Decades before he sculpted a Confederate general out of old bathtubs, Jack Kershaw briefly represented his most famous client - Martin Luther King Jr's assassin, James Earl Ray. The relationship soured after Ray discovered his lawyer had pocketed a payment from Playboy magazine.

Sources:

James McKinley, "Playboy Interview: James Earl Ray," Playboy Magazine, September 1977

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/09/archives/polygraph-indicates-ray-lied.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/25/archives/james-earl-ray-wants-mark-lane-to-replace-his-tenth-lawyer.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/sports/the-barkley-marathons-few-know-how-to-enter-fewer-finish.html

Decades before he sculpted a Confederate general out of old bathtubs, Jack Kershaw briefly represented his most famous client - Martin Luther King Jr's assassin, James Earl Ray. The relationship soured after Ray discovered his lawyer had pocketed a payment from Playboy magazine. Sources: James McKinley, "Playboy Interview: James Earl Ray," Playboy Magazine, September 1977 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/09/archives/polygraph-indicates-ray-lied.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/09/archives/polygraph-indicates-ray-lied.html</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/25/archives/james-earl-ray-wants-mark-lane-to-replace-his-tenth-lawyer.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/25/archives/james-earl-ray-wants-mark-lane-to-replace-his-tenth-lawyer.html</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/sports/the-barkley-marathons-few-know-how-to-enter-fewer-finish.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/sports/the-barkley-marathons-few-know-how-to-enter-fewer-finish.html</a>

Weird Little Guys is a weekly show about the worst people you’ve never heard of, taking you beyond the headlines to get to know the race warriors and aspiring terrorists trying to unravel the fabric of our society. Weaving together the origin stories of modern American white supremacist groups and the crimes that land their members in court, independent journalist Molly Conger exposes the monsters for what they really are - some weird guy. Whether they’re conspiring to build bombs or serving swastika shaped cookies at a dinner party, the weird little guys trying to destroy America are a little less scary with their masks off. 

Weird Little Guys is a weekly show about the worst people you’ve never heard of, taking you beyond the headlines to get to know the race warriors and aspiring terrorists trying to unravel the fabric of our society. Weaving together the origin stories of modern American white supremacist groups and the crimes that land their members in court, independent journalist Molly Conger exposes the monsters for what they really are - some weird guy. Whether they’re conspiring to build bombs or serving swastika shaped cookies at a dinner party, the weird little guys trying to destroy America are a little less scary with their masks off.

Investigative journalist Molly Conger takes you beyond the headlines to examine some of the worst people on the planet, most of whom you’ve never heard of. These are the weird little guys trying to ruin life as we know it.

Weird Little Guys

Playboy Payola: Jack Kershaw, Pt. 2

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b3447f59-0bd6-4a63-903a-b426015011ae/transcript

In the final part of the story about Jack Kershaw, we'll talk about his legal career. Before he represented MLK's assassin, before he sculpted a gigantic racist statue out of old bathtubs, he got a law degree from a part time night school program at the YMCA so he could do his part to stop integration.

Sources:

Phillips, Betsy. Dynamite Nashville: the FBI, the KKK, and the bombers beyond their control. Third Man Books 2021.

Houston, Benjamin, et al. “‘We Kept the Discussion at an Adult Level’: Jack Kershaw and the Tennessee Federation for Constitutional Government.” Southern Cultures, vol. 20, no. 4, 2014, pp. 72–88. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26217566

Graham, Hugh Davis. “Desegregation in Nashville: The Dynamics of Compliance.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 2, 1966, pp. 135–54. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42622869

McMillen, Neil R. “Organized Resistance to School Desegregation In Tennessee.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 3, 1971, pp. 315–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42623247

Michael J. Henry, Student Display of the Confederate Flag in Public Schools, 33 J.L. & EDUC. 573 (2004).
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2824&context=jled

Egerton, Joel. Walking into History: The Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville
https://southernspaces.org/2009/walking-history-beginning-school-desegregation-nashville/

https://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/melton.htm

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/328/88/1428295/


https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/klanbly-friendly-tennessee-state-becomes-hate-tourist-mecca/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/42777957/james-n-mason/

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/BR/81/897/1821803/ 

https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/the-fugitives/


https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/clinton-desegregation-crisis/ 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/nashville-civil-rights-bombings.html

