Reveal host Al LetsonIllustration by Molly Mendoza
More than a decade ago, the Center for Investigative Reporting had a big investigation into how the Department of Veterans Affairs was worsening the opioid overdose crisis, and a big idea: Could they take the impactful work CIR was already doing and make a weekly radio show with the potential to change laws and change lives?
“We weren’t sure if any public radio stations would even air it,” said Al Letson, who back then was the new hire asked to host this brand-new investigative radio show.
You’ve probably got a sense of what happened next: Reveal’s VA investigation sparked outrage. Radio stations did want to run their work. And today, the award-winning show is celebrating its 10th anniversary on more than 500 stations nationwide.
This week on Reveal, the team looks back at how they got here, from investigations into water shortages in drought-prone California to labor abuses in the Dominican Republic, and we hear from the journalists behind Reveal’s first decade of impactful reporting.