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PODCAST

Paper Trail

Investigative reporters at ProPublica chase down evidence of wrongdoing and bring it to light. That evidence can be on paper — or on thumb drives, in secret recordings, from conversations with whistleblowers. Each episode, you’ll ride along as we talk to reporters and their sources, uncover hidden facts and show you the receipts. When we publish what we find, things can change. Laws are passed, corrupt leaders fall, innocent people walk out of prison and sometimes a life is even saved

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

36:12

Who’s the Shadow President?

Paper Trail ·

2026/10/01

Reporter Andy Kroll got his hands on secret tapes of a low-profile bureaucrat named Russell Vought. Turns out, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, he’s been quietly reshaping the federal government and commanding many of the second Trump administration’s biggest moves. Read the reporting here: https://www.propublica.org/article/russ-vought-trump-shadow-president-omb Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

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28:35

Don Jr.’s Secret Wedding Guest

Paper Trail ·

2026/09/15

While investigating the personal wealth of the president’s oldest son, investigative reporters Justin Elliott and Brett Murphy learned something almost too strange to be true: that a Russian oligarch closely allied with Vladimir Putin might have attended Donald Trump Jr.’s recent wedding in the Bahamas. Using a combination of social media and shoe-leather reporting, a team of ProPublica reporters soon realized that the guest list was just the tip of the iceberg. Read the reporting here:

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44:28

The Predatory Industry Behind MLB’s Dominican...

Paper Trail ·

2026/09/10

Major League Baseball has built a pipeline in the Dominican Republic to scoop up young players with the potential of superstars like Red Sox hero David “Big Papi” Ortiz. But reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts uncovered how MLB has allowed a shadow industry to flourish — one that exploits young players and their families. In this episode, Gus brings us the story of Belfi Rivera, a supernaturally talented young Dominican player who experienced firsthand how the system is broken. Support our

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44:24

How the Planet-Altering Disaster of “Forever...

Paper Trail ·

2026/09/03

We now know harmful “forever chemicals” are likely in the bodies of most people on Earth. Decades ago, 3M knew that these chemicals had seeped into the public’s blood, but they kept that a secret. One 3M scientist helped reporter Sharon Lerner understand how they kept it quiet for so long.Reporter: Sharon LernerRead More: https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

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41:40

The True Story of Why Immigration Agents Raided a...

Paper Trail ·

2026/08/20

In the middle of a September night last year, hundreds of agents stormed a Chicago apartment building, some rappelling down from a Black Hawk helicopter. They arrested 37 immigrants and claimed that two were confirmed members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — but then never identified any of them. Reporters Melissa Sanchez and Sebastian Rotella set out to track down the people arrested, and, along with a team of ProPublica reporters, they uncovered a very different story

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45:45

How “Forgive and Forget” Buried a Church’s Dark Secret

Paper Trail ·

2026/08/06

Host Jessica Lussenhop received an unusual email: A prosecutor had major concerns about a case in Minnesota. A man had pleaded guilty to felony child sexual abuse, but it seemed like the church he belonged to, the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, might have played a part in keeping the abuse quiet. Lussenhop teamed up with reporter Andy Mannix, and they discovered this case was just a symptom of a much bigger problem in the OALC.Read the original stories here:

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33:41

What Happened When Trump Officials Destroyed USAID...

Paper Trail ·

2026/07/23

This week, we’re presenting a conversation with ProPublica reporters that originally aired on Reveal’s podcast “More to the Story.” When the administration and DOGE cut off funding to USAID, administration officials claimed that aid was still flowing and no one had died as a result. Reporters Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester learned that wasn’t true and traveled to South Sudan and Kenya to find out what really happened. If you have information on foreign aid, contact Murphy here and

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33:51

How Microsoft’s “Little Workaround” Created a Major...

Paper Trail ·

2026/07/09

A source told reporter Renee Dudley something she found hard to believe: that Microsoft was running tech support for the Department of Defense through China, the country’s biggest cybersecurity adversary. The arrangement was called “digital escorting.” She thought it sounded like a conspiracy theory — until she started looking into it. This is the story of what she found and how her investigation changed government policy.Read More:

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38:34

Should People Who Killed Their Abusers Walk Free?

Paper Trail ·

2026/06/25

In 2024, Oklahoma legislators passed an unusual law: It would create a pathway to freedom for people who could prove that domestic violence was a substantial contributing factor to their crime — even if that crime was first-degree murder. Members of a “survivor sisterhood” who’d found a connection in their shared histories of abuse hoped that, perhaps, they would all soon be going home. But, as reporter Pamela Colloff discovered, nothing would play out as expected.Reporter: Pamela

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41:25

How a 25-Cent Pill Became a Hundred-Billion-Dollar...

Paper Trail ·

2026/06/11

Reporter David Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer and soon learned that one of his drugs would cost almost $1,000 per pill. He set out to discover why, and uncovered financial records and legal filings that shocked him. The drugmaker’s strategy to raise the price over and over again helps explain why our healthcare system is the most expensive in the world.Read the original reporting: https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-celgene-drugs-fda-multiple-myelomaSupport our

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39:14

How to Fight a Health Insurance Denial With a...

Paper Trail ·

2026/05/28

ProPublica got a tip from a reader named Teressa. Her husband was having a severe mental health crisis, and her health insurance company was denying coverage for his hospital and inpatient treatment. She was fighting back against the denials — and recording every phone call with the company as she did. She brought reporter Duaa Eldeib along for the journey, which ended after Teressa was able to deploy what one source called the industry’s “best-kept secret.”Reporter: Duaa EldeibHow to file

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41:37

How to Lose a Car in 15 Days

Paper Trail ·

2026/05/21

Local reporters at The Connecticut Mirror heard story after story of drivers having their cars towed and then sold out from underneath them, sometimes in just 15 days. They teamed up with ProPublica to investigate why, how often this was happening and who was profiting from it. This episode traces the history of the 100-year-old law that made all of it legal and follows the reporters as they try to track down drivers’ cars and confront the bureaucrats allowing a flawed system to take

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38:58

What the FDA Won’t Tell You About Your Medications

Paper Trail ·

2026/05/14

For years, the Food and Drug Administration told the public that generics are just as safe and effective as brand-name medications. But ProPublica reporters uncovered reports from the FDA’s own inspectors detailing everything from pigeons pooping onto boxes of sterilized equipment to evidence of a factory cheating on quality testing. Even though the FDA knew about these reports, it let some of those troubled factories overseas keep shipping their drugs to the U.S. — some of which might have

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04:34

Introducing “Paper Trail”

Paper Trail ·

2026/05/07

Investigative journalism can change the world. Host and reporter Jessica Lussenhop tells the story of how she learned that for herself.Follow this feed for a new investigation on every episode. It might change the way you see the world, too. Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

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0:06

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Paper Trail ·

2026/04/06

this is a placeholder episode for validation and submission

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15 results

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