Why do local governments keep handing out tax breaks to defense contractors… even when the promised jobs don’t materialize? In the first episode of our new season, reporter Taylor Barnes takes us deep into the Utah desert, where Northrop Grumman is building the next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles with the help of massive state subsidies. But when she asked how many jobs those subsidies were supposed to create, officials redacted nearly everything. Then they got a lawyer. Then they rewrote the rules.

This episode is about more than one company or one contract. It’s about what happens when state and local leaders subsidize secrecy, and when media systems — hollowed out by layoffs, ownership conflicts, and techno-fetishism — stop asking questions. From shady job tallies in Ohio to corporate influence on Capitol Hill to military ribbon cuttings reported without context, we examine how the war machine hides in plain sight. And we follow the reporters and local watchdogs still trying to uncover the truth.

GUESTS: Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media; Mary Vavrus, University of Minnesota

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Legal Moves, New Lobbyist Point to Northrop Grumman’s Influence in Utah, Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media

Utah Refuses to Share Details of Nuclear Weapons Plant Subsidy, Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media

Across the country — from DC to Los Angeles to Chicago — the military is more visible in daily life than it’s been in years. But behind the boots on the ground lies a much bigger system. One that puts grenade launchers in the hands of police, surveils our every step, and ships weapons overseas. And it's grown bigger and more powerful than ever before.

This season on Things That Go Boom, we trace the reach of the military-industrial complex: how decisions in Washington fuel a trillion-dollar industry, how that industry shapes our cities and neighborhoods, and how people on the ground are responding.

Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Palestinian rights at Columbia University when the Syrian-born refugee refused to wear a mask and negotiated on behalf of the encampment with the University administration. Now the US wants to deport him using a deep-cut statute in the immigration act that gives the Secretary of State sweeping powers to decide who could have “adverse” foreign policy impacts on the United States. How did we get here? We trace the line back from Charlottesville in 2017 — from domestic extremists fighting on the streets to taking shots in the halls of power.

GUESTS: Joseph Howley, Associate Professor of Classics, Columbia University; Diala Shamas, Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights; Chris Mathias, Author, “To Catch A Fascist” (forthcoming); Ben Lorber, Senior Research Analyst, Political Research Associates

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Anti-Palestinian at the Core: The Origins and Growing Dangers of US Antiterrorism Law, Center for Constitutional Rights

A Letter From Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil, ACLU