Baseball’s home run surge in the late ’90s and early 2000s was fueled by anabolic steroids. But fans didn’t want to hear the difficult truth about their heroes – and Major League Baseball refused to deal with a growing scandal.

Sarah Mirk
Digital Engagement Producer
Sarah Mirk (she/her) was a digital engagement producer for Reveal. Since 2017, she has worked as an editor at The Nib, an online daily comics publication focused on political cartoons, graphic journalism, essays and memoirs about current affairs. She works with artists to create nonfiction comics on a variety of complex topics, from personal narratives about queer identities to examinations of overlooked history. Before that, Mirk was the online editor of national feminist media outlet Bitch, a podcast host and a local news reporter. She is also the author of several books, including “Year of Zines,” a collection of 100 handmade zines, and “Guantanamo Voices,” a collection of illustrated oral histories of the world’s most infamous prison.
The ticket trap
Sports, theater and concert fans are excited venues are opening up again. So are clever ticket sellers who cash in on unsuspecting customers.
Weapons with minds of their own
The future of warfare is seen in computer algorithms that enable weapons to decide what to hit – and therefore whom to kill.
Emission control
If we want to slow climate change, we have to slash methane pollution. Methane is heating up the planet and threatens the health of people who live near drill sites.
Viral lies
From wild anti-vaccine conspiracy theories to “Stop the Steal” and QAnon, we examine how misinformation swiftly spreads online – and the lives it disrupts.
Banking on inequity
Billions of dollars were supposed to help small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. But the money was marred by racial inequity.
Minor league pay
The baseball industry created an entire workforce exempt from being paid minimum wage and overtime – and players aren’t the only ones crying foul.
Policing pregnancy
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, states could set abortion rules. Some already push the boundaries of patient privacy and shift civil rights to fetuses.
‘No matter what we did, we just couldn’t catch up.’
An ER doctor in New York City shares his experience amid the COVID-19 pandemic: “I don’t think we’ve had time to process what’s happened to us.”
‘What everyone shares is the desire to shelter in place in a safe haven.’
As part of our comics series about inequality amid the pandemic, a realtor in the Hamptons reflects on how COVID-19 has changed the meaning of home.