How does Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s journey from Democratic political royalty to MAGA-aligned power player reveal deeper shifts in America’s identity?

In this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, host Raney Aronson-Rath speaks with longtime FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk, director of The Rise of RFK Jr., about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s path: from child of an assassinated political superstar to drug-addicted young man, and from crusading environmental lawyer to anti-vaccine activist, conspiracy theorist, and now a politician trying to reshape the fundamentals of American healthcare.

Kirk explains why RFK Jr.’s story is, at its core, a tale of broader transformation from the progressive politics embodied by John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy to a more MAGA-aligned, Trump-era conservatism. Kirk and Aronson-Rath revisit Kennedy’s chaotic upbringing at Hickory Hill, surrounded by cousins, animals, privilege and grief, and explore how a childhood steeped in Catholicism, martyrdom, and the virtues of saints helped fuel RFK Jr.’s sense of mission.

This episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch also previews a new experiment for FRONTLINE: Across this and upcoming episodes, listeners will hear the film itself in audio form—as Kirk says, following every “mountain he climbs and every chasm he falls into,” from family tragedy and personal reckoning to his current role in the Trump administration.

You can watch “The Rise of RFK Jr. on FRONTLINE’s website, on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, and on the PBS App. Want to be notified whenever a new episode of the podcast is released? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.