Embedded
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Episodes
We Keep Us Safe: Who Killed Antonio Mays Jr.?
EPISODE 1: When 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and killed inside Seattle's CHOP protest zone in 2020, protesters claimed self-defense. For years, that version of events went unchallenged. Reporters Sydney Brownstone, Will James and David Gutman investigate what really happened the night Antonio died.Support journalism like this by signing up for NPR+ at plus.npr.orgSee pcm.adswizz.com for i
Introducing "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.In this eight-part series, hosts Sydney Brownstone of The Seattle Times and Will James of KUOW team up
The Girls: “This is my story to tell”
Alleged victims of the Stoners find each other online and band together to demand justice. But they run up against police and prosecutors who have different ideas than they do about the best path to accountability.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
The Girls: “If it was your daughter”
17-year-old Aryalle Stoner runs away from home and tells the police that her father, Ronnie Stoner, has been sexually abusing her for years. The cursory investigation that follows is representative of a larger issue with child sex abuse investigations in Louisville.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorsh
The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?”
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast
The Girls: “I need to tell you something”
In 2023, 17-year-old Abbie Jones and her family accuse her high school football coach, Donnie Stoner, of child sex abuse. Another Louisville woman, Alexis Crook, says she was abused by Donnie too, and his twin brother Ronnie, when they were coaches at her private Christian school almost 20 years earlier. Reporter Jess Clark looks at how the school system and local government responded to these acc
The Network: Pivoting as mifepristone access shifts
After next Monday, doctors may not be able to mail people the abortion pill Mifepristone. That would increase barriers, but experts say it won't stop people's ability to get the pills in the mail. Getting abortion pills without a doctor’s oversight isn’t new—in fact its history begins nearly 50 years ago, in Brazil. Listen to "The Network," Season 24 of NPR's Embedded, about how a loosely connecte
Alternate Realities: Double or Nothing
As soon as Alternate Realities publishes, Zach Mack calls his dad to hear his reactions to the series. The conversation takes an unexpected turn, launching them into another year-long experiment.To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for spons
The Harvard Plan: The Endless Frontier
Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be equal in order to yield breakthroughs. Today, the Trump administration is proposing a new “compact” that
The Harvard Plan: Jay & Alan
Harvard president Alan Garber and National Institutes of Health head Jay Bhattacharya are two main characters at the heart of the national fight over the future of academia. Alan Garber has been cast as the defender of academic freedom and democracy; Jay Bhattacharya is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the NIH, the agency withholding billions of dollars in research grants from Harvard. Oddly enough, th
The Harvard Plan: And so it begins…
The Harvard Plan, a collaboration between On the Media and The Boston Globe, is about the fight for the soul of America’s oldest and most prestigious university. In the new season, they explore what has unfolded at Harvard since Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025. Three main characters, inside Harvard, tell the story from their perspective: politics professor Ryan Enos, genetics professor and can
Alternate Realities: A Question for Listeners
After we released Alternate Realities, hundreds of listeners reached out, sharing stories about friends and family members who had also fallen under the spell of conspiracy theories. Many of them had tried everything they could think of to get that person back... and failed.Has anyone had success with this? If you or anyone you know has come up with an intervention or experiment or strategy that a
Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
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The Network: Déjà vu
Part 3: The network and its method took off in countries where women didn't have a legal option for abortion. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many Americans have found themselves in that very situation. We travel to the US to see how the network is responding to exploding demand and mounting abortion restrictions. Embedded+ supporters get first access and sponsor-free listening for every Embedde
The Network: Breaking Bread
Part 2: The network had developed a method that had the potential to get women widespread access to safe abortions. But to make that happen, a whisper network wasn't enough. Hosts Marta and Victoria travel across Latin America to trace how the network entered a new era. Women spoke up and teamed up. They challenged each other and sometimes even broke the law.Embedded+ supporters get first access a
The Network: Saint-o-tec
In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn't a coincidence. Brazilian women had made a discovery that allowed them to safely have abortions at home, despite the country's abortion restrictions. That discovery eventually spread across the globe. Embedded+ supporters get first access and sponsor-free list
Introducing "The Network" from NPR and Futuro Media
