IRE Radio Podcast | Scandals at the VA

Welcome to another episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. We’re excited to announce that this podcast is now available on iTunes. Subscribe to have the latest episode automatically download to your phone, computer or tablet.

This week we’re talking about investigating veterans issues, past and present. Here’s the lineup:

• Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic discusses how he helped break open the most recent scandal involving falsified wait-time data at the Phoenix VA hospital.
• Aaron Glantz of The Center for Investigative Reporting talks about benefit backlogs at the Veterans Benefits Administration.
• Michael Phillips of the Wall Street Journal walks through his 2013 series “The Lobotomy Files.” Using documents from the National Archive, Phillips was able to document how the U.S. lobotomized approximately 2,000 World War II veterans.

You can find and download previous podcast episodes on iTunes or our Soundcloud page.

EPISODE NOTES

Looking for links to the stories, resources and events we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.

• Read Dennis Wagner’s coverage of the Phoenix VA hospital on the Arizona Republic’s website. Here's initial report on the wait-time scandal.
• Listen to our entire conversation with Dennis Wagner on Soundcloud.
• Members only: Listen to “Investigating veterans issues,” a 2014 IRE Conference session featuring Bruce Shapiro, Aaron Glantz and Michael Phillips.
• Members only: Listen to “Soldier stories: Military investigations,” a 2013 IRE Conference session featuring Tony Plohetski, Carl Prine, Sig Christenson and Aaron Glantz.
• Read the 2013 story Aaron Glantz wrote after receiving internal VA documents that detailed delays veterans face when trying to receive benefits.
• View The Center for Investigative Reporting’s interactive map on VA backlogs and wait times.
• Check out “The Lobotomy Files,” Michael Phillips multimedia package for the Wall Street Journal.
• To download IRE Conference tipsheets, click here. Members can download full-length audio from more than 100 sessions by clicking here.
• Watch a recording of our recent Google+ Hangout on covering the death penalty and execution secrecy.
• To learn more about our upcoming watchdog workshops and boot camps, click here.