Reveal Presents

Mississippi Goddam Chapter 1: The Promise


Listen Later

Billey Joe Johnson Jr. was a high school football star headed for the big time. Then, early one morning in 2008, the Black teenager died during a traffic stop with a White deputy. His family’s been searching for answers ever since.


Ten years ago, Reveal host Al Letson traveled to Lucedale, Mississippi, to report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While there, locals told him there was another story he should be looking into: Johnson’s suspicious death.

During a traffic stop with a White deputy, police say Johnson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. But for Johnson’s family, that explanation never made sense.

In the first episode of this seven-part series, Letson returns to Mississippi with reporter Jonathan Jones to explore what happened to Johnson – and what justice means in a place haunted by its history.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Reveal PresentsBy Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

236 ratings


More shows like Reveal Presents

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,032 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

21,941 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,919 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,495 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,773 Listeners

Criminal by Vox Media Podcast Network

Criminal

37,492 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,225 Listeners

Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and PRX

Snap Judgment

11,588 Listeners

On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,186 Listeners

Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

Reveal

8,353 Listeners

In The Dark by The New Yorker

In The Dark

28,589 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,934 Listeners

Spooked by KQED and Snap Studios

Spooked

16,710 Listeners

Swindled by A Concerned Citizen

Swindled

9,785 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,240 Listeners