Decades ago, Brazilian women made a discovery that allowed them to have safe abortions without a doctor, regardless of the law. Now, as abortion restrictions rise across the United States, their method is shaping how American women have abortions, too. In this three-part series, hosts Victoria Estrada and Marta Martinez of Futuro Media's Latino USA chart the global, loosely connected network that
Alternate Realities: Facing the Facts
Episode 3: After a year of waiting, the bet is finally over. Reporter Zach Mack takes stock of his father's predictions and confronts him about the future of the family. To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage
Alternate Realities: Down the Rabbit Hole
Episode 2: After reporter Zach Mack accepts a bet with his father over 10 politically apocalyptic predictions, he sets out on a journey to change his dad's mind.To listen to this series sponsor-free and get early access, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your pod
Alternate Realities: A Strange Bet
Episode 1: Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being brainwashed. In 2024, after the latest round of circular arguments, they decided to try something new, an attempt to pull each other out of the spell each of them thinks the other is under. Can one family live in two realities?To listen to this series sponsor-free
Introducing Alternate Realities from NPR
Zach Mack and his dad are living in separate realities, and it's tearing their family apart. Like so many Americans, Zach's dad has gotten swept up in conspiracy theories. After years of circular arguments, the father challenged his son to a bet: $10,000 on ten politically apocalyptic predictions that would all happen in 2024.In this three-part series, we follow Zach on an intimate journey to brin
Five Fingers Crush The Land from NPR's Throughline
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported in our three-part series "The Black Gate," hundreds of thousands of Uyghur people have been detained in China. They've been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, and even forced sterilization. In this episode from 2021, our colleagues at the history podcast Throughline explore who the Uyghur people are, their land, their customs, their
The Black Gate: Arresting Your Brothers and Sisters
As NPR correspondent Emily Feng reported on the Kucar family, she encountered a mysterious figure working to keep her sources from speaking out. Later, she meets another Uyghur man who - perhaps unwillingly - becomes an actor within China's systems of control. These men are accused of working to silence others, but they say they've found themselves silenced as well. To listen to this series sponso
The Black Gate: Like a Bullet from a Gun
Abdullatif Kucar returns to China, determined to find his children, who have been sent to state-run "boarding schools," and his wife, who has spent two years in prison. They're among hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs arrested and detained over the years. Kucar is trying to do what is virtually impossible in China: bring his loved ones home for good. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support
The Black Gate: Vanished in the Night
In the Xinjiang region of western China, the government has rounded up and detained hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups, including the wife and young children of a Uyghur businessman named Abdullatif Kucar. NPR correspondent Emilly Feng follows Kucar as he desperately searches for his missing family. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Emb
Introducing The Black Gate from NPR
This is the story of a people being erased, one family at a time. For almost a decade, the Chinese government has been detaining hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs in what critics call a systematic attempt to dismantle their culture. And since the beginning, NPR correspondent Emily Feng has reported on these detentions, which were described by the United Nations as possibly constituting crime
A Good Guy: Under Oath
There's a promise that all Marines make to defend the Constitution. After Sgt. Joshua Abate participated in the events on January 6, the Corps has to decide: Did he break his oath when he entered the Capitol that day? And what does his case say about the changing narrative around January 6? To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.np
A Good Guy: 279 Hours
"Have you ever tried to overthrow the U.S. government?" Marine Sgt. Joshua Abate was in the middle of a routine polygraph test to receive top-secret clearance when he made an extraordinary admission: He had followed the crowd that broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This admission leads to a different kind of January 6 story. Abate says he's not an insurrectionist. So why did it take h
Introducing "A Good Guy" from NPR
Sergeant Joshua Abate says that he's not a rioter or an insurrectionist. Those closest to the active-duty Marine call him "a good guy." But he was part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. On the eve of a new presidential election, what does his case tell us, as the nation still grapples with the legacy of that day? As they look into the military's reckoning with extremism in
Tested: Lumpers and Splitters
Episode 6: Christine and Max are some of the most recent female athletes in this century-long history to face tests, stigma, and restrictions. But they are unlikely to be the last. In this episode, we find out whether Christine qualifies for the Paris Olympics, as well as the fate of Max's court case. And we explore the broader implications of the sex binary in sports. Is there a better way for sp
Tested: Unfair Advantage?
