Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
Reveal’s investigations will inspire, infuriate and inform you. Host Al Letson and an award-winning team of reporters deliver gripping stories about caregivers, advocates for the unhoused, immigrant families, warehouse workers and formerly incarcerated people, fighting to hold the powerful accountable. The New Yorker described Reveal as “a knockout … a pleasure to listen to, even as we seethe.” A winner of multiple Peabody, duPont, Emmy and Murrow awards, Reveal is produced by the nation’s first investigative journalism nonprofit, The Center for Investigative Reporting, and PRX. From unearthing exploitative working conditions to exposing the nation’s racial disparities, there’s always more to the story. Learn more at revealnews.org/learn.
Episodes
Mentioned books
12 snips
Apr 4, 2026 • 51min
A Midnight Phone Call. A Missing Movie. Decades of Questions.
Yo-Wei Shaw, podcaster/producer who investigates emotional questions, meets a woman who looks like her and explores identity and connection. Ashley Cleek, reporter/producer who digs into odd personal mysteries, pursues a lost early film and a decades-old midnight phone call tied to a reclusive musician. The conversation traces internet archives, recovered footage, and the allure of unresolved stories.
13 snips
Apr 1, 2026 • 34min
Al Gore: Trump Administration Is the Most Corrupt in History
Al Gore, former U.S. vice president and longtime climate advocate, reflects on climate urgency and political corruption. He discusses the future of renewable energy and grassroots power. He critiques recent Iran policy and warns about fossil fuel influence on democracy.
20 snips
Mar 28, 2026 • 50min
The Art Trump Doesn't Want and the Artists Left Behind
Jonathan Jones, a reporter who traveled the South to document canceled federal arts grants. He interviews artists, archaeologists, and community leaders about halted excavations, defunded studios for neurodiverse creators, redirected patriotic funding, legal fights over rescissions, and creative resistance movements. Short scenes show communities scrambling, protesting, and finding ways to keep cultural work alive.
Mar 25, 2026 • 31min
Afghan War Allies Were Promised Safety in the US—Until Now
Jeff Holder, a Baptist minister and chaplain with Tarjaman Relief who helped Afghan allies through SIV applications and resettlement. He discusses the surge in scrutiny after a D.C. shooting. He outlines how lengthy vetting works. He describes who remains vulnerable abroad and the strains of resettlement and mental-health challenges in the U.S.
16 snips
Mar 21, 2026 • 51min
A New Year, a New War
Kiera Butler, reporter on Christian Zionists who explores how prophecy and donor networks shape U.S.-Israel politics. Najib Amini, investigative reporter on Iran and its diaspora, follows Iranians wrestling with war, exile, and political fracture. They trace Noruz shadowed by conflict, prophetic movements celebrating war, Lebanon’s displacement and frontline damage, and sharp divides in American politics and Iranian communities.
5 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 17min
Mr. Rogers and the Fight for Public Media
Michael I. Schiller, an investigative reporter who covered WQED, guides a visit to Mr. Rogers’ real-life workplace. He explores how Fred Rogers built his show from educational roots, his famous Senate testimony that protected public broadcasting, and the ongoing political battles and recent cuts facing public media. Short, nostalgic, and focused on media’s fight to survive.
Mar 18, 2026 • 27min
Exploding Pintos, Imploding Politics: Celebrating 50 Years of Fearless Journalism
Monica Bauerlein, longtime leader at Mother Jones and now CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, reflects on the magazine’s 1970s origins. She revisits landmark investigations like the Ford Pinto and tobacco reporting. She contrasts past and present political pressures and explains the nonprofit digital transition and the merger with CIR.
8 snips
Mar 14, 2026 • 51min
The Racist Hoax That Changed Boston
Adrian Walker, Boston Globe columnist and host of Murder in Boston, led reporting on the Stewart case. He recounts Chuck Stuart’s 911 call and the raced-up media narrative that triggered a police dragnet. Listeners hear how investigations, identifications, and political pressures pushed suspicion onto Black men, how the truth shifted after Stuart’s suicide, and the long trauma left in Mission Hill.
18 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 28min
How RFK Jr. is Dismantling America’s Health Policies
Jessica Malaty Rivera, infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator, breaks down threats to public health leadership. She discusses RFK Jr.’s reshaping of vaccine advisory panels and CDC/NIH staffing, the risk of measles resurgence and losing elimination status, Big Ag’s role in new dietary guidelines, and how policy shifts could harm preparedness and trust in health institutions.
13 snips
Mar 7, 2026 • 50min
The Film the BBC Wouldn’t Air
Ben de Pear, veteran British journalist and documentary maker, and Ramita Navai, investigative reporter and narrator, recount making a film about attacks on Gaza’s healthcare. They describe mistrust from Palestinian sources, disputes with BBC editors over language and balance, institutional pressures and delays, and how the film ultimately found another outlet.
