Al Letson

Hear @al_letson speak at #Transom25 this fall—tickets in our bio.

Earlier this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that it was moving the hands of the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight, a symbolic hour signifying global catastrophe. The hands have been moved 27 times since the clock’s creation in 1947, and they’re now the closest they’ve pointed to worldwide destruction. The threats of nuclear war, climate change, artificial intelligence, and disinformation all played into the decision. It’s meant as a wake-up call to the world. One of the experts who helped make that decision is University of Chicago physics professor Daniel Holz, chair of the @BulletinOfTheAtomicScientists ' Security Board. And even though the clock evokes a potentially terrifying future, Holz takes a more optimistic approach to the entire endeavor. “Really, the Doomsday Clock is a symbol of hope,” Holz says. “The whole point of this clock is to, yes, to alarm people, to inform people, but also to demonstrate we can turn back the hands of the clock. And we've done it in the past, and we can hope to do it in the future. And we must.” On this week’s More To The Story, Holz sits down with host @al_letson to talk about the Doomsday Clock’s history, why we’re closer to global destruction than ever before, and what we can do to reverse course. Check out @revealnews ' latest More To The Story at the link in our bio.

“This is the most corrupt administration not only in American history, but more corrupt than I could ever have imagined a president would be able to get away with to the extent that he has. It’s shocking to me.” Few political figures occupy the sort of space in American history that @algore does. A longtime Tennessee congressman before becoming vice president, Gore lost the presidency in 2000 to George W. Bush after a highly controversial decision by the Supreme Court. But in the years that followed, Gore didn’t slink into history. Instead, he worked to sound the growing alarm on climate change, most notably with his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which came out 20 years ago. A year later, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Today, he’s still at it and in many ways more adamant than ever that now is the time to act on global warming, especially as the Trump administration rolls back environmental protections and condemns climate science. But he also has more on his mind than the state of the planet, namely the state of democracy and the direction of the country under President Donald Trump. On this week’s episode of More To The Story, the former vice president admonishes the White House for making an “astonishing mistake” in its attack on Iran, looks back at his groundbreaking climate change documentary, and talks about why he believes political will in America is still a renewable resource. You can listen to the full episode at the link in our bio.

Bayard Rustin was a man with a number of seemingly incompatible labels: Black, gay, Quaker—identifications that served to earn him as many detractors as admirers. Although he had numerous passions and pursuits, his most transformative act, one that certainly changed the course of American history, was to counsel MLK on the use of nonviolent resistance. With such lofty achievements, why isn’t he considered an icon of both civil rights and humanity? How could a person who changed the course of American history not be a household name? Was he purposely kept out of the history books? This week on More To The Story, @al_letson brings you an important piece for Black History Month, a reflection on Rustin.

This weekend, American football fans will be glued to their TVs to watch the New England Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. From the NCAA to the NFL, sports are a dominant aspect of American culture. But the sports industry is also rife with controversy. From financial scandals to transgender rights, DEI, and Bad Bunny, there’s no shortage of sports stories to tell. However, investigative sports journalism is a shell of its former self. That’s where @pstorre comes in. A longtime sports journalist and now host of the podcast @pablotorrefindsout , Torre prides himself on digging into the important stories that are often unnoticed or underreported. On this week’s More To The Story, Torre sits down with host @al_letson to discuss what it’s like investigating the complicated world of sports. You can listen to the full interview at the link in our bio.

He helped build the religious right. Now he’s fighting ICE. On January 24, a US Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis after he was held down by multiple federal agents. One of them was Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who was a religious-right leader for decades. But Schenck began doubting the movement and his own role in it—especially once President Donald Trump came to power. Since then, he’s worked to undo his decades of activism that he believes helped pave the way for the Trump presidency. On this week’s More To The Story, Schenck sits down with host @al_letson to talk about what led him to the streets of Minneapolis, his emotional visit to Renée Good’s memorial, and why he’s become “guardedly optimistic” about the ultimate direction of this current political moment in America. Listen at the link in our bio.

Federal agents have reportedly shot and killed another person in Minneapolis, a little more than two weeks after an ICE agent shot Renée Good as she attempted to drive away from the site of an altercation between agents and locals. The Trump administration has sent roughly 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in what Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has called the “largest immigration operation ever.” ICE and other immigration agents are operating in ways we’ve never seen before in this country. But their tactics and weapons are not entirely new. Investigative journalist @radleybalko is the author of Rise of the Warrior Cop and host of Collateral Damage, a podcast about America’s war on drugs. He’s been tracking police militarization for decades and how it’s tied to America’s long-running drug war. On this week’s More To The Story, Balko describes what he’s seeing today from law enforcement as one of his “worst fever dreams.” Listen to the full episode at the link in @motherjonesmag 's bio.

Over the last few weeks, Minneapolis has looked like a city under siege. The Trump administration has sent roughly 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota in what Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has called the “largest immigration operation ever.” ICE and other immigration agents are operating in ways we’ve never seen before in this country. But their tactics and weapons are not entirely new. Investigative journalist @radleybalko is the author of Rise of the Warrior Cop and host of Collateral Damage, a podcast about America’s war on drugs. He’s been tracking police militarization for decades and how it’s tied to America’s long-running drug war. On this week’s More To The Story, Balko describes what he’s seeing today from law enforcement as one of his “worst fever dreams.” Check it out at the link in @revealnews ' bio. 📷: Dave Decker/ZUMA

ICE and other immigration agents are operating in ways we’ve never seen before in this country. But their tactics and weapons are not entirely new. Investigative journalist @radleybalko is the author of Rise of the Warrior Cop and host of Collateral Damage, a podcast about America’s war on drugs. He’s been tracking police militarization for decades and how it's tied to America's long-running drug war. On this week’s More To The Story, Balko tells host @al_letson that how law enforcement is operating today is beyond anything he ever imagined. Listen at the link in our bio.

Chicago has been one of the latest stops on the Trump administration’s deportation tour. “Operation Midway Blitz” started in September, and for months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents have been roaming the streets and detaining hundreds of people. This week on Reveal, host @al_letson and producer Ashley Cleek visit Chicago to see “Operation Midway Blitz” in action, and find out what it’s been like for those targeted by it. Listen to the full episode in the link in our bio. 📸: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Trump is actually making Black Americans' lives better...despite rolling back DEI initiatives. At least, this is what Lorenzo Sewell—the Black pastor who delivered a prayer at Donald Trump’s inauguration—argues. Why? @al_letson tries to get to the bottom of it during this week's episode of More To The Story. Trust us, it's a lively conversation you won't want to miss. Check it out at the link in our bio.

Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell is one of the most prominent Black conservatives in President Donald Trump’s orbit. As Trump dismantles DEI policies around the country and pushes efforts to erase Black history from schools and museums, Sewell remains one of the president’s most prominent Black defenders and argues that the Trump presidency is actually improving Black Americans’ lives. “I believe that racism is when you close the door of opportunity to people because of their skin color, intentionally or unintentionally,” Sewell says. “And I believe President Trump is a anti-racist because he opened the door of opportunity to somebody like me, in a context where nobody would vote for him.” On this week’s More To The Story, Sewell sits down with host @al_letson to talk about his upbringing as a drug dealer in Detroit, his conversion to Christianity, and his inauguration prayer. Letson challenges Sewell’s ideas about racism, his support of Charlie Kirk, and his defense of the Trump administration’s rollback of DEI policies. Check it out at the link in our bio.