Episode 5: A battle over science and ethics unfolds. World Athletics releases and then tweaks multiple policies impacting DSD athletes, while critics cry foul. In this episode, World Athletics doubles down on its claims, Caster Semenya challenges the rules again, and we dig deep on a big question: what constitutes an "unfair" advantage on the track? To listen to this series sponsor-free and suppor
Tested: Running in Circles
Episode 4: In 2009, South African sprinter Caster Semenya won gold at the World Championships. But instead of a celebration, she endured endless speculation about her body, her biology, and her gender. And soon, sports organizations would launch a new round of regulations, lead to multiple court cases, and require sporting organizations to justify their claim that DSD athletes have an unfair advan
Tested: Card-Carrying Females
Episode 3: We meet Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who—like Christine Mboma—has been sidelined by DSD policies. She makes a different choice from Christine: to fight the regulations in court. And we learn about a previous fight, when scientists, athletes, and journalists spent thirty years trying to end an earlier version of sex testing.To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign u
Tested: Questions of a Physical Nature
Episode 2: We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women athletes. Some doubted these athletes were even women at all. And their skepticism resulted in the first policies requiring sex testing. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or at pl
Tested: The Choice
Episode 1: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can't compete in the female category unless they lower their body's naturally occurring testosterone levels. You'll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a r
Introducing Tested from NPR and CBC
Who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women's sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women's category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entire
Supermajority: The Could-Be Candidate
The end of the 113th General Assembly of Tennessee is fast approaching. Melissa Alexander, Mary Joyce and Sarah Shoop Neumann have reached a new stage in their understanding of the statehouse. But they also face a new challenge: how to square their long-held conservative beliefs with the new politics they've picked up in the year since the shooting at their kids' school. When two of the women make
Supermajority: A Common-Sense Caucus
Melissa Alexander came to the Tennessee statehouse to convince members of the Republican party – her party – to adopt gun control measures after a mass shooting at her son's school. A year later, she doesn't feel like she's gotten through to many lawmakers. But there's at least one Republican senator who's made Melissa and the other Covenant moms feel welcome: Richard Briggs. Briggs has been in of
Supermajority: The Roll Call
It's been four months since the Covenant moms – lifelong conservatives Melissa Alexander, Mary Joyce and Sarah Shoop Neumann – pleaded with their lawmakers to pass gun control measures during a special session at the Tennessee statehouse. Now they're back – for months, not days – and this time, they feel prepared to face the GOP-dominated legislature. But when the 2024 legislative session begins,
Supermajority: The Covenant Moms
In 2023, a mass shooter attacked The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, and three mothers were compelled to act. Their mission: help pass some kind of gun control in one of the reddest states in the country, a state where the Republican Party has a supermajority in the legislature. But these women aren't your typical gun control activists. They're lifelong conserv
Introducing Supermajority from NPR and WPLN
Supermajority is a new 4-part series from NPR's Embedded, in partnership with Nashville Public Radio. As Americans focus on national politics this election year, we zoom in on one state and its political majority. Host Meribah Knight has been following three conservative moms in Tennessee over the course of a year as they learn to navigate their Republican-controlled state legislature. These polit
Field Notes: On Losing the Gaza They Knew
The second in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict between Israel and Hamas In this episode, Morning Edition's Leila Fadel paints an intimate portrait of displacement in Gaza. She shares voice memos she's been receiving from a college student trying to survive and the story of
Field Notes: On Reporting, the Israel-Hamas War
The first in a two-part special series featuring conversations between Embedded host Kelly McEvers and NPR reporters who have been on the ground during the current conflict in Gaza. In the first episode, NPR's Daniel Estrin talks about the challenges of reporting on the Israel-Hamas war and the work of his colleague Anas Baba from inside Gaza.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collectio
