Our Enduring Fascination With the Kennedys

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.3 • 107.6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Love Story,” the FX limited series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s relationship, has taken audiences by storm. Its unstoppable wave of ’90s nostalgia has swept through the world of fashion, revitalized iconic New York landmarks and set off a yearning for simpler days before smartphones and dating apps. The series has also drawn significant backlash, with criticism ranging from bad reviews to accusations of inaccuracy and even harm. Today, Rachel Abrams talks to Alexandra Jacobs, a critic for The New York Times Book Review, about why America can’t seem to look away from “Love Story.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is the Daily on Sunday.
0:12.1	Here in Manhattan, downtown in the East Village, there's this tiny Indian restaurant called
0:21.8	Pana 2. It's a bit of a hole in the wall, but like any restaurant that survives, it has its
0:28.6	charms. For Pana 2, one of those charms is that it is filled with Christmas lights, absolutely
0:35.0	covered. Like imagine the most Christmas lights you could fit into a restaurant and then double or triple that. That's how many lights are in Panatoo. I wonder whether your life would go. Panatoo has been a novelty for New Yorkers for decades. We lived in the area for like a couple years, so we, but we've never been in here. But lately, it's been drawing a different kind of crowd. I was just, I was asking my mom, like, where should we go for dinner? And she was like, you should try, like, you know, the place that was in Love Story. Love Story. The fictionalized retelling of the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr., son of a president, one of the most famous New Yorkers of the 1990s,
1:12.0	and Carolyn Bissette, the Calvin Klein publicist, whose relationship with JFK Jr., vaulted her into what the show portrays as an unwelcome spotlight.
1:24.2	In the series, JFK Jr. takes her to the unpretentious and empty, Panette 2 on their first date.
1:30.9	Does your go-to date spot?
1:33.2	Yeah. I'm a sucker for a laminated menu.
1:36.5	The show, which ended this week, has been ascending into a real cultural moment.
1:42.5	Even if you haven't heard of love story, you might still be aware of it, or at least know
1:46.7	about the kind of phenomenon it's become.
1:48.7	It's like a huge thing on TikTok, like all my friends.
1:51.4	It's what people are texting about, posting about, criticizing, loving.
1:55.6	It's impacting fashion.
1:56.7	It's impacting people's memories, a lot of people's parents.
1:59.4	And suddenly, and this is according to Hulu,
2:02.0	it is the most streamed limited series in its history.
2:05.8	And the Cravence are the closest thing to royalty
2:07.6	we've ever had in America.
2:09.4	So I think this is like very impactful.
2:12.0	It's got its own center of gravity,
	...

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