Podcast

ProPublica Narrated

News, Society & Culture

ProPublica’s best long-form investigations, narrated. ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. We dig deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and we stick with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account. On this podcast, you can listen to important new investigations alongside our most compelling journalism from the archives. Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

Episodes
55
Releases
Weekly
Typical length
24 min
On air since
2025
Latest episode
4 days ago

Episodes

55 episodes, newest first

  1. Several States Rejected This Private School Chain as a Charter. Now It’s Eligible for Texas’ Taxpayer-Funded Vouchers.

    Show notes

    The Texas education board, which typically approves most charter applications it reviews, rejected Alpha School’s request last year. Then Alpha quadrupled its Texas private school campuses, most of which are eligible for the state’s voucher program.

    By Lexi Churchill. Co-published with The Texas Tribune. Originally published Sept. 2, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    22 min
  2. Papa Johns, Propaganda and Putin: How a MAGA Influencer With Ties to Russia Became Trump’s Arctic Adviser

    Show notes

    As head of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, Thomas Dans has backed a takeover of Greenland and other items on President Donald Trump’s list. But it’s not always clear where the administration’s agenda ends and his own begins.

    By Heather Vogell. Originally published Sept. 15, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    23 min
  3. Vouchers Promise Students With Disabilities a Path to Private School. Parents Say That’s Not the Reality.

    Show notes

    To give voucher programs a toehold in state legislatures, politicians touted how students with disabilities would gain access to private education. But those students’ families often have the hardest time finding schools that will accept them.

    By Jennifer Berry Hawes and Jennifer Smith Richards. Originally published Sept. 11, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    22 min
  4. The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way

    Show notes

    After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump administration dismantled the unit handling the inquiry.

    By William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden and Kirsten Berg. Originally published Sept. 22, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    43 min
  5. Children in a Faith-Healing Sect Keep Dying. The State Lets It Happen.

    Show notes

    For decades, Idaho laws have allowed parents who belong to the Followers of Christ and other faith-healing sects to pray rather than seek medical care. Since 2015, at least 15 children have died of treatable conditions.

    By Audrey Dutton. Co-published with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Originally published Aug. 25, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    25 min
  6. Fiasco in the Factory: Taxpayers Funded a $533 Million Artillery Plant That Made Nothing

    Show notes

    General Dynamics opened a Texas factory to churn out artillery shells for Ukraine, but the machines kept breaking. Robot arms smashed into things. Hunks of metal crashed to the floor. There was even a real-life dumpster fire.

    By Jesse Coburn. Originally published Aug. 12, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    34 min
  7. This Coach Is Banned From Working With Kids. Why Is He Still Coaching?

    Show notes

    Even though an oversight group found that Texas girls’ volleyball coach Ryan Richardson engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor, sports organizations have failed to stop him from coaching.

    By Molly Hensley-Clancy. Co-published with The Washington Post. Originally published Aug. 20, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    40 min
  8. On This Nearly Deserted Alaska Island, You Pay to Keep Hundreds of Empty Buildings Wired for Internet

    Show notes

    U.S. phone customers pay more than $340,000 a year for an Anchorage company to keep homes and buildings on Alaska’s Adak Island wired for obsolete internet service. All but a few of them sit empty.

    By Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News. Co-published with Anchorage Daily News. Originally published July 20, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    15 min
  9. This MAGA Influencer Runs a Charity to Teach Kids Civics. Much of the Money Goes to Him Instead.

    Show notes

    Nick Adams’ Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness has brought in millions in donations and helped him land a State Department appointment, but records show there is almost no indication FLAG was spending that money on its stated mission.

    By Kali Bomeli. Originally published July 28, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    18 min
  10. My Maddening Quest to Find Out if Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed

    Show notes

    Max Blau spent a year reporting on abuses of farmworkers. It left him wondering: Is there any way to find out whether the produce he buys at the grocery store comes from farms with a record of mistreating workers?

    By Max Blau. Originally published July 21, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    6 min
  11. A Youth Sports Giant Promised Reforms to Protect Kids From Sexual Abuse. Most Never Happened.