Taking Cover: Accountability
In this Taking Cover update, a U.S. senator wants answers from the Marines about what went wrong - and we meet an Army soldier still serving on active duty who's been denied the truth about his war wounds. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data f
The Kill List: The Pier
Since activist Karima Baloch's mysterious death in 2020, her family has been searching for answers. Journalist Mary Lynk has, too. The documents Mary gets and the people she talks to will lead her closer to the truth of what happened that day. But is the truth enough closure for a family? For the people Karima was fighting for back home in Balochistan? For other dissidents like her, in exile or hi
The Kill List: Living Ghosts
As her native Balochistan mourns activist Karima Baloch's death, we dive deeper into what Karima was fighting for and why – and learn about the intense history of the Baloch people and the state of Pakistan. Also – the story of what happens to dissidents who disappear... and then come back alive. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this seri
The Kill List: 'I am not a terrorist'
We talk to the people closest to Karima Baloch, including some who are opening up for the very first time, to try to understand what could have led to her death. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our c
The Kill List: The Dissident Club
Critics of the Pakistani government, like Karima Baloch and Sajid Hussain, find themselves in this kind of nightmarish club of exiles who flee to far away countries in the West but still fear the reach of Pakistan's intelligence agency. In this episode, we meet some members of that club and ask: could Pakistan be targeting exiles in the West? The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's invest
The Kill List: A Death in Sweden
Before Karima's death, another prominent Baloch dissident was found dead in Sweden. The two deaths bear a striking resemblance. Could they be connected? The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free and support NPR, sign up for Embedded+ in Apple Podcasts or plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collectio
The Kill List: Death of an Icon
Karima Baloch was forced to flee to Canada because of her work fighting for human rights in her home of Balochistan, a province of Pakistan. But when Karima's body washes ashore on Lake Ontario, it raises questions about the disappearances and deaths of other Pakistani dissidents. The Kill List is a 6-part podcast from the CBC's investigative series, Uncover. To listen to this series sponsor-free
All The Only Ones: No More (Gender) Drama
In the final episode of the series, we meet Christine, an 18 year old from New Mexico, shortly after starting hormone replacement therapy, as she navigates her freshman year of college. We also meet Dr. Charles Ihlenfeld, who was a physician at the John Hopkins Gender Clinic, working with many young people as they transitioned in the 1970s. We spend time with one of his patients, Joanna, whose pat
All The Only Ones: I can't wait
In part 2, we meet Parker, a senior in high school in Columbus, Ohio. Parker is a top field hockey athlete, but as a trans person, he is faced with making a difficult decision: either pursuing his dreams as a D1 trans field hockey player in college next year, or pursuing his dreams of starting hormone replacement therapy, which could get him banned from playing. We also meet two historical trans y
All The Only Ones: The missing piece of the puzzle
In our first episode, we meet Zen, a Mexican-American, New Orleans native, coming into their transness, exploring its spectrum, as we learn about an historic trans person, Bernard, from Alabama in the early 1900s, fighting to be seen. They're both navigating their identities in a world that is constantly trying to define them.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pers
Introducing All The Only Ones
All The Only Ones is a new 3-part series from NPR's Embedded. Host Laine Kaplan-Levenson unearths the little known and often neglected history of trans youth in America. We follow the lives of young transgender people today and travel back in time to the turn of the 20th century to meet some of the earliest trans youth documented in American history. Launching on November 2. See pcm.adswizz.com fo
The Unmarked Graveyard: Angel Garcia
When Annette Vega was seven years old, she found out the man she called "dad" wasn't her biological father. But all she knew was that her mom had had a teenage romance with a guy named Angel Garcia. Annette has searched for Angel for more than 30 years. That search is coming to the end."The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island" is a new series from Radio Diaries that tells the stories of s
The Unmarked Graveyard: Neil Harris Jr.
