Interview · moment 23 of 23
The Barbara Bush Hair Salon Memo and Sign-Off
from Incompetence and Ruthlessness · #8
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
Baker highlights the strange 'Barbara's Big Hair Day' memo purportedly written by Barbara Bush from a hair salon the day Kennedy was shot, questions its authenticity, gives advice to aspiring investigative journalists, and the episode closes with plugs for the book and site.
- 1:11:04The Barbara Bush memo from Family of Secrets is Tim's favorite part of the book, written from a hair salon in Texas while Kennedy was being shot.
- 1:11:50Russ Baker titled the section "Barbara's Big Hair Day" — a memo Barbara supposedly wrote to her children explaining where George H.W. Bush was during the assassination.
- 1:12:17Baker suggests the letter reads like it was written later by someone else, not authentically by Barbara Bush, and invites readers to decide for themselves.
- 1:12:58Tim asks Baker what advice he'd give to aspiring investigative journalists trying to do this work despite how daunting it is.
- 1:13:09Baker recommends getting a day job delivering pizza while volunteering for Who, What, Why, his largely pro-bono news organization.
- 1:13:42Tim proposes doing a comedy show fundraiser for Who, What, Why with big comedians who have the platforms to help.
- 1:14:04Family of Secrets is available everywhere; Baker's next book is about a year to a year and a half away.
- 1:14:15Tim closes by saying Baker's research is so amazing it keeps you up at night, but in a good way.