Reveal is a nationally broadcast public radio show and investigative reporting podcast hosted by Al Letson, and produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting. The radio program is released on Saturdays on radio stations in the Public Radio Exchange network and the show is also available in podcast form. It is part of a growing trend of investigative reporting being disseminated through audio. Its first weekly season was ranked among the top 50 podcasts by The Atlantic.
Reveal has experimented with new modes of distribution, including using SMS to provide interactivity to its podcasts..
Reveal shares a newsroom with Mother Jones, which merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting in 2024, and often showcases its staff members' reporting. The show sued the Trump Administration under the Freedom of Information Act for access to records related to the cost of the border wall the administration is pursuing. Its reporting resulted in the shutdown of unlicensed work camps being used as drug treatment facilities.
Reveal's CEO was Christa Scharfenberg. Since Reveal merged as part of the Center for Investigative Reporting with Mother Jones in 2024, the CEO is Monika Bauerlein. Reveal's executive producer is Brett Myers.
Reveal's investigation into racial disparities in mortgage lending in 2018 was mentioned on the floor of the Senate by Senator Elizabeth Warren and was the subject of a lengthy op-ed in The New York Times.
In 2017, host Al Letson was photographed physically intervening to protect a right-wing protester at a rally that turned violent in Berkeley, California.
Contents
History
Reveal has partnered with PBS NewsHour and The Texas Tribune.
In 2022, financial hardship and the layoff of 14 percent of Reveal staff ultimately led to the resignation of Reveal CEO Kaizar Campwala. In 2023, Reveal employees sought recognition for the newly formed Reveal union. In 2024, it merged as part of the Center for Investigative Reporting with Mother Jones. In 2025, Reveal launched a weekly interview podcast, More to the Story.
Despite earlier financial challenges, the merger with Mother Jones in 2024 allowed Reveal to retool its approach, and increase its podcast audience.
Reception and awards
In 2013, the show received a Peabody Award for its first radio episode, "Reveal: The VA's Opiate Overload (Public Radio)".
Reveal won the 2017 Edward Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club for best News Documentary for "Dropped and Dismissed: Child Sex Abuse Lost in the System" as well as Best Sports Reporting for "Making the Team". The episode "Voting Rights – and Wrongs" earned a podcast Webby Award in 2017 for News & Information. In 2016, it won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence for a small online news organization.
Two episodes from 2018, "Monumental Lies" and "Kept Out", each won Peabody Awards, and the radio show itself won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award in 2018.
Reveal has been selected a Pulitzer Prize finalist four times: in 2025, in the explanatory reporting category, for its collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Mother Jones, "40 Acres and sa Lie"; in 2020, in the explanatory reporting category, for "Amazon: Behind the Smiles;; in 2019, in the explanatory reporting category, for its collaboration with the Associated Press and PBS NewsHour, "Kept Out"; and in 2018, in the national reporting category, for "All Work. No Pay. Life at a Rehab Work Camp."
Episodes
Reveal releases new episodes weekly on Saturdays. As of 14 May 2026, the show has released 617 episodes.