American investigative reporting radio show and podcast
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: the episode list is nearly three years behind. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2023)
Reveal is a nationally broadcast public radio show and investigative reporting podcast hosted by Al Letson. The radio program is released on Saturdays on radio stations in the Public Radio Exchange network and the show is also available in podcast form. It is part of a growing trend of investigative reporting being disseminated through audio.[1] Its first weekly season was ranked among the top 50 podcasts by The Atlantic.[2]
Reveal has experimented with new modes of distribution,[3][4] including using SMS to provide interactivity to its podcasts.[5] The main website for Reveal contains links to each podcast episode, video, and multimedia story shared by the outlet. Each video is also available on their YouTube channel. The outlet also has a blog where the staff posts about internal updates and how they created data-driven stories.
Reveal showcases the work of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and other large and small newsrooms in the US.[6] The show sued the Trump Administration under the Freedom of Information Act for access to records related to the cost of the border wall the administration is pursuing.[7] Its reporting resulted in the shut down of unlicensed work camps being used as drug treatment facilities.[8]
All of the CIR's digital reporting is available on Reveal's website where the CIR shares podcasts, videos, and many data-driven investigative projects. Reveal's CEO is Christa Scharfenberg.[9]
Reveal's investigation into racial disparities in mortgage lending in 2018 was mentioned on the floor of the Senate by Senator Elizabeth Warren and was the subject of a lengthy op-ed in The New York Times.[10]
In 2017, host Al Letson was photographed physically intervening to protect a right-wing protester at a rally that turned violent in Berkeley, California.[11][12][13]
In 2022, financial hardship and the layoff of 14 percent of Reveal staff ultimately led to the resignation of Reveal CEO Kaizar Campwala.[16][17] In 2023, Reveal employees sought recognition for the newly formed Reveal union.[18]
Reception and awards
In 2013, the show received a Peabody Award for its first radio episode, "Reveal: The VA's Opiate Overload (Public Radio)".[19][20]
Reveal won the 2017 Edward Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club for best News Documentary for "Dropped and Dismissed: Child Sex Abuse Lost in the System" as well as Best Sports Reporting for "Making the Team".[21] The episode "Voting rights – and wrongs" earned a podcast Webby Award in 2017 for News & Information.[22] In 2016, it won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence for a small online news organization.[23]
Reveal releases new episodes weekly on Saturdays. As of December 2020[update], the show has released 269 episodes.[26]
Episode
Title
Date
Running Time
1
"Reveal (Pilot 1: The VA's deadly pain pill habit)"
September 28, 2013
52:00
America's worst charities, defending leaks, a history of official secrecy, the VA's pain pill habit, the drama of an investigation, policing on camera, and brotherly love.
2
"Reveal (Pilot 2: The Heroin Highway)"
March 1, 2014
52:00
What's it like for teens in 'the box', investigative reporting inspires poetry, tracing Chicago's heroin supply chain, security on the border, action on the VA's pain pill habit, no animals were harmed, and sexual abuse of female farmworkers.
3
"Reveal (Pilot 3: The arsenic in our drinking water)"
June 28, 2014
52:00
The Coast Guard's deadly accidents, the politics of poison, secrecy behind Missouri's execution drugs, and profiting off the GI Bill.
4
"China brings home the bacon with America's pigs"
Jan 23, 2015
17:00
5
"Confronting love and oppression in Afghanistan"
Jan 23, 2015
13:00
6
"The secrets of church, state and business"
Feb 13, 2015
58:00
7
"Bogus screws ended up in spines of surgery patients"
March 16, 2015
17:00
8
"Photo sparks war crimes probe"
March 23, 2015
21:00
9
"Who's responsible when America's your drug dealer?"