In the final part of the story about Jack Kershaw, we'll talk about his legal career. Before he represented MLK's assassin, before he sculpted a gigantic racist statue out of old bathtubs, he got a law degree from a part time night school program at the YMCA so he could do his part to stop integration. Sources: Phillips, Betsy. Dynamite Nashville: the FBI, the KKK, and the bombers beyond their control. Third Man Books 2021. Houston, Benjamin, et al. &ldquo;&lsquo;We Kept the Discussion at an Adult Level&rsquo;: Jack Kershaw and the Tennessee Federation for Constitutional Government.&rdquo; Southern Cultures, vol. 20, no. 4, 2014, pp. 72&ndash;88. JSTOR, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/26217566">http://www.jstor.org/stable/26217566</a>
Graham, Hugh Davis. &ldquo;Desegregation in Nashville: The Dynamics of Compliance.&rdquo; Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 2, 1966, pp. 135&ndash;54. JSTOR, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42622869">http://www.jstor.org/stable/42622869</a>
McMillen, Neil R. &ldquo;Organized Resistance to School Desegregation In Tennessee.&rdquo; Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 3, 1971, pp. 315&ndash;28. JSTOR,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42623247">http://www.jstor.org/stable/42623247</a>
Michael J. Henry, Student Display of the Confederate Flag in Public Schools, 33 J.L. &amp; EDUC. 573 (2004). <a href="https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2824&amp;context=jled">https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2824&amp;context=jled</a>
Egerton, Joel. Walking into History: The Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville <a href="https://southernspaces.org/2009/walking-history-beginning-school-desegregation-nashville/">https://southernspaces.org/2009/walking-history-beginning-school-desegregation-nashville/</a>
<a href="https://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/melton.htm">https://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/melton.htm</a>
<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/328/88/1428295/">https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/328/88/1428295/</a> <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/klanbly-friendly-tennessee-state-becomes-hate-tourist-mecca/"></a>
<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/klanbly-friendly-tennessee-state-becomes-hate-tourist-mecca/">https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/klanbly-friendly-tennessee-state-becomes-hate-tourist-mecca/</a>
<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/42777957/james-n-mason/">https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/42777957/james-n-mason/</a>
<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/BR/81/897/1821803/">https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/BR/81/897/1821803/</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/the-fugitives/">https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/the-fugitives/</a> <a href="https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/clinton-desegregation-crisis/"></a>
<a href="https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/clinton-desegregation-crisis/">https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/clinton-desegregation-crisis/</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/nashville-civil-rights-bombings.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/nashville-civil-rights-bombings.html</a>

Say a Good Word for Slavery: Jack Kershaw, Pt. 3

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/68bfabda-d5ce-4e5d-9c2a-b43b018919cd/transcript

Police in New Jersey arrested a woman found sleeping in her car in a strip mall parking lot after the plates came back registered to a stolen vehicle. Her lawyer, Tennessee segregationist Jack Kershaw, insisted that his client was not only innocent, but said she was telling the truth - she really was a Romanian princess.

Sources:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1509995/HRH-Prince-Carol-of-Romania.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/23/archives/new-jersey-weekly-the-princess-and-the-police-once-upon-the.html

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/15/Lawsuit-against-princess-dismissed/2985395553600/

https://stiri.botosani.ro/stiri/actualitate/paul-de-romania-mai-are-un-frate-printul-alexandru.html

Police in New Jersey arrested a woman found sleeping in her car in a strip mall parking lot after the plates came back registered to a stolen vehicle. Her lawyer, Tennessee segregationist Jack Kershaw, insisted that his client was not only innocent, but said she was telling the truth - she really was a Romanian princess. Sources: <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1509995/HRH-Prince-Carol-of-Romania.html">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1509995/HRH-Prince-Carol-of-Romania.html</a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/23/archives/new-jersey-weekly-the-princess-and-the-police-once-upon-the.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/23/archives/new-jersey-weekly-the-princess-and-the-police-once-upon-the.html</a>
<a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/15/Lawsuit-against-princess-dismissed/2985395553600/">https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/07/15/Lawsuit-against-princess-dismissed/2985395553600/</a>
<a href="https://stiri.botosani.ro/stiri/actualitate/paul-de-romania-mai-are-un-frate-printul-alexandru.html">https://stiri.botosani.ro/stiri/actualitate/paul-de-romania-mai-are-un-frate-printul-alexandru.html</a>

The Princess in the Parking Lot

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/88538e5b-55be-4cfc-b2c0-b43401583274/transcript

After losing his job, an ex-Disney employee tried to get his former employer's attention by hacking in and making strange updates to company files.

Original Air Date: 6.5.25

Sources:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69534211/united-states-v-scheuer/
https://www.eeoc.gov/what-you-can-expect-after-you-file-charge
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/us/disney-worker-prison-hacking.html

After losing his job, an ex-Disney employee tried to get his former employer's attention by hacking in and making strange updates to company files.
Original Air Date: 6.5.25 Sources: <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69534211/united-states-v-scheuer/">https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69534211/united-states-v-scheuer/</a> <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/what-you-can-expect-after-you-file-charge">https://www.eeoc.gov/what-you-can-expect-after-you-file-charge</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/us/disney-worker-prison-hacking.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/us/disney-worker-prison-hacking.html</a>

CZM Rewind: Disney's Villain

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0c1517de-2f7b-4a14-b457-b42d0131d555/transcript

Playboy Payola: Jack Kershaw, Pt. 2

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