About this episode

This episode explores the contradictions in John Lennon's life and the factors leading to his murder.

John Lennon was a walking contradiction: a violent pacifist and a creative genius marred by creative inconsistency. Just as he was getting his groove back he was gunned down by Mark David Chapman, a self-loathing narcissist obsessed with his contradictory hero, as well as Lennon’s musical rival, Todd Rundgren and J.D. Salinger’s angsty Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye. Hear how all of these factors and more contributed to the musical icon’s senseless murder in the second chapter of a two part Disgraceland episode. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at ⁠www.disgracelandpod.com⁠. This episode was originally published on July 10, 2018. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at ⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠   Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠X⁠ (formerly Twitter)  ⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠ ⁠TikTok See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Jake

Topics covered

• John Lennon
• murder
• contradiction
• music
• true crime
• cultural impact

Keywords

• John Lennon
• Mark David Chapman
• murder
• music history
• true crime
• cultural analysis

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Catcher In The Rye

More episodes of DISGRACELAND

• Dolly Parton: How the Country Icon Nearly Became the Subject of Her Own Murder Ballad · July 21, 2026 · 41 min
• The Notorious B.I.G. Pt. 2: A Dead Rivalry, New Inspiration and a Murder Mystery for the Ages (Rewind) · July 19, 2026 · 33 min
• The Notorious B.I.G. Pt. 1: Dealing Crack on the Corner, Spitting Beef and Creating One of the Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time (Rewind) · July 19, 2026 · 38 min
• Bonus Episode: A Rock ‘N’ Roll World Cup, Criminal Minded English Musicians and Here’s Wonderwall · July 16, 2026 · 35 min
• Happy Mondays: How Thieves, Drug Dealers, and Would-Be Kidnappers Took Over Madchester’s Music Scene · July 14, 2026 · 42 min
• John Lennon (Pt. 1): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (Rewind) · July 12, 2026 · 29 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the DISGRACELAND podcast page.