March 30, 2015
17:00
10
"Rerouted for sex"
April 7, 2015
11:00
11
"Her clients may be notorious, but Judy Clarke is a mystery"
April 13, 2015
13:00
12
"From detention to detainment in Virginia"
April 20, 2015
14:00
13
"DIY guns? There's a site for that"
April 27, 2015
14:00
14
"Dirty shooting ranges poison police"
May 4, 2015
18:00
15
"Assault on justice"
May 11, 2015
23:00
16
"Rodney King's accidental ally"
May 18, 2015
12:00
17
"Eyes on Cops"
May 25, 2015
18:00
18
"Public evidence in private hands"
June 2, 2015
15:00
19
"Death in the Bakken"
June 15, 2015
21:00
20
"The father of fracking, and tracking oil trains"
June 22, 2015
20:00
21
"Oklahoma's man-made earthquakes"
June 29, 2015
17:00
22
"Rape on the Night Shift"
July 6, 2015
28:00
23
"Nuclear Bomb Industry Booming"
July 13, 2015
19:00
24
"Toxic tech in America"
July 20, 2015
10:00
25
"Disposable workers in Asia"
July 27, 2015
12:00
26
"The long tale of the short-handled hoe"
August 3, 2015
7:00
27
"Shunned and Shamed by Jehovah's Witnesses"
August 10, 2015
24:00
28
"The Con Man and His Mentor"
August 18, 2015
14:00
29
"Change in the air in Virginia"
August 25, 2015
18:00
30
"She never left Harlan alive"
Sept 7, 2015
17:00
31
"Unidentified migrants reach undignified end"
Sept 14, 2015
20:00
32
"Buried in Blue Earth"
Sept 21, 2015
18:00
33
"Matching the lost and the found"
Sept 28, 2015
17:00
34
"Secret super water users"
Oct 6, 2015
14:00
35
"But not a drop to drink…"
Oct 12, 2015
15:00
36
"Growing hay a world away"
Oct 19, 2015
12:00
37
"Water bills bleeding them dry"
Oct 27, 2015
10:00
38
"[Update] Assault on justice"
Nov 2, 2015
18:00
39
"Exposing the horrors on The Mountain"
Nov 9, 2015
22:00
40
"Inappropriate love triangle blossoms at rehab"
Nov 16, 2015
16:00
41
"Meet the Brennicks"
Nov 23, 2015
19:00
42
"A special message from our sound designer and engineer"
Nov 25, 2015
2:00
43
"The Wright family's all right (Lakeview Extra)"
Dec 1, 2015
9:00
44
"The fowl business of salmonella"
Dec 8, 2015
21:00
45
"From the battlefields to the strawberry fields"
Dec 14, 2015
13:00
46
"When working conditions are ripe for change"
Dec 21, 2015
18:00
47
"Decoding discrimination in America's temp industry"
Jan 10, 2016
53:00
48
"Cat Fight"
Jan 17, 2016
51:00
49
"Do not drink: The water crisis in Flint, Michigan"
Jan 25, 2016
54:00
50
"Pumped on Trump"
Jan 31, 2016
52:00
51
"Sick on the inside: Behind bars in immigrant-only prisons"
Feb7, 2016
54:00
52
"Another look at the perilous price of American energy"
Feb 14, 2016
54:00
54
"Mighty Ike"
Mar 6, 2016
54:00
55
"When Mad Men meet dark money"
March 13, 2016
52:00
56
"Alleged cult leader plays shell game with US foreign aid"
March 20, 2016
53:00
57
"New day dawning on the night shift"
March 27, 2016
53:00
58
"Billion-dollar scam"
April 4, 2016
50:00
59
"Kids crossing borders – alone"
April 10, 2016
52:00
60
"[Update] Decoding discrimination in America's temp industry"
April 18, 2016
53:00
61
"Guns and America's murder board"
April 24, 2016
52:00
62
"The price of admission"
May 1, 2016
53:00
63
"Women's sports: A man's game"
May 8, 2016
58:00
64
"[Update] A mountain of misconduct"
May 15, 2016
53:00
65
"[Update] Alleged cult leader plays shell game with US foreign aid"
May 29, 2016
52:00
66
"Lawless Lands"
June 5, 2016
52:00
67
"Poison lurking in schools"
June 12, 2016
52:00
68
"After Orlando"
June 19, 2016
52:00
69
"Who's getting rich off your student debt?"
July 1, 2016
53:00
70
"Bordering on insecurity"
July 8, 2016
54:00
71
"[Update] Eyes on Cops"
July 14, 2016
18:00
72
"[Update] Farm to fork: Uncovering hazards in our food systems"
July 22, 2016
52:00
73
"[Update] Mighty Ike"
July 29, 2016
52:00
74
"From A to Zika"
Aug 5, 2016
52:00
75
"[Update] Cat Fight"
Aug 19, 2016
52:00
76
"[Update] Sick on the inside: Behind bars in immigrant-only prisons"
Aug 26, 2016
53:00
77
"[Update] The man inside: Four months as a prison guard"
Sept 2, 2016
51:00
78
"No choice: Failing America's veterans"
Sept 16, 2016
51:00
79
"Voting rights – and wrongs"
Sept 30, 2016
52:00
80
"America's Ring of Fire"
Oct 7, 2016
52:00
81
"[Update] Billion-dollar scam"
Oct 14, 2016
51:00
82
"How to (really) steal an election"
Oct 21, 2016
53:00
83
"And justice for some"
Oct 28, 2016
54:00
84
"Host of problems"
Nov 4, 2016
53:00
85
"A frank conversation with a white nationalist"
Nov 10, 2016
24:00
86
"The secret Trump voter"
Nov 11, 2016
55:00
