Earthquakes in Oklahoma used to be something of a rarity, but a few years ago, that began to change. Starting in 2009, the number of quakes began to increase. By 2014, the state was experiencing three times as many quakes as California. What’s going on? This short video explains why this is happening across the U.S. and … Continue reading Video: Man-made earthquakes: Fact or fiction? →

In 2014, Oklahoma had more than three times as many earthquakes as California, and this year, the state is on track for even more. A lot of them are small, but some towns are seeing a quake almost every day, and seismologists warn that large and damaging earthquakes are becoming more likely. The government in … Continue reading Oklahoma’s man-made earthquakes →

In a story produced in collaboration with Marketplace from American Public Media, we explore the history of hydraulic fracturing – aka fracking – in North Texas, where the technologies that are now employed in the Bakken were born. Host Al Letson talks to Marketplace energy reporter Scott Tong about George Mitchell, a man many refer … Continue reading The father of fracking, and tracking oil trains →

The recent oil boom in North Dakota – driven by hydraulic fracturing and advances in technology – is a big reason why the U.S. is now the world’s leader in combined oil and natural gas production. But the boom in the Bakken shale, which stretches over North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada, has made … Continue reading Death in the Bakken →

Body cameras can capture evidence against criminals, with a potentially exonerating or damning record of evidence for law enforcement officers. In the wake of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, more than 7,000 police agencies around the country have purchased body cameras with the help of federal grants. Reveal reporters Ali Winston and Amy Walters take … Continue reading Public evidence in private hands →

Smartphones have turned virtually everyone into a filmmaker. This has meant that many people’s reaction to an event large or small is to whip out their phone and start recording. So what separates these everyday citizens from people who consider themselves “cop watchers?” Cop watchers are a loose band of activists who consider it their … Continue reading Eyes on Cops →

On March 3, 1991, a black man was pulled over in Los Angeles – and what happened next showed the entire nation what police brutality looks like. George Holliday, a man just looking to test a new video camera, ended up capturing a critical 81 seconds of Rodney King’s life. Eighty-one seconds in which Los … Continue reading Rodney King’s accidental ally →

When you hear the charge “assaulting a police officer,” you might assume that an officer has been hurt or injured while serving the community. But in Washington, D.C., you might not be able to take so-called APOs at face value. Reporter Patrick Madden of WAMU found that the charge of assaulting a police officer, which … Continue reading Assault on justice →

As you’d expect, armed law enforcement officers are required to keep their sharp-shooting skills, well, sharp. This means they must spend time at firing ranges for routine training sessions. But while firearms training is meant to keep both the police and the public safe, it actually poses a hazard to the officers themselves. For over … Continue reading Dirty shooting ranges poison police →

The Internet has blown accessibility to weapons wide open. Reveal reporter Matt Drange has been looking at how easy it’s been for sellers to list assault weapon parts on eBay and decided to see if he could get his hands on some using the site. The online auction and shopping website has gone back and … Continue reading DIY guns? There’s a site for that →