school's out, the weather's getting warmer, and you know what that means. It's sleepaway camp season.

It's never been the case that the majority of American children went to summer camps, but summer

camps came to assume a really important place in American popular culture.

If most of us didn't go to camp, why are we so obsessed with it?

That's this week on Explain It to Me.

New episodes every Sunday, wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, it's Phoebe. I want to tell you about our newsletter.

If you enjoy Criminal and This is Love, we think you're going to like it. In the newsletter, we share things we're enjoying, Q&As with the producers of our show, and behind-the-scenes photos and updates. We don't put these updates anywhere, but our newsletter. To sign up, go to this iscriminal.com slash newsletter.

That's this iscriminal.com slash newsletter.

This episode contains language that might not be suitable for everybody.

Please use discretion.

Tell me about the first time you ever learned about your uncle being a hitman.

The first time I ever heard of my uncle, and the first time I heard that this person existed or heard his name actually was in boarding school, in Connecticut.

I was writing for the school paper, and I was interviewing a buildings and grounds worker at the school who had once been a policeman in New York.

This is Eric Conigsberg.

He asked about my name. He said, there was a knock-around guy, a mafia figure. Harold Conigsberg. He said, where are you from?

Omaha, Nebraska. He said, oh, he was from Bayonne, New Jersey, where are you from? I said, Omaha Nebraska.

He said, oh, he was from Bayonne, New Jersey.

I said, my father grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Eric assumed it was a coincidence.

I did not call my father, but I mentioned it to some classmates.

At boarding school, I thought it would be kind of funny.

...