From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the 2025 government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for President Donald Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that insiders say they feel like “he is the commander in chief.”

By Andy Kroll. Originally published on October 17, 2025. Reading produced by News Over Audio. Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

Phoebe gets its way and sidelines its critics. Mrs. Parker learns what happened to her husband.

Written by Ginger Thompson. Read by Eric Berryman, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Dael Orlandersmith, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn and Frankie Faison. A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions.

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The board that oversees Phoebe decides not to release a report that finds the cost of care at the hospital is higher than its peers.

Written by Ginger Thompson. Read by Eric Berryman, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Dael Orlandersmith, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn and Frankie Faison. A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions.

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Phoebe pays an exorbitant sum to acquire its rival hospital, and its debt increases and patients suffer. 

Written by Ginger Thompson. Read by Eric Berryman, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Dael Orlandersmith, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn and Frankie Faison. A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions.

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Founded in 1911 as a community hospital, a hundred years later Phoebe becomes a sprawling health care system and wages a yearslong battle to eliminate its competition.

Read by Eric Berryman, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Dael Orlandersmith, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn and Frankie Faison. A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions.

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Why does the United States, with the most expensive and sophisticated health care system in the world, have a population that’s so sick? Writer Ginger Thompson looks for the answer in Albany, Georgia, a small, predominantly African American city that was one of the world’s first COVID-19 hot spots. What made its residents so vulnerable? Albany’s dominant political and economic institution is Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, a nonprofit founded in 1911 with a mission to treat all people, no matter their race or ability to pay. However, as Phoebe has grown from a community hospital to the anchor of the largest health care provider in its region, the health of Albany has declined. 

Written by Ginger Thompson. Read by Eric Berryman, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Dael Orlandersmith, Amy Ryan, David Strathairn and Frankie Faison. A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions.

Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

ProPublica’s best long-form investigations, narrated. Coming soon: “Sick in a Hospital Town.” Read by actors, the five-part investigation by Ginger Thompson seeks answers to the question: Why does the United States, with the most expensive and sophisticated health care system in the world, have a population that’s so sick? A production of ProPublica and Theater of War Productions. 

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