Dead End: Crime and Politics

Friends of Dead End, Nancy Solomon here. This Wednesday I’m hosting an event at WNYC – at 7 pm. It’s all about the history of FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a recent series by On The Media.

After years of reporting on far-right militias, co-host Micah Loewinger knew that extremist groups often showed up after natural disasters to recruit, fundraise, and spit-shine their public image. But it wasn’t clear why they hated FEMA so much. After digging around in right-wing media archives, it became clear that the anti-FEMA lore went back decades.

The four-part investigation examines how the agency tasked with saving America became so distrusted, despised, and defunded and, looking to the future, how the agency will be reshaped during the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, I get to interview Micah and producer Eloise Blondiau about the making of the series. We’ll be joined by a former FEMA staffer. I’m really excited for the conversation – and I hope you’ll come join me in person. 

Get a ticket at wnyc.org/events. 

Listen to the first episode of the series from On the Media (https://zpr.io/qQF7rfdJa4xF)

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They were trusted educators and respected coaches. But in the summer of 2025, twin brothers Ronnie and Donnie Stoner were indicted on more than 50 charges related to child sex abuse allegations. A group of young women say the abuse stretched back nearly two decades. So what took so long? This is the story of those women who say they survived the abuse, took matters into their own hands and are still fighting for the girls they used to be.
 
Dig is produced by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and Louisville Public Media. Listen to all four episodes of the season here.

It was an elegant scheme, but soon cracks began to appear. The FBI watches Menendez have a dinner with Egyptian spies, they find gold bars in a closet, and a foreign influence scheme unfolds. Menendez faces the trial of his life, and we ask: why would a man at the top of the political world risk everything? And is our political system partly to blame? Can a senator who is not wealthy succeed in a political system that is infused with gifts, luxury trips and money? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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As Menendez walks free from his first corruption trial, he meets a new love—Nadine Arslanian. Nadine was a stay at home mom in Englewood cliffs, New Jersey. She drove her kids to a private French school in Manhattan – and had been spotted with cast members of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Within weeks of meeting the Senator, she’s arranging off-the-books meetings with Egyptian generals. What started as a rebound romance turns into the centerpiece of an international bribery case. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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We trace Bob Menendez’s rise from a tough New Jersey neighborhood to the heights of U.S. politics. With stories from those who knew and worked with him, we explore his brand as a relentless fighter—and how an earlier bribery indictment in 2015 sent him off the rails. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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