A few years ago, a young man who called himself Stephen became a fixture in Manhattan's Riverside Park. Locals started noticing him sitting on the same park bench day after day. He said little and asked for nothing. When Stephen's body was found dead in 2017, the police were unable to identify him, and he was buried on Hart Island. Then, one day, a woman who knew him from the park stumbled upon hi
Hold the Sitar: The Making of the Love Commandos Theme Song
In this bonus episode of Love Commandos, Gregory Warner interviews musician John Ellis, who composed Rough Translation's original theme music in 2017, and songwriters Amira Gill and VASU, who jointly created the new theme song for Love Commandos. They discuss their musical processes, and how they incorporate stories into their music. Follow the musicians: John Ellis: https://www.johnaxsonellis.com
Love Commandos: Calling It Quits
In Episode 5 of Love Commandos, couples seeking to shut down the Love Commandos' shelter band together in a risky plan. Want to hear bonus episodes of Love Commandos? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Love Commandos: Forever Yours
On Episode 4 of Love Commandos, couples in the shelter feel pressured to stay indefinitely. We try to figure out why. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Polic
Love Commandos: The Honeymoon
On Episode 3 of Love Commandos, stories of life inside the Love Commandos shelter begin to diverge as co-founder Sanjoy Sachdev shows a different side. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponso
Love Commandos: After the Wedding
Threatened by their families, an inter-caste couple in India hits a breaking point. Their last option to stay together? The Love Commandos. Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship prefer
Love Commandos: The Vow
When falling in love can mean risking your life, the Love Commandos in India will protect you. But at what cost? Want to hear episodes of Love Commandos a week before everyone else? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
The 13th Step: Just the Beginning
How deep can you dig for the truth before it gets dangerous? In March 2022, reporter Lauren Chooljian published her first story detailing allegations against Eric Spofford, the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network. Over the following months, Lauren received a first-hand glimpse into the ways powerful, wealthy people can intimidate sources and try to stop journalism from h
The 13th Step: The God of Recovery
As Eric Spofford tells it, he spent his teen years in the throes of addiction and crime. When he got sober, he became a crusader for recovery. On the second episode of The 13th Step from New Hampshire Public Radio, host Lauren Chooljian unravels how the founder of New Hampshire's largest addiction treatment network built his company – and the allegations that he abused that power by sexually assau
The 13th Step: The Shadow
So many of us have been touched by America's addiction crisis. And we look to treatment for solutions. But what happens when communities dedicated to treatment turn out to be dangerous? In the first episode of The 13th Step – the new investigative series from our friends at New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) – host Lauren Chooljian uncovers the culture of sexual misconduct in America's recovery com
Buffalo Extreme: Winners
It's competition season, and the girls say they're over what happened at the Tops supermarket last year. "I'm fine!" But then the shooter has his sentencing hearing, and those feelings come flooding back. When they hit the stage — they're wobbly. And argumentative. The girls and Coach Yani open up about the hard truth: where they really stand one year later. See pcm.adswizz.com for information abo
Buffalo Extreme: Do Good, Get Good
How do you make sense of something terrible that's happened—and move forward? From the cheer gym to the therapy office, we follow the parents, coaches and kids of Buffalo All-Star Extreme in the year after the Tops massacre. The mass shooting set back the cheerleaders' training schedule by months, and now competition is just weeks away. After everything that happened to her community, Coach Yani w
Buffalo Extreme: Base
Ayanna Williams Gaines is the coach and founder of Buffalo All-Star Extreme, a Black competitive cheerleading and dance team from Buffalo, New York. Williams Gaines started the gym as a space for Black girls to feel safe and to thrive in the predominantly white world of cheer. But on May 14, 2022, a white supremacist came to a predominantly Black neighborhood on the east side of Buffalo and killed
Introducing Buffalo Extreme
