THE WEEKLY REVEAL

Hello! In this issue:

• We take you inside a climate solution that doesn’t hold up. 
• Traveling? We’ve got road trip listens.
• Some good news from Reveal.

THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

It’s Not Easy Going Green

There’s a way to “fight” climate change that’s easy, cheap and popular. And it’s a tool the U.S. government has been using for years to meet its renewable energy goals.

But one problem: This tool doesn’t quite work the way it was intended to. And it was debunked years ago.

This week on Reveal, in an episode that first aired in July, we dive into the renewable energy certificate (REC) market and how it’s served as a cheap stand-in for meaningful change.

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

Road Trip Listens from Reveal

We’ve gathered up some of our favorite shows for your travels. Click the link from your favorite podcast app to go right to the episode. 

One-hour trip

Gaza: A War of Weapons and Words: The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel has sparked outrage and protest, but a group of grieving parents continues quietly working for peace.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

A Reckoning at Amazon: Everything you’ve heard in the last few years about Amazon’s dangerous quest for speed started with our groundbreaking reporting.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

America Goes Psychedelic, Again: Psychedelic drugs have been illegal for 50 years, but they’re trickling back into the mainstream because they show promise in helping treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health challenges. We explore the latest.

Two-hour trip

Buried Secrets (two-part series): After decades of stripping away Native American identity from its students, a Catholic boarding school seeks to help the community heal. This series was a partnership between Reveal and ICT, formerly known as Indian Country Today.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

Four hours+ trip

American Rehab (eight-part series): Reveal exposes how a treatment for drug addiction has turned tens of thousands of people into an unpaid shadow workforce. This reporting was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

Mississippi Goddam (seven-part series): Billey Joe Johnson Jr. dreamed of graduating high school, going to college and one day playing pro football. On a cold December morning in 2008, that future was shattered. His story is a reckoning of justice in America.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

Reveal Presents: We drop all our longer series in our Reveal Presents feed. Subscribe there and you can find American Rehab, Mississippi Goddam and After Ayotzinapa all in one place.
Apple Podcasts |  Spotify | Google Podcasts | Pandora

Ending on a Good Note

• Last week, we announced big news: We’re merging with Mother Jones, creating a more sustainable, more powerful and more impactful nonprofit newsroom. Learn more about the merger and what it means.

• We were honored to be recognized by Longreads in its top investigations of 2023 for our investigation into a federal law that puts new mothers on anti-addiction medication into an impossible bind. “It would be simplistic to say that this phenomenal story, published in partnership with The New York Times Magazine, is about the unintended consequences of a government policy,” wrote Seyward Darby. “On a deeper level, it is about the American impulse to marginalize and punish women who don’t fit into culturally ordained boxes.”

Read the rest of Longreads’ recommendations.

In Case You Missed It