Episode 386: John Hinckley Jr.

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

News, Society & Culture, True Crime

4.5 • 10.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On March 30, 1981, the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, is just two months into his presidency when he attends a speaking engagement at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. As the president exits the building and makes his way towards his limousine, six shots ring out. Members of the public and the Secret Service pounce on a 25-year-old man wielding a handgun nearby. In the affray, the president has been struck, along with three others. All recover, but when the motivation for the attack is revealed to be not about politics, but instead an obsession with a Hollywood star, the questions around the would-be assassin deepen. In episode 386, Jac and Alexis detail the bizarre attempted assassination of President Reagan by John Hinckley Jr, and ponder whether someone who acts on their obsession in such an extreme way can -or should - ever really go on to live a life without scrutiny. 🎟 Catch up to FOUR bonus episodes per month plus full video episodes over on Patreon: patreon.com/thefirstdegree 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/thefirstdegree 🕺 TikTok: tiktok.com/@thefirstdegreee 👤 Facebook: facebook.com/thefirstdegree Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:01.2	The first degree.
1:03.0	First degree. First degree. First degree.
1:05.3	First degree. First degree. First degree. The first degree.
1:09.0	You see it on the news. You see it on the paper. You see it on Facebook.
1:12.6	These things are supposed to happen in movies, not in real life.
1:16.6	And I guess he had been coming in the store and I didn't realize who he was until one day someone said,
	...

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