The powerful had broken time: If we forget the past, if we can’t look back, then in essence, time is broken.

View email in browser ([link removed])

[link removed]
Hi Revealer,

Is it just me or has truth itself felt up for grabs this year? I mean, which media echo chamber do you live in? Whose definition of reality do you accept?

It's no wonder that our democracy has come to feel so wobbly. If people can’t agree on what the basic facts are, how can they agree about something as fundamental as self-governance?

What all that says to me is that trusted, reliable journalism—truth-telling journalism—has never mattered more.

That’s what we aim to produce here: great radio that grabs you with powerful storytelling and informs you with deep analysis and rich context. We shine a bright light into the dark corners of power. We connect the dots between injustices of the past and the systems they perpetuate today.

Here’s the thing: It will always be free to listen to Reveal, but great journalism like this is anything but free to produce. It takes an annual budget of many millions to make all the public media magic happen here. And part of our job is to raise that money from you—the public. Without the support of listeners like you, Reveal would cease to exist. Full stop.

A world without Reveal is one I don’t want to contemplate, and you don't either.
So please make a year-end donation today to help pay for all we bring you. ([link removed])


Donate Now ([link removed])
Before I got into journalism, I was a slam poet. I traveled all over the world with my poetry, had crazy experiences, and met some amazing people, including a poet named Sekou Sundiata. Sekou was one of the most incredible writers and performers I’d ever seen. We hung out a few times, and I soaked up every bit of knowledge he had to offer.

Once, he told me that the powers that be had broken time. I didn’t understand, but he went on to explain that if we forget the past, if we can’t look back, then in essence, time is broken. Because if you can’t see the past, you can’t understand the present, and you definitely can’t look to the future.

I had a chance to think through and talk about that idea in reporting a story ([link removed]) we broadcast earlier this year, when I went back to my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, to take stock of changes that have happened in the past few years and what they mean for Black Floridians. In trying to understand where my city, where my state, is heading, you have to look back to give context to the present or you can’t understand the issues in front of you.

For me, that’s what Reveal is all about. That fearless encounter with hard truths is why I love my job.

My guess is that if you didn’t love Reveal, too, you wouldn’t be reading this. Well, that’s a good thing, because we’re counting on your support right now. That’s how public media—not-for-profit media—works. We don’t answer to corporate owners or the whims of billionaires. Our editorial freedom comes from the fact that friends like you have our back. It matters that we do journalism like this. It matters that we do it together.

Let me level with you: We have a huge fundraising goal this month. So much of every year’s budget is tied up in how much we can raise in the crucial month of December. What we’ll be able to accomplish next year is very much a function of what we receive in these next few short weeks. So please consider
making a donation ([link removed])
—$10 a month, $500 a year—any amount you can give will help us continue this work.

We’re just getting started here, and we’ve got a lot more good to do together in 2025. So give what you can. And I’ll keep giving you the best I’ve got. That’s a promise.

Thank you,
Al Letson
Host
Reveal

Donate Now ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 The Center for Investigative Reporting. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you’re a Reveal member.

Our mailing address is:
The Center for Investigative Reporting
PO Box 584
San Francisco, CA 94104
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from all Reveal emails ([link removed])
.