Continued listens and reads inspired by Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Whether you're watching Love Story, here are a few things to listen to or read.

Hi friends,

That might be my longest subject line in a while, but I’m pretty excited to write this one because I’m watching episode seven of the show as I write.

This episode follows John and Carolyn’s wedding and the paparazzi are doing the absolute most. Seeing how difficult the adjustment was for Carolyn was sad to watch, which might explain why my mind kept drifting to my own memories of their relationship. I remember seeing their photos splashed on the covers of my mom’s weekly magazine haul — she was a Life & Style and US Weekly lady, so naturally, I was as well. And I recall the plane disappearance making headlines everywhere, including the Today Show, which we watched every morning before school.

For me, watching this show was not about discovering something new. It's about re-experiencing a familiar story through a fresh lens and deepening my understanding of who John and Carolyn actually were to each other, beyond what the magazines showed me.

It’s been a good show so far, and for me, the strength of the show is the music.

The musical direction is superb.

With each episode, I kept writing down songs that caught my ear—until I realized FX had already released an official playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Listening to it, you get a sense of what it felt like to be young, in love, and maybe slightly overwhelmed in the 90s. It’s the quintessential 90s playlist.

Here are some of my favorite songs from the show:

“We Got a Love Thang” — CeCe Peniston

I forgot how much of a jam this song is. Growing up, CeCe Peniston was my mom’s third-favorite singer, after Whitney Houston and Cherrelle. Constantly playing her music at home, my mom made sure to see CeCe whenever she came to Oakland. So when this song came on in episode one, I was like heyyyyyyy—it instantly makes me want to dance and took me back to dance parties with my mom as a child.

Hearing it sent me back to CeCe’s album Finally, where this song lives. Since I was so young when it was released, I only remembered certain tracks by ear. Now, listening again, I get a window into who my mom was in her late twenties. Like that first song, the whole album is jamming, making me want to dance with squared shoulders and my eyes closed.

“Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” — P.M. Dawn

I fell into a Love Story subreddit and found a detail I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: reportedly, this was one of Carolyn’s favorite songs to dance to. Someone wrote about magazines from that era documenting her dancing to it. We spent so much time watching Carolyn through a lens of scrutiny. But she was also just a woman who had a favorite song to dance to.

“No Ordinary Love” — Sade

There’s a scene early in the show where John and Carolyn sneak out of the city and end up at a diner—just the two of them, no cameras. A jukebox sits in the corner. Suddenly, this song comes on, and they both light up. Carolyn mentions she was about to request it, while John laughs and says, ‘Who doesn’t like Sade?’ Although it’s such a small scene, it stuck with me. The moment you see exactly who he was when no one was performing. It also sent me straight back to Love Deluxe. What an album. For the record, my personal favorite from it is ‘I Couldn’t Love You More,’ in case you wanted to know.

“This Woman’s Work” — Kate Bush

I had no idea Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work” was a cover until this show. At first, I assumed it was just a song in a different style. But Kate Bush wrote and recorded it first. Hearing her original stopped me. The song plays in the background at a party where John and Carolyn first connect. It fits so perfectly, you’d think it was written for that moment. If you only know Maxwell’s version, go back to the source.

“Sullen Girl” — Fiona Apple

This plays at the end of episode seven, right after the wedding, and just as the paparazzi are at their most relentless. It’s the perfect song for that moment. It captures everything Carolyn was carrying in song form: the exhaustion of being watched, the slow erosion of privacy, and the way you eventually learn to go quiet just to survive it.

“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” — Lenny Kravitz

What a perfect, complicated song to include in a story we already know the ending to. I can’t fully explain what it does to me. But I felt it.

“Kiss Me” — Sixpence None the Richer

This is the quintessential 90s romance song—full stop. Innocent and hopeful in a way that feels almost cruel in retrospect.

“Heaven or Las Vegas” — Cocteau Twins

Dream pop that sounds like longing you can’t quite name. The show spends its entire run chasing exactly this feeling.

My continued listening

There were two other artists who were not featured on the playlist that I think could speak to their relationship and the time in general and that was Lauryn Hill and Maxwell.

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

In the subreddit streets, people were talking about how Lauryn Hill was one of their favorite artists, and how there were photos of them at her concert. No one posted them, and I never went back through the thread to find more, but I could see songs from this album like “When It Hurts so Bad” “Ex-Factor” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” being songs of their love story.

Maxwell - Urban Hang Suite

This album was released the year John and Carolyn got married and is still my favorite Maxwell album. This album is lush and intimate and sounds like a relationship that belongs to two people. Listening to the playlist also, can’t you hear “… Til The Cops Come Knockin’" or “The Suite Theme?”

Books for continued reading

Here are books I thought of in relation to the show.

Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller—the book that inspired the show and reframes everything. Beller argues Carolyn was sharp, driven, and misrepresented, laying the groundwork for the show’s perspective.

What Remains by Carole Radziwill — Carole writes with directness about her experiences inside this world. Her memoir reflects on losing her husband, Anthony (JFK Jr.’s cousin), and then John and Carolyn, all within the same year. The narrative remains intimate and engaging, offering a portrait of Carolyn as a real person rather than as anyone’s public persona.

Fairy Tale Interrupted by RoseMarie Terenzio recounts the experience of JFK Jr.’s personal assistant and Carolyn’s close friend. This behind-the-scenes account proceeds with clarity, resembling a 90s workplace novel while focusing on personal and professional dynamics.

The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown introduces the Princess Diana parallel—a link the show gestures toward. In doing so, the book explores what it costs a woman to live inside a myth not entirely her own.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is, at its core, a love story. It is told in retrospect, through others’ accounts, of two people whose relationship grew beyond what either intended. The mythology that forms around them feels very John-and-Carolyn.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld imagines Hillary Clinton’s life if she had never married Bill. At its core, it asks what happens to a brilliant, ambitious woman when the world sees her only as part of someone else’s story. Sittenfeld writes it as fiction, but it lands like a biography. The way Carolyn navigates the Kennedy machinery reminded me of this novel and sent me straight back to it. I have read this book three different times and have enjoyed it every single time.

A few more things worth sharing this week:

• Derek is my absolute favorite character on Shrinking so naturally, I loved reading this profile on Ted McGinley.

• Also on Shrinking, if you watched last week’s episode, let’s discuss. I was so sad at the ending.

• I have finally fixed my little home for my podcasts. Please subscribe via Spotify, Apple or wherever you find podcasts.

• On Friday, Jack Harlow released his new album, Monica. There has been mixed reviews on the album including how he leaned more into R&B, but I didn’t mind it. I did enjoy this interview on Popcast also.

• Michael B. Jordan won a Oscar for Best Actor and I have been smiling ever since.

• Additionally, Ryan Coogler won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and I’ve been clapping ever since.

• I loved learning more about Elmiene’s story on the latest episode of R&B Money.