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Paper Trail

ProPublica 4 Episodes Jul 23, 2026

Investigative reporters at ProPublica chase down evidence of wrongdoing and bring it to light. That evidence can be on paper, on thumb drives, in secret recordings, or from conversations with whistleblowers. Each episode, you’ll ride along as reporters talk to their sources, uncover hidden facts, and show you the receipts. When they publish what they find, things can change: laws are passed, corrupt leaders fall, innocent people walk out of prison, and sometimes a life is even saved. Investigative reporter Jessica Lussenhop is your guide.

Episodes

What Happened When Trump Officials Destroyed USAID (From Reveal) Jul 23, 2026 33:41 This week, we’re presenting a conversation with ProPublica reporters that originally aired on Reveal’s podcast “More to the Story.” When the administration and DOGE cut off funding to USAID, administration officials claimed that aid was still flowing and no one had died as a result. Reporters Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester learned that wasn’t true and traveled to South Sudan and

How Microsoft’s “Little Workaround” Created a Major Pentagon Threat Jul 9, 2026 33:51 A source told reporter Renee Dudley something she found hard to believe: that Microsoft was running tech support for the Department of Defense through China, the country’s biggest cybersecurity adversary. The arrangement was called “digital escorting.” She thought it sounded like a conspiracy theory — until she started looking into it. This is the story of what she found and how her inves

Should People Who Killed Their Abusers Walk Free? Jun 25, 2026 38:34 In 2024, Oklahoma legislators passed an unusual law: It would create a pathway to freedom for people who could prove that domestic violence was a substantial contributing factor to their crime — even if that crime was first-degree murder. Members of a “survivor sisterhood” who’d found a connection in their shared histories of abuse hoped that, perhaps, they would all soon be going home. B

How a 25-Cent Pill Became a Hundred-Billion-Dollar Business Jun 11, 2026 41:25 Reporter David Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer and soon learned that one of his drugs would cost almost $1,000 per pill. He set out to discover why, and uncovered financial records and legal filings that shocked him. The drugmaker’s strategy to raise the price over and over again helps explain why our healthcare system is the most expensive in the world.Read the original reporting: ht

How to Fight a Health Insurance Denial With a Little-Known Tool May 28, 2026 39:14 ProPublica got a tip from a reader named Teressa. Her husband was having a severe mental health crisis, and her health insurance company was denying coverage for his hospital and inpatient treatment. She was fighting back against the denials — and recording every phone call with the company as she did. She brought reporter Duaa Eldeib along for the journey, which ended after Teressa was a

How to Lose a Car in 15 Days May 21, 2026 41:37 Local reporters at The Connecticut Mirror heard story after story of drivers having their cars towed and then sold out from underneath them, sometimes in just 15 days. They teamed up with ProPublica to investigate why, how often this was happening and who was profiting from it. This episode traces the history of the 100-year-old law that made all of it legal and follows the reporters as t

What the FDA Won’t Tell You About Your Medications May 14, 2026 38:58 For years, the Food and Drug Administration told the public that generics are just as safe and effective as brand-name medications. But ProPublica reporters uncovered reports from the FDA’s own inspectors detailing everything from pigeons pooping onto boxes of sterilized equipment to evidence of a factory cheating on quality testing. Even though the FDA knew about these reports, it let so

Introducing “Paper Trail” May 7, 2026 04:34 Investigative journalism can change the world. Host and reporter Jessica Lussenhop tells the story of how she learned that for herself.Follow this feed for a new investigation on every episode. It might change the way you see the world, too. Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

Paper Trail

Episodes

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