    Show notes

    More than a decade after the Amateur Athletic Union promised to implement “historic child protection measures,” it still hasn’t done so, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids at risk. Some AAU athletes have had devastating experiences.

    By Molly Hensley-Clancy. Co-published with The Washington Post. Originally published Aug. 13, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    45 min
  12. Left in the Dust: How a Billionaire-Owned Concrete Plant Took Over a Detroit Community

    Show notes

    After a company erected a concrete plant in a quiet neighborhood with the aid of the city, residents began battling clouds of dust and other problems. They say local and state officials have been little help.

    By Jena Brooker, BridgeDetroit. Co-published with BridgeDetroit. Originally published July 6, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    24 min
  13. This Private School Had Students Scrub Floors and Attack a Fellow Classmate. The State Still Funds It.

    Show notes

    One of the few requirements for Arkansas private schools is that they have an American flag and a flagpole. But millions in state funds go to the largely unmonitored schools while complaints about safety and fraud have gone unanswered, parents say.

    By Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen. Co-published with Arkansas Times. Originally published July 15, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    30 min
  14. These Immigrant Kids Were Once Protected. Under Trump, Their Deportations Have Tripled.

    Show notes

    As Trump cracks down on unaccompanied minors living in the U.S., a couple of traffic tickets put Elder Chavez on a path toward deportation. “I’m just waiting here,” he told ProPublica. “I really don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

    By Mica Rosenberg and Jeff Ernsthausen. Originally published July 6, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    23 min
  15. “He Didn’t Need to Die.” How an Immigration Detention Center Repeatedly Failed to Address a Mental Health Crisis.

    Show notes

    Geraldo Lunas Campos repeatedly raised concerns about his mental health before he died at Camp East Montana. Records paint a portrait of how the Texas facility’s staff failed to adequately respond.

    By Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Co-published with The Texas Tribune. Originally published July 3, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    22 min
  16. With a Chance at Freedom, They Faced an Unexpected Obstacle: Their Own Lawyers

    Show notes

    Pennsylvania courts allow attorneys to argue against their convicted clients’ bid for justice. It has resulted in people spending years or decades in prison before being freed based on issues lawyers overlooked or rejected.

    By Samantha Melamed and Dylan Purcell, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Co-published with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

    Originally Published May 19, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    25 min
  17. Beyond Denial: How Oil Execs Shaped a Landmark Climate Study

    Show notes

    BP sponsored an elite Princeton research center to address the climate problem without getting off fossil fuels. Its key work, a paper known as “Wedges,” guided climate discourse for a generation.

    By Maddie Stone, Drilled, with additional reporting by Amy Westervelt, Drilled, and Katie Worth, ProPublica. Co-published with Drilled. Originally published June 25, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    45 min
  18. “That Guy is Still Out There”

    Show notes

    Five years after Anthony Broadwater was belatedly cleared for the sexual assault of author Alice Sebold, the questions of how he came to be wrongly convicted and how one or more serial rapists operated for years with little consequence have only deepened.

    By Joaquin Sapien. Originally published June 30, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.

    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    1 hr 2 min
  19. This Convicted Felon Gets $1 Million a Year to Sell Obsolete Internet Service. You Pay for It.

    Show notes

    Roger Shoffstall spent three years in prison for tax evasion. Still, each year the federal government pays his Alaska company, Summit Telephone, for internet service that’s slower than in most of the U.S.

    By Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News. Co-published with Anchorage Daily News. Originally published May 19, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.
    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    26 min
  20. He Was Fired for Sexually Harassing Students. California Allowed Him to Keep Teaching Anyway.

    Show notes

    Math teacher Jason Agan was deemed “unfit to teach.” But the finding was never made public. This is how the state allowed him — and dozens of other educators found to have committed sexual harassment or misconduct — to keep their credentials.

    By Holly McDede, KQED, and Mollie Simon, ProPublica. Co-published with KQED. Originally published May 12, 2026. Recorded by News Over Audio.
    Support our journalism by donating at http://propublica.org/donate.

    26 min