Amazon: Behind the Smiles

Reveal, Nov. 2019

Shop. Click. And the next day, your purchase is on your doorstep. Amazon has changed the face of shopping, but at a surprisingly high human cost. In this episode of Reveal, we look at what’s behind those smiling packages and expose the dangers of working at Amazon.

This story was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. It also won an Investigative Reporters & Editors' award for best audio.

Homewreckers

Reveal, Oct. 2019

After the housing bust, a group of men profited by destroying the American dream of homeownership for hundreds of thousands of families. In this episode of Reveal, we learn how these Homewreckers — many of whom are close to President Donald Trump — did it and meet a woman who fought back.

Sins of the Fathers

Reveal, Dec. 2018
In Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, the Catholic Church had a problem with Jesuit priests sexually abusing children. The church's first solution was to send the priests to remote Native villages, but there, they continued to abuse. So the church tried something else: hiding them in plain sight.

This episode won a Best of the West award.

Insult to Injury

Reveal, Apr. 2018
After being called out for worker injuries, Tesla decides to double down. Our reporting on Tesla irked CEO Elon Musk, who took to Twitter to clap back. But his tweets didn’t stop us.

Both this story and this story won an Investigative Reporter & Editors’ award for radio.

Kept Out

Reveal, Feb. 2018
Fifty years ago, the Fair Housing Act banned discrimination in mortgage lending, a practice known as redlining. But we found black and Latino borrowers continue to be denied conventional mortgages at rates far higher than their white counterparts.

This radio documentary was honored with both a duPont and a Peabody award.

Russia’s New Scapegoats

Reveal, Sept. 2016
A Russian journalist is murdered in St. Petersburg – not for what he’s reported, but for being gay. We expose what it’s like to be gay today in Russia, where hateful rhetoric against the LGBT community appears on a daily basis on TV and in speeches by politicians.

This radio documentary was honored with a duPont award.

Gouged by Some Small Groceries, Food Program Cracks Down

The Bay Citizen, Apr 21, 2012

Inflated prices cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year.

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times.

As the Uninsured Go Without Care, Health Districts Hold Reserves of Money

The Bay Citizen, Jan 19, 2012

Critics say WWII-era system intended to fund hospitals is failing the needy.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/uninsured-go-without-care-health-hold/

This article, which was written with Jennifer Gollan, also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. It inspired statewide legislation.

http://www.baycitizen.org/environmental-health/story/lawmakers-crack-down-health-care/

Convicted Felons Sent to Bay Area Nursing Home

The Bay Citizen, Jan 19, 2012

Four prisoners are among the first to be released under state's medical parole program.

http://www.baycitizen.org/crime/story/medical-parole-convicted-felons-nursing/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

Countering Kids' Summer Slide into Sloth

The Bay Citizen, Jun 23, 2011

The end of school can mean an end to healthy habits, too; statewide campaign aims to correct that.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/countering-kids-summer-slide-sloth/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

Napa State Hospital's Grisly Inside Story

The Bay Citizen, Dec 16, 2010

After a psychiatric technician's brutal killing by a patient, a portrait emerges of disorder and violence.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/napa-state-hospitals-grisly-inside-story/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

City Software Program's Chaotic Start

The Bay Citizen, Nov 18, 2010

Loss of affiliation creates a potential crisis for thousands of mostly poor clients.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/city-software-programs-chaotic-start/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

How Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Came Undone

The Bay Citizen, Aug 28, 2010

Loss of affiliation creates a potential crisis for thousands of mostly poor clients.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/what-happened-planned-parenthood-golden/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

Vaccination Rate Lags as Whooping Cough Spreads

The Bay Citizen, Jul 10, 2010

Parents who don't immunize their kids worry public health officials.

http://www.baycitizen.org/health/story/vaccination-rate-lags-whooping-cough/

This article also appeared in the Bay Area edition of The New York Times. 

Meet the Bay Area's Worst Global Warmers

The Bay Citizen, May 28, 2010

Valero, Benicia and the dirty politics of climate change.

http://www.baycitizen.org/environment/story/valero-local-climate/

This story won the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists award for excellence in reporting on the environment in 2010. 

Pressures of New Students and Old Weigh on Community Colleges

The New York Times, Apr 8, 2010
As some students are blocked from state universities, the community college system has trouble absorbing both them and the laid-off workers who are going back to school for retraining.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/education/09sfcollege.html

Students Face a Class Struggle at State Colleges

The New York Times, Jan 24, 2010
Educational opportunities costs more and are harder to grasp and even harder to hold onto than ever before in state-run higher education in California. Here's the story.

New Group Seeks to Bring Greener Power to Marin

The New York Times, Dec 20, 2009
With holiday lights glowing around Marin County, a debate is heating up from Belvedere to Novato about who should procure the electricity that keeps them lighted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/business/energy-environment/20sfpower.html

Rainwater Harvesting: Is It All Wet?

KQED's Quest, Dec 14, 2009

This winter, some Bay Area homeowners are conserving water by reviving the ancient practice of rainwater harvesting. But how much can they really save?

http://www.kqed.org/quest/radio/rain-harvesting--is-it-all-wet

High-Wire Act, Above the Clouds

The New York Times, Nov 22, 2009

For Damian Cooksey, a walk on Mount Tamalpais is a barefoot balancing act.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/us/22sfvistas.html

War of the wings

Salon, Feb 6, 2009
Armed with pyrotechnics and sound blasters, a little known army of wildlife control officers work to keep San Francisco International Airport feather free.
http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/02/06/birdstrikes/

Big Green Brother

Mother Jones, Nov 2008
When Wal-Mart tells its workers to live and breathe sustainability, is it (a) creepy, (b) innovative, (c) greenwashing, (d) all of the above?
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2008/11/big-green-brother

This piece cited by the Utne Independent Press Awards when giving Mother Jones the 2009 award for environmental coverage.

"I make $1.45 a week, and I love it!"

Salon, Jul 24, 2006
On Amazon's Mechanical Turk, thousands of people are happily being paid pennies to do mind-numbing work. Is it a boom for the bored or a virtual sweatshop?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/07/24/turks/

This piece also appeared in The Best American Technology Writing 2007, edited by Steven Levy.

"The oil is going! The oil is going!"

Salon, March 22, 2006
Today's Paul Reveres of "peak oil" aren't waiting for Washington to save us from the apocalypse. They're already planting gardens and drafting city plans for the days when oil is gone.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/22/peakoil/

Is this the next New Orleans?

San Francisco magazine, Feb 2006
The levee-laced Delta is on the verge of massive flooding that could launch California into an economic and ecologic nightmare.
http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/next-new-orleans

The beef over pet food

Salon, Jan 19, 2006
Bowser gets raw meat because wolves eat it in the wild. Tabby gets raw chicken, because lions don't eat kibble. But vets say the recent trend of raw feeding is dangerous to pets and people.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/01/19/raw/

Toxic gumbo

Salon, Nov 6, 2005
The EPA is failing to protect the Gulf Coast's homebound citizens from Katrina's poisons.
http://dir.salon.com/news/feature/2005/10/06/toxic_gulf/

Shipwrecked

San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 29, 2002
"Culture Shocked" column
http://www.sfbg.com/36/35/x_culture_shocked.html

Fumble.com

Salon, May 3, 2000
Internet companies threw millions into the air at the Super Bowl. They're still pretending they scored a touchdown.
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/05/03/super_ads/index.html

This story also appeared in the 2008 anthology, Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity, edited by Michael Lewis.


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