Episodes
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Podcast: Chasing a phantom city employee
Jill Repman — formerly known as Jill Parisi — has been paid more than a half million dollars since being accused of tampering with the fire department payroll in 2016. The allegation against her was never resolved and she’s worked at a private-sector job while continuing to collect a check from…
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Podcast: “Book deserts” signal disinvestment
Investigative Post’s I’Jaz Ja’ciel and Garrett Looker have reported on the state of literacy and access to books throughout Buffalo. Literacy experts say parts of the city’s East Side are “book deserts.” In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, Looker and Ja’ciel talk...
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Money in Politics: Primary Edition
This week, Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly sat down with Ken Kruly, a political analyst who examines the ebbs and flows of campaign finance in Western New York. Kruly writes about local politics for his blog, Politics and Other Stuff. In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s podcast…
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Podcast: How tax breaks deplete school budgets
Last week, Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker reported on tax subsidies distributed by industrial development agencies — subsidies that deprive school districts of millions of dollars each year. In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, host Garrett Looker sat down...
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Podcast: iPost reporting on Michael Joseph
Two weeks ago, Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly reported on allegations of “racist and illegal practices” by one of the region’s biggest real estate development and management firms. In a federal lawsuit, a former employee accused the company of racially profiling communities where it was…
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Podcast: Buffalo’s Common Council candidates
One thing is certain: Buffalo’s Common Council will soon change. Two members of the current Council — Council President Darius G. Pridgen of the Ellicott District and Masten District’s Ulysees O. Wingo — will not seek re-election. Several candidates are looking to fill those seats, gathering...
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Podcast: Sen. Sean Ryan discusses IDA reform
Throughout the State of New York, industrial development agencies give out tax breaks to companies in order to bring and expand operations to local communities. From entities as large as Amazon to as small as an A&W restaurant, these deals usually involve companies paying reduced property and…
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Podcast: Reporting on Tesla’s solar factory
When plans were announced for a solar panel manufacturing plant in South Buffalo, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo described the project as a “game changer.” Based on the promise of not only a gleaming new plant and more than 1,400 jobs, but a whole new clean energy sector that would employ thousands...
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Podcast: Reporting on police misconduct
The Buffalo Police Department is under fire of criticism from local activists, alleging racial and civil discrimination. Officers’ frequent use of racial slurs, including the “N-word,” and unequal, discriminating policing efforts in different neighborhoods are two of thr allegations levied in a...
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Podcast: Reflecting on 10 years of iPost
Investigative Post is wrapping up its tenth year in business. Founder and editor Jim Heaney and Geoff Kelly, our senior reporter, look back on the decade and what it’s meant for Investigative Post and local news outlets. This is a companion to Heaney’s post of earlier this week, a Report to...
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Podcast: Reporting on 149 Arkansas
The windows and doors of a West Side house are boarded up, debris scattered throughout the yard. Inside, two individuals have died, their bodies left to decay. The dilapidated house at 149 Arkansas St. has been the source of numerous calls to emergency personnel. Its owners have been hit with...
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Podcast: Lack of transparency around Bills stadium
In the coming weeks, Erie County officials are poised to allow the future Buffalo Bills’ stadium effectively to skip New York State’s environmental review law. Activists and experts say doing so results in a lack of transparency and little consideration for the environment. The deal’s major…
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Podcast: Reporting on evictions
On Thursday, Investigative Post reported on the number of eviction warrants issued in Buffalo City Court, more than 3,700 this year alone. Across Erie County, primarily in Buffalo, landlords have moved to evict tenants in numbers greater than anywhere else in the state, save for Kings County…
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Podcast: How Amazon wins tax breaks
On today’s Investigative Podcast, reporter J. Dale Shoemaker sits down with journalist and author Alec MacGillis to talk about Amazon’s expansion in Western New York, the future of Rust Belt cities like Buffalo and MacGillis’s book, “Fulfillment: America in the Shadow of Amazon.” MacGillis’s book...
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Podcast: Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Toles
Tom Toles is the most decorated journalist in the history of Buffalo news media. He cut his teeth as an editorial cartoonist at The Courier-Express, moved on to The Buffalo News, where he earned his Pulitzer in 1990, and then succeeded the legendary Herblock at The Washington Post in 2002. His…
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Podcast: Interview with Brian Higgins, part 2
Geoff Kelly recently interviewed U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins about a variety of topics, including national politics, the Tops massacre and the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Congressman’s response, in so many words, involved what he sees as division. We posted the first half of the interview on Friday. You...
