Podcast
In The Dark
Hosted by The New Yorker · EN
In the Dark, hosted by Madeleine Baran, is an award-winning investigative-journalism podcast that started in 2016. Its first season looked at the mysterious abduction of Jacob Wetterling in rural Minnesota and the lack of accountability that sheriffs face when they fail to solve cases. Season 2 examined the case of Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same crime. In 2020, In the Dark released a special report on the coronavirus pandemic in the Mississippi Delta. In 2023, In the Dark joined The New Yorker and in 2024, it released “The Runaway Princesses,” a four-part series that asks why the women in Dubai’s royal family keep trying to run away. Season 3, released in 2024, asked why no one was punished for the killings of twenty-five civilians in Haditha, Iraq.
In the Dark won the Pulitzer Prize for audio for Season 3. The podcast is a three-time Peabody Award winner and, in 2019, became the first podcast to win a George Polk Award, one of the top honors in journalism. The program has also received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.
New Yorker subscribers get early, ad-free access. In Apple Podcasts, tap the link at the top of the feed to subscribe or link an existing subscription. Or visit newyorker.com/dark to subscribe and listen in the New Yorker app.
If you have comments or story tips, please send them to inthedark@newyorker.com.
32episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Presenting “Sold a Story”
Nov 19, 202400:32:15Summary readyIn the Dark presents the first episode of “Sold a Story,” an award-winning investigative podcast that is changing how children are taught to read. In this episode, “The Problem,” a mother watches her son's first-grade lessons during Zoom school and discovers with dismay that he can’t read. Her son isn’t the only one: more than a third of fourth graders in the United States can’t read on even a basic level. In “Sold a Story,” the host, Emily Hanford, exposes how educators came to believe in a method of teaching reading that doesn’t work, and are now reckoning with the consequences. “Sold a Story” is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more at soldastory.org. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Your Season 3 Questions, Answered
Nov 12, 202400:46:10Summary readyWas it scary to knock on all those Marines’ doors? What was it like to report in Iraq? Is it still possible for any Marines to face consequences for what happened in Haditha? The In the Dark team sits down to answer your questions. To view the online-only features of Season 3—the photographs, war-crimes database, and interactive documentary—visit newyorker.com/season3. Have a story idea for the In the Dark team? E-mail us at inthedark@newyorker.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summary
Bonus: “Cleared by Fire”
Sep 27, 202400:11:50Summary readyFor the past year, the Interactives Department at The New Yorker has been working alongside In the Dark on a remarkable visual exploration of what happened that day in Haditha. Sam Wolson, who co-directed the project, joins the podcast to talk about “Cleared by Fire.” Find the interactive documentary at newyorker.com/season3. Got questions for the In the Dark team? E-mail them to us at inthedark@newyorker.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 9: Patient #8
Sep 17, 202400:50:27Summary readyFor years, we’d thought what everyone thought: that there were twenty-four civilians killed by Marines in Haditha on November 19, 2005. But maybe everyone was wrong. To find online-only features, visit newyorker.com/season3. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 8: On Trial
Sep 10, 202401:02:55Summary readyThe case against the squad leader, Frank Wuterich, finally goes to trial. To find online-only features, visit newyorker.com/season3. And to get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. The audio of Frank Wuterich in this episode comes from the podcast “Murder in House Two,” by Michael Epstein. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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Episode 7: Innocent in My Eyes
Sep 3, 202401:00:57Summary readyThe conflicting narratives about what happened in Haditha make their way through the opaque inner workings of the military justice system, until they reach a top commander who decides which story to believe. To find online-only features, visit newyorker.com/season3. And to get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 6: The Full Picture
Aug 27, 202400:56:17Summary readyStartling new information emerges from deep within the investigation files. Then the In the Dark team gets a big break. To find online-only features, visit newyorker.com/season3. And to get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 5: Four Brothers
Aug 20, 202400:58:44Summary readyWas it a face-off with insurgents or the murder of four innocent brothers? We investigate what happened in the final house the Marines entered that day. To get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 4: What They Saw
Aug 13, 202400:52:46Summary readyTwo conflicting stories about what happened that day emerge—one from the Marines involved in the killings, and another from a very different perspective. To get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Summary
Episode 3: Sounds Like Murder
Aug 6, 202400:40:46Tap to summarizeWe travel around the U.S. to find the Marines who were on the ground in Haditha on the day of the killings. To get episodes early and ad-free, visit newyorker.com/dark. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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