by the way, today ended up having to have surgery on his, on on on his shoulder. So, pray for him. I did get an update a little while ago that, that he's out of surgery. He's he's doing okay. So but continue to pray for him. Pray for his healing. And, and that, he'll he'll still retain the range of motion, in his shoulders. Alright. So let's keep praying for Wayne. We gotta get him healthy because we we miss him on our Wednesday night on our Wednesdays with Wayne segment. So we gotta make sure we get him back here quickly. Alright?
So again, shout outs, executive producer Wayne Rankin, Rosanna Rankin, Carolina Jimenez, Marissa Lee, and anonymous Angela. Thank you guys so much for all that you do. Couldn't do this without you. I really couldn't. You guys that, you know, they're they're these folks are donating their time, their talent, and their treasure. Alright? And that's incredibly important to us. Incredibly important. You know, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do without their contributions. So I I we really do appreciate it, and we're we're gonna ask you guys if you wanna step up to the plate and, and join up with our producing team. I'm gonna tell you how to do that right now. You can do if you wanna be an associate producer of the show, you can sign up for a monthly recurring donation of $17.76.
If you wanna be a producer of the show, it's $18.36. Executive producers are $25 and up every month. Alright? Recurring monthly contributions. All of the producers get the shout out like you just heard. You also get included in all of our show notes, all of our emails, anything that goes out from the show, all has your names on it because you are producers of the show. And as producers of the show, you get the credit for it. Alright. Now you could also help us out with a one time donation in any amount, a recurring donation in any amount. All of those things are incredibly helpful to us, and we really do appreciate those. One more shout out to John Seeley for his $25 donation. Thank you, sir, very much. I appreciate it. And, also, if you wanna help us out with donations of cryptocurrencies, you could do that by clicking on onto our or checking out our wallets on our support page, Ethereum, Tether, Bitcoin, Texacoin, whatever it is that's up there. You could just easily just scan the QR code, and you can connect your wallet and make a donation. We really, really appreciate that. And of course, you know, talking about the modern podcast apps, that we were mentioning earlier, you can, through the modern podcast apps, you can stream SATS to us. Now, Sats are just the micropayments of Bitcoin.
And, when you sign up for these modern podcast apps like Pod Home or Podverse or, fountain.fm and and, podcast guru, those sites like that, you can connect your crypto wallet to it. And it's really easy to do. If I was able to do it, and I'm an old guy, you can do it too. Alright? So it's very very simple to do. So please just check it out if you wanna if you wanna help us out. You can send boosts, send boostograms, and all that stuff through the modern podcast apps. And that would be great. We'd appreciate that very much. Now you can get some of these modern podcast apps by visiting modernpodcastapps.com or podcastindex.org.
Or, actually, you can actually go to, your app store on your on your iPhone or your Android phone, and you can download a great number of these apps, through there as well. Alright. Well, I think, that should just about do it for us for tonight. So folks, again, thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight. Really do appreciate it. Remember, it's Friday. Have a great weekend. And, don't forget to make Texas independent again. Go podcasting, keep a steady stride, and keep talking tomorrow 11AM Central Time. See you there.
Cold open: spooky soundboard and eerie lines
Live from Eagle Pass: the Joe Roos(e) Show kicks off
Its Friday and Halloween: safety, kids, and candy bag checks
Horror night plans: Terrifier, All Hallowsa0Eve, and Art the Clown
Host ramble, feeling sick, guest shuffle, and housekeeping
Introducing guest historian Scott Badler and his JFK book
Audio fix, politics preamble, and icebreakers with Scott
From martinis to bourbons: unwinding talk and weekend vibes
Why Kennedy? Launching into JFKs early years research
Do we need another JFK book? What makes this one different
Brothers in contrast: Joe vs. Jack and the Edgartown episode
The Muckers at Choate: mini insurrection and rescinded expulsions
Writing style: novelistic nonfiction and balancing accuracy
PTa0109 deep dive: patrols, missteps, and the Amagiri collision
Challenging myths: was Joe truly the heir apparent
Illness and endurance: Addisons, Mayo Clinic, and the bad back
From frailty to leader: war lessons and perseverance
Contemporary reflections: who inspires today
Is another Kennedy possible? On inspiration vs. imitation
Where to find Scott Badler and Becoming JFK
Wrap with guest and host sign-off into show business
Announcements: mailing list, veterans food drive details
Weekend programming notes: studio guest and crypto segment
Socials rundown and upcoming Minds interview
Producer shout-outs, prayers for Wayne, and support tiers
Value-for-value close: sats, wallets, and modern podcast apps
Final thanks and sign-off: see you tomorrow at 11AM CT
