Reveal

A white man named Mickey infiltrates the racial justice movement in Denver as an FBI informant, attempting to recruit activists for a plot to assassinate the state's attorney general. The podcast explores Mickey's background, the controversial use of informants, and the tactics used to incite violence within the protests. It also discusses the limited results of the FBI's infiltration and the rise of far-right extremism.

Journalists, human rights activists, and others are targeted by Pegasus, a military-grade spyware. El Faro newspaper in El Salvador was one of the biggest Pegasus hacks. The breach forced the newspaper to change the way they work and take extreme measures to protect sources. Researchers suspect the government was behind the spying. Efforts to hold the NSO Group accountable are growing.

The final episode of Mississippi Goddam shares new revelations that cast doubt on the official story that Billey Joe Johnson Jr. accidentally killed himself.  Our reporting brought up questions that the original investigation never looked into. Host Al Letson and reporter Jonathan Jones go back to Mississippi to interview the key people in the investigation, including Johnson’s ex-girlfriend – the first recorded interview she’s ever done with a media outlet. The team also shares its findings with lead investigator Joel Wallace and the medical examiner who looked into the case.  Finally, after three years of reporting, we share what we’ve learned with Johnson’s family and talk to them about the inadequacy of the investigation and reasons to reopen the case.  This episode was originally broadcast in December 2021. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Black communities around Mississippi have long raised concerns about suspicious deaths of young Black men, especially when law enforcement is involved.  Curley Clark, vice president of the Mississippi NAACP at the time of Reveal’s reporting, called Billey Joe Johnson Jr.’s case an example of “Mississippi justice.”  “It means that they still feel like the South should have won the Civil War,” Clark said. “And also the laws for the state of Mississippi are slanted in that direction.” Before Johnson died during a traffic stop with a White sheriff’s deputy, friends say police had pulled him over dozens of times. And some members of the community raised concerns that police had been racially profiling Black people.   Reveal investigates Johnson’s interactions with law enforcement and one officer in particular.   This episode was originally broadcast in November 2021. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Billey Joe Johnson Jr. and Hannah Hollinghead met in their freshman year of high school. Hollinghead says Johnson was her first love, and in many ways, it was a typical teen romance. Friends say they would argue, break up, then get back together again. Some people were far from accepting of their interracial relationship. On Dec. 8, 2008, they were both dating other people. According to Hollinghead and her mother, Johnson made an unexpected stop at her house, moments before he died of a gunshot wound during a traffic stop on the edge of town.  But it appears that investigators failed to corroborate statements or interview Johnson’s friends and family to get a better idea of what was going on in his life on the day he died. Reveal exposes deep flaws in the investigation and interviews the people closest to Johnson, who were never questioned during the initial investigation.  This episode was originally broadcast in November 2021. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Special Agent Joel Wallace of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate the death of Billey Joe Johnson Jr. He worked alongside two investigators from the George County district attorney’s office.  Wallace said that arrangement didn’t happen very often. And he now questions why they were assigned. “If you've got me investigating the case, then I’m an independent investigator,” he said. “But why would I need the district attorney investigator to oversee me investigating a case?” The Johnson family was initially relieved because Wallace had experience investigating suspicious deaths. As a Black detective, he had dealt with racist backlash to his work.  Reveal host Al Letson and reporter Jonathan Jones visit Wallace, now retired, to talk about what happened with the investigation. When Wallace finds out what Reveal has uncovered, he begins to wonder whether the case should be reopened. This episode was originally broadcast in November 2021. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The podcast explores the controversial autopsy of Billey Joe Johnson Jr. in Mississippi in 2008. It discusses the biased coroner's jury, the hiring of private pathologists, and the discrepancies in the autopsy report. The interpretation of autopsy findings and the disagreements between pathologists are also examined, raising questions about the nature of Johnson's death.

On the morning of Billey Joe Johnson’s death, crime scene tape separates the Johnsons from their son’s body. Their shaky faith in the criminal justice system begins to buckle. As Johnson’s family tries to get answers about his death, they get increasingly frustrated with the investigation. They feel that law enforcement officials, from the lead investigator to the district attorney, are keeping them out of the loop. While a majority-White grand jury rules that Johnson’s death was accidental, members of the family believe the possibility of foul play was never properly investigated.  This episode was originally broadcast in October 2021. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

High school football star Billey Joe Johnson Jr. tragically died during a traffic stop, sparking his family's quest for answers. Podcast explores the suspicious circumstances of his death in Mississippi, shedding light on systemic racial oppression and the community's quest for justice.

A Saudi-owned farm in the middle of the Arizona desert has attracted national attention and criticism since Reveal’s Nate Halverson and Ike Sriskandarajah first broke this story eight years ago. The farm is using massive amounts of water to grow hay and export it to Saudi Arabia in the midst of a water crisis in the American West.  Since then, megafarms have taken hold here. And the trend isn’t fueled just by foreign companies. Many people have no idea that their retirement funds are backing massive land deals that result in draining precious groundwater. Halverson uncovers that pension fund managers in Arizona knew they were investing in a local land deal, which resulted in draining down the aquifer of nearby communities. So even as local and state politicians have fought to stop these deals, their retirement fund has been fueling them. And it’s not just happening in Arizona. Halverson takes us to Southern California, where retirement money also was invested in a megafarm deal. This time, the farm was tapping into the Colorado River to grow hay and ship it overseas. And it was happening as the federal and state governments have been trying to conserve river water. Halverson’s investigation into water use in the West is just one slice of his reporting into a global scramble for food and water, which is featured in an upcoming documentary, “The Grab” by director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. “The Grab” will be coming soon to a theater or screen near you.   Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/newsletter Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices