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USA TODAY’s critically acclaimed investigative podcast about power in American cities. Season 1, Chicago: A black neighborhood fights back when a mysterious man with mob ties builds an illegal dump across the street from an elementary school. Along the way they confront corrupt politicians, apathetic bureaucrats—and a secret undercover FBI investigation. Season 2, Reno: A surprising proxy battle for the future of Reno pits a brash strip club kingpin against power brokers in city hall. The winner-takes-all fight could remake the city—and ruin lives in the process.
Robin Amer puts dancers' safety beside Reno's council vote; your zoning opinions may need a minute.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A recorded confrontation shows one club's workplace crisis crashing into Reno's fight over downtown.
Downtown Reno's fight over which strip clubs get to remain downtown meets a tense workplace reckoning as Chelsea confronts her boss, David, about bringing Kyle back after she complained about him.
Kami pushes Reno's strip-club fight into city politics, where one council vote could change the stakes.
Reno's latest identity fight runs through this episode, where strip-club power, local politics, and questions about the city's future press against each other.
Tawny's safety network shows how dancers managed risk when club safeguards were uneven.
The $1,000 buyout fee gives the episode its clearest tension. Tawny describes customers paying the club, then negotiating separately with dancers, which turns a managed arrangement into a sharper question of who actually held control once the night moved beyond the room.
A sharp look at the financial link between a Nevada brothel and Tesla's arrival.
The City tracks Reno's uneasy reinvention, moving from Midtown's new restaurants and small businesses to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center east of town.
Reno's strip club fight lands best when viewed through the recession and gentrification that reshaped Midtown.
The episode sets Reno's present-day strip club fight against a longer history, moving back to January 2007 and the Wild Orchid before tracing how the financial collapse slowed real estate, pushed big developers aside, and left Midtown with cheaper rents.
ABC Audio's Theranos fraud series that also introduces its other true-crime podcasts.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
The City’s “The Stand-off” follows Tesla’s dispute with Nevada OSHA over a comprehensive inspection of the Gigafactory.
The City bonus episode centers on Chelsea and Julie’s secret recording of a March 2019 confrontation with Spice House owner Jamie Kashmiri and manager David Hoffman after Chelsea had filed a sexual assault report.
The City’s season finale follows Anjanette Damon and Phil Corbett underground in the Reno Mercantile tunnels, where Jeremy McGilvray shows them a hidden vault room dating to 1872 and says the building will be gone by the time listeners hear it.
Stephanie’s prostitution trial at the Reno Municipal Courthouse turns on a recorded exchange from the Spice House, where an undercover cop asked to lick her and she answered “maybe.” The episode connects that courtroom fight to Reno’s broader campaign against Cammie Kashmiri’s strip clubs, including code enforcement visits, OSHA fines, and a 4:30 a.m.
The City’s “West World” follows Reno’s shift from brothels and legal gambling to Tesla’s Gigafactory and the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center.
The episode tracks how Reno’s strip-club fight moves from the January 2007 Wild Orchid raid to a 2018 City Hall showdown, with Robyn Amor framing the city as a place that swings between vice and respectability.
A Chicago neighborhood fights back against an illegal landfill built by a man with mob ties, uncovering corruption and an FBI investigation.
An investigative podcast episode about a Chicago neighborhood fighting an illegal dump linked to political corruption.
An investigative podcast uncovering a story of illegal dumping, corruption, and mob ties in a Chicago neighborhood.
An investigative podcast about an illegal dump in a Chicago neighborhood and the community's fight against it.