Apr 2021

Chapter Two: ‘Where Is Your Choice?’

Zoe talks to people in the county who believe the Bladen Improvement PAC has been cheating for years. She tries to get beyond the rumors and into specifics, and comes face to face with the intense suspicion and scrutiny leveled against the organization. In the middle of another e ... Show More

44m 14s

Apr 2021

Chapter Three: ‘The Ballad of the Nursing Home Ballots’

Zoe delves into one of the most serious allegations against the Bladen Improvement PAC: an accusation about stealing votes from vulnerable people that goes back 10 years. In trying to track down the veracity of this particularly persistent rumor, she comes to understand how and w ... Show More

39m 36s

Apr 2021

Chapter Four: ‘Let Them Pull the Red Wagon’

With the PAC’s reputation suffering because of years of cheating accusations and resentment stirring within its ranks, a prominent member turns against the leadership. Nevertheless, Horace and his closest allies make a bold move by supporting a political upset at the center of th ... Show More

51m 1s

Apr 2021

The Improvement Association - Ep. 1

Following a notorious case of election fraud in Bladen County, North Carolina, in 2018, the reporter Zoe Chace gets an invitation from Horace Munn, the leader of the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, a Black political advocacy group whose name was dragged into the scanda ... Show More

46m 2s

Apr 2021

The Improvement Association - Ep. 2

Zoe talks to people in the county who believe the Bladen Improvement PAC has been cheating for years. She tries to get beyond the rumors and into specifics, and comes face to face with the intense suspicion and scrutiny leveled against the organization. In the middle of another e ... Show More

44m 14s

May 2021

Introducing: ‘The Improvement Association,’ From the Makers of Serial

For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C. Some people point fingers at a Black advocacy group, the Bladen County Improvement Association, accusing it of bullying voters, tampering with ballots and stealing votes outr ... Show More

3m 57s

Apr 2021

The Improvement Association - Ep. 3

Zoe delves into one of the most serious allegations against the Bladen Improvement PAC: an accusation about stealing votes from vulnerable people that goes back 10 years. In trying to track down the veracity of this particularly persistent rumor, she comes to understand how and w ... Show More

39m 36s

Apr 2021

The Improvement Association - Ep. 5

The Improvement Association PAC’s power in the county is threatened when an unlikely candidate enters the race for county commissioner. Plenty of people outside the PAC now have their own ideas about how to build Black political power here. Zoe examines what this election could m ... Show More

48m 49s

Mar 2021

The Improvement Association - Trailer

Listen to the trailer for our newest show, "The Improvement Association." From Serial Productions and The New York Times, hosted by Zoe Chace. Our newest podcast, “The Preventionist” is out now. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts.To get full access to this and other Ser ... Show More

3m 37s

Apr 2021

The Improvement Association - Ep. 4

With the PAC’s reputation suffering because of years of cheating accusations and resentment stirring within its ranks, a prominent member turns against the leadership. Nevertheless, Horace and his closest allies make a bold move by supporting a political upset at the center of th ... Show More

51m 1s

Mar 2022

The Trojan Horse Affair - Part 6

Hamza takes a long, hard look at what the government found when it investigated more than 20 majority-Muslim schools in Birmingham. And our two reporters have a confrontation – with each other. Our newest podcast, “The Preventionist” is out now. Search for it wherever you get you ... Show More

1h 4m

Chapter One: ‘The Big Shadoo’