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Podcast: Interview with Brian Higgins
Geoff Kelly recently interviewed U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins about a variety of topics, including national politics, the Tops massacre and the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Congressman’s response, in so many words, involved what he sees as division. You can watch the first part of the interview via our...
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Podcast: Reporting the Amazon story
On Tuesday, Investigative Post reported on the huge subsidy package Amazon is receiving to build a warehouse in Niagara County. Amazon will receive $124 million in tax breaks from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, plus state tax credits of at least $2 million. In exchange, Amazon...
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What the primary vote tells us
The math of Byron Brown’s loss in the June 22 Democratic primary is simple. The mayor’s traditional base of voters on the East Side stayed home, while voters on the other side of Main Street — from the Lower West Side and Allentown to the Elmwood Village — turned out in comparatively high numbers...
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Podcast: Local donors to Trump and Biden
Our “Money In Politics” posts today and yesterday detail the largest donors to the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Joseph Biden. Ken Kruly and Jim Heaney discuss.
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Debut of ‘Money In Politics’ podcast
Investigative Post this week launches a new feature, Money In Politics, based on research and analysis by Ken Kruly, who has had a distinguished career in government finance. Money In Politics will be accompanied by a companion podcast that will feature Ken and Geoff Kelly, who covers government...
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Podcast: Reporters discuss government obstruction
This edition of Investigative Postcast features a Dec. 4 panel discussion on the growing hostility towards the press, and the public’s right to know, from the White House to the State House to City Hall. Panelists included Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief of The Buffalo News, Jimmy…
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Podcast: Researcher De’Jon Hall on police misconduct
For our latest Postcast, Daniela Porat interviewed De’Jon Hall, a co-author of a two-year study by UB and Cornell Law Schools alleging that the Buffalo police department engages in unconstitutional and discriminatory policing. With Porat’s recent investigation into illegal searches by a group of...
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Podcast: Journalist Sarah Cohen
After a hiatus, Investigative Post has resumed its podcast program with a Jim Heaney interview with Sarah Cohen, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and editor with The New York Times. Cohen, a Buffalo native, will be the keynote speaker at Investigative Post’s gala dinner on Oct. 19 at the Hyatt...
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Podcast: Porat discusses Buffalo police
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, reporter Daniela Porat talks about her recent story on the failure thus far of city’s elected officials to address the inadequate training of police in de-escalation tactics and other measures to avoid a Ferguson-type situation here in Buffalo. Porat, in...
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Podcast: Telvock talks lead with Marc Edwards
In the latest episode of Investigative Postcast, environmental reporter Dan Telvock talks to Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards about the risks posed by lead in drinking water, and why it’s a bigger problem than local governments want to acknowledge. Keeping drinking water safe, Edwards said…
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Podcast: Dan Telvock on lead reporting
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Investigative Post’s environment reporter Dan Telvock discusses his award-winning coverage of Western New York’s lead poisoning problem, which has recently prompted the City of Buffalo to introduce new initiatives to combat the problem. Telvock explains...
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Podcast: Journalist Lee Coppola
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Lee Coppola talks with Jim Heaney about his career as an investigative reporter and journalism educator. Coppola discussed the best story he did for The Buffalo News, which became the basis of a book and Hollywood film; his experience as a television...
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Podcast: Margaret Sullivan on the media
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Margaret Sullivan talks with Jim Heaney about the current state of the press and her work as media columnist with The Washington Post. Sullivan, who previously served as editor in chief of The Buffalo News and public editor of New York Times, also...
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Podcast: County legislator Burke on water quality
In this week’s episode of Investigative Postcast, Dan Telvock talks water quality with Erie County Legislator Pat Burke. Burke says the region has a history of bad environmental decisions. “Before we can even fix the obvious problems that exist now, we just have to stop doing dumb things,” said...
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Podcast: Assemblyman Ryan on lead poisoning
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, environmental reporter Dan Telvock talks to Assemblyman Sean Ryan about lead poisoning, which remains a serious problem in Buffalo. Ryan recently convened a roundtable in Rochester where experts and lawmakers discussed obstacles to eliminating childhood...
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Podcast: Arbetter on Cuomo, state politics
In this episode of Investigative Postcast, our new podcast, listen to some highlights of Jim Heaney’s conversation with Susan Arbetter, the award-winning host and producer of The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney interviewed Arbetter in front of a live audience at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on...
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Introducing Investigative Post’s podcast
Jim Heaney interviews Susan Arbetter, the award-winning host and producer of The Capitol Pressroom, on the inaugural episode of Investigative Postcast. Our plan is to post a new episode every Thursday featuring an Investigative Post journalist interviewing a newsmaker or discussing a recent story...