87
"Glare of the spotlight"
Nov 18, 2016
53:00
88
"A welfare check"
Nov 25, 2016
54:00
89
"Secrets of the Watchtower"
Dec 9, 2016
51:00
90
"Turbulent times, turbulent skies"
Dec 16, 2016
53:00
91
"The Pentagon Papers: Secrets, lies and leaks"
Dec 23, 2016
54:00
92
"The year in Reveal"
Dec 30, 2016
53:00
93
"America's digital dumping ground"
Jan 6, 2017
45:00
94
"Water wars"
Jan 13, 2017
53:00
95
"Dropped and dismissed: Child sex abuse lost in the system"
Jan 21, 2017
53:00
96
"Split down the middle"
Jan 27, 2017
52:00
97
"Trial by fire"
Feb 3, 2017
55:00
98
"School haze"
Feb 17, 2017
55:00
99
"The religious freedom loophole"
Feb 24, 2017
55:00
100
"Al Letson Reveals: Vicente Fox on Trump's wall"
March 1, 2017
18:00
101
"Up against the wall"
March 3, 2017
54:00
102
"Al Letson Reveals: Sebastian Gorka on America"
March 8, 2017
13:00
103
"Richard Spencer's cotton farms"
March 17, 2017
55:00
104
"Al Letson Reveals: Former NATO official imagines war with Russia"
March 22, 2017
11:00
105
"Against their will"
March 24, 2017
55:00
106
"The mystery of Mountain Jane Doe"
March 31, 2017
54:00
107
"If you can't afford a lawyer"
April 7, 2017
54:00
108
"Al Letson Reveals: The color of feminism"
April 12, 2017
16:00
109
"Toxic burden"
April 14, 2017
52:00
110
"Russia's new scapegoats"
April 21, 2017
53:00
111
"Running from cops"
April 28, 2017
53:00
112
"What cops aren't learning"
May 5, 2017
53:00
113
"Standing Rock and beyond"
May 12, 2017
53:00
114
"The man inside: Four months as a prison guard"
May 22, 2017
54:00
115
"The kids aren't all right"
May 26, 2017
55:00
116
"Misconceptions"
June 2, 2017
52:00
117
"After the bubble burst"
June 9, 2017
53:00
118
"America's ring of fire"
June 16, 2017
52:00
119
"Trial and terror"
June 23, 2017
53:00
120
"The smuggler"
July 7, 2017
52:00
121
"Al Letson Reveals: Roger Stone"
July 13, 2017
22:00
122
"No where to run"
July 14, 2017
53:00
123
"Deadly waters"
July 21, 2017
53:00
124
"No country for sanctuary seekers"
Aug 4, 2017
52:00
125
"Hate on the march: white nationalism in the Trump era"
Aug 18, 2017
52:00
126
"Follow the money: Citizen sleuths investigate"
Aug 25, 2017
19:00
127
"Rise of a movement"
Aug 28, 2017
15:00
128
"The perfect storm"
Sept 1, 2017
54:00
129
"The rise of the new German right"
Sept 15, 2017
53:00
130
"Street fight: A new wave of political violence"
Sept 23, 2017
54:00
131
"Does the Time Fit the Crime?"
Sept 29, 2017
52:00
132
"All work. No pay. Life at a rehab work camp."
Oct 6, 2017
55:00
133
"Al Letson Reveals: The fight to end affirmative action in higher education"
Oct 11, 2017
19:00
134
"Access Denied: The Fight for Public Education"
Oct 13, 2017
53:00
135
"Too Many Pills"
Oct 20, 2017
36:00
136
"Heroin Diaries"
Oct 25, 2017
15:00
137
"Inside Trump's Immigration Crackdown"
Oct 27, 2017
54:00
138
"The Paradise Papers"
Nov 5, 2017
53:00
139
"Losing ground"
Nov 10, 2017
51:00
140
"Pizzagate: A slice of fake news"
Nov 17, 2017
53:00
141
"Her own devices: Is a contraceptive implant making us sick?"
Nov 24, 2017
51:00
142
"Where criminals get their guns"
Dec 1, 2017
51:00
143
"Institutions of Higher Earning"
Dec 8, 2017
51:00
144
"The Pentagon Papers: Secrets, lies and leaks"
Dec 15, 2017
51:00
145
"Fire and Justice"
Dec 22, 2017
51:00
146
"A Revealing Year"
Dec 29, 2017
51:00
147
"The Tide is High"
Jan 5, 2018
51:00
148
"The mystery of Mountain Jane Doe"
Jan 12, 2018
51:00
149
"#MeToo: Rape on the Night Shift"
Jan 19, 2018
51:00
150
"Too Many Pills"
Jan 26, 2018
51:00
151
"How Bernie Made Off: Are we safe from the next Ponzi scheme?"
Feb 2, 2018
51:00
152
"Dropped and dismissed: Child sex abuse lost in the system"
Feb 9, 2018
50:16
153
"The red line: Racial disparities in lending"
Feb 16, 2018
51:00
154
"My Town, Chi-Town"
Feb 23, 2018
51:00
155
"Deja Nuke: Return of the Nuclear Threat"
Mar 2, 2018
51:00
156
"Warning System Down: California's Deadliest Fires"
Mar 9, 2018
35:13
157
"Built to Burn"
Mar 13, 2018
17:08
158
"The kids aren't all right"
Mar 16, 2018
51:00
159
"Where criminals get their guns"
Mar 23, 2018
51:00
160
"Poisoned, ignored and evicted: The perils of living with lead"
Mar 30, 2018
39:14
161
"Full of Lead: How Bullets are Poisoning Eagles"
Apr 4, 2018
14:46
162
"Checking into President Trump's Washington DC Hotel"
Apr 6, 2018
50:25
163
"Trump's Mystery Mansion"
Apr 11, 2018
12:50
164
"Tesla and Beyond: Hidden Problems of Silicon Valley"
