Al Letson, Author at Reveal

The bad place

by Sarah Mirk, Amy Mostafa, Kevin Sullivan, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Al Letson and Brett Simpson November 21, 2020July 1, 2021

The graffiti says it all: “This is a bad place.” Why do states send children to facilities run by Sequel, after dozens of cases of abuse?

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An illustration shows a woman with a facemask reading 2020 holding up her ballot. Behind her, in a blue and purple swirl of colors, are ballots, voters, and other figures.

Accountability

United, we’re not

by Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Laura Starecheski, Brett Simpson, Brett Myers, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Emily Harris, Amy Mostafa, Al Letson, Taki Telonidis, Michael Montgomery, Matt Thompson, Jen Chien, Patrick Michels, Laura C. Morel, Stan Alcorn, Jennifer Gollan, Katharine Mieszkowski, Aura Bogado, Elizabeth Shogren, Andy Donohue, Esther Kaplan, Sumi Aggarwal and Claire Mullen November 14, 2020July 1, 2021

Where does America go from here? We talk with an asylum-seeking family, Georgia women on abortion and West Virginians on the impact of Black Lives Matter.

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An illustration shows a heart against a blue foreground.

Environment, Voting

The American divide

by Kevin Sullivan, Deborah George, Elizabeth Shogren, Najib Aminy, Al Letson, Amy Mostafa, Taki Telonidis, Michael Montgomery, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda and Mwende Hinojosa November 7, 2020July 1, 2021

Reveal host Al Letson talks to a first-time voter, whose struggles reflect the divisions this country faces after a historic election.

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An illustration depicts a ballot on fire, which morphs into a building. A group of white men with guns stand outside the burning building.

Accountability

Remembering a White supremacist coup

by Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Katharine Mieszkowski, Will Carless, Taki Telonidis, Esther Kaplan, Brett Simpson and Al Letson October 24, 2020July 1, 2021

Reveal looks back to a nearly forgotten 1898 election in North Carolina. A coup d’etat gave birth to much of the structural racism that exists today.

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An illustration in a red and yellow tones shows a silhouette of a girl surrounded by hands that try to grab her, swirling papers, and a fence. In the background, a plane flies.

Immigration, The Disappeared

An adolescence, seized

by Najib Aminy, Kevin Sullivan, Aura Bogado, Amy Mostafa, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Melissa Lewis, Al Letson, Soo Oh, Andy Donohue, Esther Kaplan and Brett Simpson October 17, 2020July 1, 2021

A 10-year-old Honduran girl came to the United States seeking asylum. Instead, she was detained – away from her family – for nearly seven years.

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A mural on an orange wall depicts portraits of journalist Halla Bakarat and her mom.

Accountability

An American murder in Istanbul: Justice for Halla

by Kevin Sullivan, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Al Letson, Chris Harland-Dunaway, Taki Telonidis, Aaron Glantz and Brett Simpson October 10, 2020July 1, 2021

An American journalist and her mom are found murdered in Istanbul. Friends and family say the police did not solve the crime.

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An elections worker wears a hazmat suit as they sit next to a sign saying VOTE.

Accountability, Voting

Whose vote will count?

by Jim Briggs, Kevin Sullivan, Fernando Arruda, Byard Duncan, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Laura Starecheski, Ike Sriskandarajah, Sumi Aggarwal, Brett Myers, David Rodriguez and Al Letson October 3, 2020July 1, 2021

From problems with vote-by-mail systems to voter suppression, we examine the potential for chaos in the 2020 elections.

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A collage illustration shows a person against an orange background. There arm is in a sling made from a material that resembles an altered Amazon package.

Behind the Smiles

Catching Amazon in a lie

by Kevin Sullivan, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Al Letson, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Will Evans, Jennifer Gollan, Katharine Mieszkowski, Taki Telonidis, Michael Montgomery, Andy Donohue, Esther Kaplan, Soo Oh, Rachel de Leon, Melissa Lewis and Chris Harland-Dunaway September 26, 2020July 1, 2021

Amazon says its warehouses are safe for workers. But the numbers reveal that workers are getting hurt much more often than the company claims.

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COVID-19, Health Care, Prisons

COVID-19 in confinement

by Elizabeth Shogren, Michael Montgomery, Taki Telonidis, Laura Starecheski, Brett Myers, Soo Oh, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Kevin Sullivan, Amy Mostafa, Najib Aminy and Al Letson September 19, 2020July 1, 2021

Self-isolation may protect us from COVID-19, but what if you’re forced to live with strangers? This week, we look at nursing homes and prisons.

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An illustration shows a neighborhood of homes with a raging fire in the background.

Climate Change

America’s ring of fire

by Ike Sriskandarajah, Al Letson, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Brett Myers, Cheryl Devall, Emmanuel Martinez, Scott Pham, Eric Sagara and Amy Mostafa September 12, 2020July 1, 2021

Wildfires are getting bigger, more expensive and closer to people’s homes. We examine how wildfires got so dangerous – and how some are fighting back.

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The truth will not reveal itself.

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