What happens after a racist mass shooting in your neighborhood? On May 14, 2022, the world changed for residents of Buffalo, New York, when a white man approached the Jefferson Street Tops supermarket and started shooting. He murdered ten and injured three people, almost all Black. That same day, teenagers and children — members of a Black cheer team called BASE — were at their gym around the cor
Taking Cover: The Gulf School
Tom and Graham meet Shihab's brother in Baghdad — but he's wary. They also visit Fallujah, to find the schoolhouse and talk with people who were on the other side of the occupation. Then, finally... back to Camp Pendleton.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Taking Cover: Cover-Up
The team turns to Pat Tillman's family for help. Duncan Hunter the elder, and the younger, respond to NPR's questions... kind of. A breakthrough in the search for the interpreter has Tom and Graham planning a trip back to where it all began.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privac
Taking Cover: Up the Chain
Tom and Graham work their way up the chain of command, looking for someone — anyone — who can explain how and why this incident was buried. One general claims he can't recall the incident. Another talks with the team at the Pentagon, then changes his story about Duncan Hunter's involvement.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to mana
Taking Cover: Finding David
As Tom and Graham work to track down the men in the courtyard, one of the wounded Marines has long remained elusive. His former comrades wonder if he's even still alive. Eventually, with help from Carlos, the team finds David. His chilling story reflects the lingering wounds of war.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your
Taking Cover: JAGMAN
Hoping to get their hands on the official investigation, the NPR team flies to Tucson. But problems begin shortly after arrival. The widow of a man who died in the explosion wants to know why the Marine Corps lied to her. Tom and Graham want to know why the recommended punishments were overturned. The team finally confirms a crucial detail from the original tip. See pcm.adswizz.com for information
Taking Cover: Stand-To
The wounded are evacuated. The battle subsides. Now the men of Echo 2/1 begin to wonder: What happened? The Marine Corps says "no records exist" but Tom and Graham find testimony before an obscure Congressional subcommittee that says otherwise. The team also finds that promises made — to Congress, to the families of the dead and to wounded Marines — have been broken. And, they hear from one man wh
Taking Cover: Danger Close
NPR's Pentagon Correspondent, Tom Bowman, receives a shocking tip from a trusted source: A deadly explosion during the Iraq War was an accident—friendly fire, covered up by the Marine Corps—and the son of a powerful politician may have been involved. He partners with an old pal, Graham Smith, to investigate, and they discover the truth is even worse than the tipster realized. After dozens of inter
White Lies: The Excludables
In our final episode of the season, we start researching the names on the secret list of 2,746 Cuban excludables. What we find confirms many of our suspicions about the arbitrariness of how the U.S. government created the list. Our reporting takes us — where else? — to Cuba, to finally track down the men on the roof and hear them tell their own stories. What had they hoped to find in this country
Introducing: Taking Cover
Hosted by NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and Graham Smith of the Investigations unit, Taking Cover isn't just a show about the worst Marine-on-Marine friendly fire incident in modern history. It's a story of betrayal, brotherhood, and what's owed—to families, the wounded, and to the American public—when we send our young to war. Coming soon, after this week's conclusion of White Lies.See
White Lies: The List
Since we began reporting this story, we've been after a list. A secret list. On it are the names of 2,746 people whom the US government deemed excludable, including the men on the roof. The government has kept this list so secret that at one point it went so far as to classify it. None of the Mariel detainees knew if their name was on the list or not. In fact, nobody knew what names were on the li
White Lies: The Trial
In Episode 6, we sneak into the graveyard of the Atlanta federal penitentiary with a radical peace activist to learn more about what happened in the prison in late 1984. A peaceful protest by detainees held in the Atlanta pen resulted in a violent crackdown, and one of the detainees, a man named Jose Hernandez-Mesa, was charged in federal court with inciting a riot. We tell the story of his trial
