This week on Reveal, we celebrate our 10-year anniversary with a look back at some of our favorite stories, from investigations into water shortages in drought-prone California to labor abuses in the Dominican Republic. And we interview the journalists behind the reporting to explain what happened after the stories aired. This is an update of an episode that originally aired in March 2025.
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 onBluesky, Facebook and Instagram
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
--------
50:39
--------
50:39
Jeffrey Goldberg on Signalgate, Pete Hegseth, and the Risk of WWIII
In March, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, began receiving top secret messages from national security officials in the Trump administration after he’d been inadvertently added to an internal Signal chat. Many of those same officials oversaw recent military strikes against Iran. On this week’s More To The Story, host Al Letson sits down with Goldberg to discuss what “Signalgate” taught him about the Trump White House and his concerns for the future of American democracy.Producer: Josh Sanburn, with help from Steven Rascón, Artis Curiskis, and Julia Haney | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Digital producer: Nikki Frick | Interim executive producers: Brett Myers and Taki Telonidis | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson
Donate today at Revealnews.org/more
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly
Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky
Listen: In Fallujah, We Destroyed Parts of Ourselves (Reveal)Read: The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (The Atlantic)Read: All the Ways Trump Officials Are Downplaying the “War Plans” Group Chat (Mother Jones)Read: New Report: Trump Administration Just Got Hit With Another Signal Chat Scandal (Mother Jones)
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
--------
30:24
--------
30:24
Elon Musk and JD Vance Want You to Breed. A Lot.
What do Silicon Valley billionaires, religious parents of six, and eugenics-curious biotech founders have in common? Welcome to the world of pronatalism—a growing movement that aims to solve the so-called population crisis by making more babies.We follow the unlikely alliance between tech futurists and traditional conservatives who think it’s their duty to repopulate the Earth—with intelligence, ambition, and carefully screened DNA. Many believe our economic future is at stake without more humans.“If you think of government as a business, then babies are its future customers,” said Patri Friedman, grandson of the economist Milton Friedman. This week on Reveal, we go inside NatalCon, a gathering where embryo optimization meets Old Testament values. From Elon Musk’s fertility tweets to startup founders planning five-child families like product launches, this isn’t just about babies—it’s about engineering civilization. But in some corners of the movement, a darker theme emerges: Who’s deemed fit to reproduce, and who’s left out? We also talk with the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader in the Christian nationalist movement, about his multidecade plan to repeal abortion rights and push the American government to the right.
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 onBluesky, Facebook and Instagram
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
--------
50:30
--------
50:30
Mohsen Mahdawi Fought ICE and Won His Freedom. For Now.
In April, Palestinian student activist Mohsen Mahdawi walked into an immigration office to obtain US citizenship. He left in handcuffs. The Columbia University student was detained by ICE and accused by the Trump administration of jeopardizing US foreign policy through his involvement in protests following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. On this week’s More to The Story, Mohsen talks to host Al Letson about his arrest by ICE, his role in campus protests, and his childhood growing up in a West Bank refugee camp. Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Digital producer: Nikki Frick | Interim executive producers: Brett Myers and Taki Telonidis | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson
Donate today at Revealnews.org/more
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly
Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky
Read: Mohsen Mahdawi Has Been Released From Federal Custody (Mother Jones)Listen: Gaza: A War of Weapons and Words (Reveal)Read: Mahmoud Khalil, Finally Free, Speaks Out (Mother Jones)
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
--------
29:34
--------
29:34
The 13th Step
Across the country, women seeking addiction treatment are being harassed and assaulted by men in positions of power. The problem is so pervasive that it has a name among those in the industry: the 13th Step.“I fell right into it, right into it. You know, it’s like, it’s just, you're so vulnerable,” says a victim named Andrea. “The 13-stepper is like, um, when you take advantage of a newcomer. Like, they, they joke like, ‘Don’t be a 13th-stepper.’”This week on Reveal, we join Lauren Chooljian from New Hampshire Public Radio, who started her investigation by looking at that state’s largest addiction treatment network, founded by Eric Spofford. After exposing allegations that he was harassing patients, Chooljian, her sources, and staff at New Hampshire Public Radio became the targets of intimidation and vandalism. In recent weeks, Spofford was indicted on charges that he orchestrated those attacks. Chooljian then follows another case, this time in California, where the owner of a group of treatment centers was sexually assaulting clients and carrying out massive insurance fraud. The owner, Chris Bathum, was brought to justice after two women teamed up to gather evidence and take it to law enforcement. This is an update of an episode that first aired in February 2024.
Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/weekly
Connect with us onBluesky, Facebook and Instagram
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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.
USA