Joe Sexton is a senior editor at ProPublica and a former reporter and editor at the New York Times, where he led the team that produced "Snow Fall."

"My experience in a newspaper newsroom over the years has been: The word you hear least often, the word that's hardest for people to say in that environment, is the word yes. It's safer to say no. You get second-guessed less often if you say no. Your job's not on the line if you say no. But if you're willing to say yes and you're willing to face the consequences of having said yes, then quite amazing things can happen."

Thanks to Random House andTinyLetterfor sponsoring this week's episode.

Show notes:

[6:00] "Snow Fall" (John Branch • New York Times • Dec 2012)

[20:30] Longform Podcast #28: Joel Lovell

[32:45] "Spitzer is Linked to Prostitution Ring" (Danny Hakim and William K. Rashbaum • New York Times • Mar 2008)

[41:30] Jim Dwyer's Pulitzer Prize-winning columns

[57:45] "Use Only as Directed" (Jeff Gerth and T. Christian Miller • ProPublica • Sep 2013)

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