THE WEEKLY REVEAL
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022
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Hello!
Our end-of-year fundraising campaign has kicked off and we have raised about 10% of our $125,000 goal so far. Through your generosity, we can create journalism that perseveres, serves communities and defends democracy. To make your donation count for 2022, donate today!
Also, in this issue:
- A breakthrough in our investigation into the Dominican Republic’s biggest sugar producer.
- Go inside our newsroom’s democracy coverage in a new virtual event.
- The Supreme Court case that could reshape federal elections.
- Amazon is spending big money on safety but still hasn’t addressed its core issue: pace of work.
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THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
The Bitter Work Behind Sugar
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Sugar is a big part of Americans’ daily diet and a key ingredient in the dishes many are preparing around the holiday season. But have you ever wondered where that sweet cane comes from?
This week on Reveal, we revisit our investigation with Mother Jones that follows a supply chain of millions of pounds of sugar from the cane fields of the Dominican Republic to our kitchens. We look at the toll it is taking on the people, mostly Haitian migrants, who harvest some of that sugar and the powerful corporation, Central Romana, that owns the vast sugar plantations.
And since our investigation was first released in September 2021, there has been a breakthrough in the story. Reporter Sandy Tolan tells host Al Letson all about it. Tune in.
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🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
RELATED
🗣️ Reporters Sandy Tolan and Euclides Cordero Nuel spoke about their reporting with NPR's Ari Shapiro this week on “All Things Considered.” Listen to the segment.
DID YOU KNOW?
▶️ We’re experimenting with bringing past podcast episodes to our YouTube channel. If you’re an avid podcast listener on YouTube, find us at @reveal.
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SUPPORT JOURNALISM THAT PERSEVERES
For two years, we investigated the dire conditions at Central Romana’s sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic. To continue to do this kind of work, we must rely on the generosity of our listeners, readers and viewers to fund it.
Please donate today to support journalism that perseveres.
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INSIDE THE NEWSROOM
Virtual Event: Threats to Democracy
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Join us Thursday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT for a virtual conversation on how we cover the existential threats to U.S. democracy.
The conversation will be moderated by our CEO, Robert "Rosey" Rosenthal, and includes Reveal reporters Ese Olumhense and Melissa Lewis and Andy Donohue, executive editor for projects.
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IN THE HEADLINES
News We’re Watching
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U.S. Supreme Court. Credit: Matt H. Wade/Wikipedia
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This fringe legal theory could radically reshape federal elections. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Moore v. Harper on Wednesday. The case challenges a decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court that struck down the General Assembly’s redistricting plan, calling it a partisan gerrymander. In his appeal, state House Speaker Tim Moore tests a legal theory that has rapidly moved from the fringes since the 2020 election: the independent state legislature theory.
The backstory: This can get a little complicated, and there are a lot of different opinions on what it could mean if the Supreme Court blesses the theory. But here are the basics: The federal government delegates election administration to the states. Until now, that’s meant that the normal state system for oversight applies: Legislatures make rules, and the state supreme courts provide a check and balance. But under the independent state legislature theory, the legislature would have total control, without interference from the courts to ensure lawmakers’ actions are constitutional. (You can read this explainer from the Brennan Center for Justice to understand the nitty-gritty details of the argument.)
Why this matters: If the Supreme Court adopts the argument, state legislatures would be free to gerrymander without any state oversight. And, if we have another contested presidential election like we did in 2020, it could provide more legal firepower to the side trying to overturn the will of the voters. Donald Trump’s allies used the theory to try to convince some state legislatures to not certify Joe Biden’s victory in their state and instead send Trump’s electors to the Electoral College. In theory, there would still be other barriers to stop a legislature from ignoring the will of the state’s voters. But as people like leading election law expert Rick Hasen of UCLA have said, a sympathetic Supreme Court or House leader might not step in to stop it.
The latest: Four Supreme Court justices have signaled their support for the theory. And the case so frightens state supreme court justices that they, through the Conference of Chief Justices, filed a rare amicus brief telling the justices that they should reject the independent state legislature theory. “That the conference is willing to take a stand here highlights how extreme and dangerous the argument of the North Carolina legislators is,” Harvard law professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos told The New York Times. “That argument would undermine the authority of state courts to interpret state law – a bedrock principle of our system of federalism, and one that conservative justices historically championed, not questioned.”
🎧 You can listen live to Wednesday’s oral arguments here.
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As Amazon has made huge profits through the years, it’s come at a cost: There’s a worker injury crisis in its warehouses.
Last year, the company spent about $300 million on safety projects, according to CEO Andy Jassy. He said Amazon is working on “sophisticated algorithms” to predict when a worker should rotate jobs and “wearables” that detect workers making dangerous moves.
In a letter to shareholders, Jassy added that despite these tech advancements, he hasn’t found “a silver bullet that could change the numbers quickly.”
Our reporting has shown there is a core issue Amazon could address: the pace of work. And, for a company that’s built around the speed of its deliveries, Amazon is now facing pressure from lawmakers and safety regulators in ways it never has before.
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📝 Listen to our investigation: A Reckoning at Amazon
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