A weird relic rested on the bookcase in my family's last home in New Orleans: a wooden pipe that had belonged to Jim Garrison, the Orleans Parish district attorney who tried and failed to convict a local businessman named Clay Shaw for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The pipe still smelled of the tobacco its owner had packed and lit before setting it down at a cocktail party. Garrison—that's him on the right—had left the party and forgotten his pipe. And because he was still a hero to some, and especially to my mom, she took Garrison's pipe home as a souvenir.

Remember when Caroline Kennedy convinced media executives to bury the History Channel's The Kennedys mini-series? We may now know what her bargaining chip was: ABC News (which has corporate ties to the History Channel) is preparing to air a series of never-before-heard audio tapes of Jackie Onassis, possibly conversing with historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The tapes are either the juiciest Kennedy dirt imaginable or totally banal, depending who you ask.

In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is digitizing reams of JFK artifacts. Among them: The president's application to Harvard, including mediocre test scores and a refreshingly banal personal essay.

Granted, noon is the equivalent of 6PM when you host a morning show. In GQ's new profile of Joe Scarborough, the professional chit-chatter reveals his sexual fixations and calls co-host Mika Brzezinski "mommy" while she chugs vodka from a mug.

Here's a gem from the late Ted Kennedy's FBI file: A memo about a New York City socialite's claim of "considerable information about sex parties" including three Kennedy brothers, Frank Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe.