In Donald Trump’s America, wealthy people and large corporations have won big. The Trump Administration promised the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 would pay for itself and boost the middle class. But in truth, the tax cuts funnelled hundreds of millions into the pockets of the rich and ballooned the national debt. Then, something similar happened again with the 2020 pandemic bailout. Promises made, promises broken. The Heist is the story of a huge political swindle, how it happened, and how power works in a Donald Trump presidency. Reporters spent months behind the scenes: we get to know a big Republican donor, a senator who caves to political pressure, and the enigmatic Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, who led the charge for these laws.
The Fight for Debt Relief and Legacy
When the initial debt relief program for Black farmers was passed in 2021 it was a false start. It was challenged in court and stalled. But, in 2022, a new debt relief program, not based on race, was passed to replace it. How will the new program work? How would it affect Black farmers and ranchers, including Nate? And what kind of future do Nate and his family imagine? An expert gives context to why Black farmers need debt relief; and Nate’s sons talk about what it means to carry on the Bradford legacy. We’ll likely circle back to Nate at the end.
10/31/2023 • 34 minutes
The Forever Fight
Pigford v. Glickman (1999) was a class action lawsuit accusing the USDA of long-running racial discrimination against Black farmers in regard to the types of loans and assistance they received (if they received anything at all). This episode will cover that crucial case—a case that led April to pursue this story overall—showing its complications and the ways it drags on today.
10/24/2023 • 40 minutes, 50 seconds
Boley was a Rip-Roaring Place, Honey
So far, we’ve been following Nate’s journey to becoming a full-time rancher…but Nate isn’t just concerned about his achievements, he also wants Boley to thrive. That mindset is essential because Boley and the ranches that surround it are interdependent. With that in mind, we’ll look at the history of Boley’ (and what it was like when it was flourishing) and how some of the same forces that have made it hard for Nate to do well as a rancher have affected the town itself.
10/17/2023 • 36 minutes, 44 seconds
Dancing with the Devil
Nate says his relationship with the USDA was rocky from the start and he went in knowing he was “dancing with the devil” because of his father’s experiences with the agency. In this episode, we’ll go through Nate’s experiences with the agency and why he thinks ultimately he was just being pushed out of the system. We’ll also explore the systemic nature of the USDA’s discrimination against Black farmers, and Public Integrity’s efforts to get the agency’s loan data.
10/10/2023 • 39 minutes, 56 seconds
The Cowboy Way and The Color Line
Surviving as a rancher is hard for lots of reasons: land has gotten more expensive, corporate farms have gotten more powerful and put pressure on small ranches to expand their operations to stay in business, inflation has driven up the prices of feed and supplies… But for Nate, and for Black ranchers and farmers across the country, ranching is also hard because the USDA, the government agency that they’re supposed to be able to turn to for support, instead makes it hard for them to get that support.
10/3/2023 • 31 minutes, 15 seconds
Introducing season 3 of The Heist: Land of Broken Promises
Nate Bradford, Jr. and other Black farmers and ranchers are fighting to preserve a type of rural, Black agricultural life. But the past keeps blocking their future. From The Center for Public Integrity and Pushkin Industries, follow Bradford's fight to survive against the long, documented history of government discrimination against Black farmers.
