Hey everyone, it's Sophia and welcome back to this week's Work in Progress.

For today's episode, I am geeked about this one, guys.

If you had to choose between a Peabody Award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in basically every

major media network in the country and a Pulitzer winner

whose investigative reporting has led to reform multiple times, I mean why would you?

We have both. Today I am interviewing Ken Armstrong and Mara Bennett.

Mara Bennett is a fellow of Pro Public as Local Reporting Network and the host of the promise,

a truly phenomenal podcast about inequality and the people taking it on that centers on community.

She's had articles appear in the Chicago Reader, The New York Times,

an O magazine to name just a few, and she's also had multimedia work on NPR, WBEZ, and PBS NewsHour.

Ken is a veteran of the Chicago Tribune and the Seattle Times, where he won his first of two

Pulitzer prizes. He's also an author whose book Scoreboard Baby won the Edgar Allan Poe Award,

and a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University. Together, Mara Bennett and Ken investigated and broke an

eye-opening story about black children being jailed for no crime at all. We're going to dig deeper

into that story, what it's like for Ken and Mara but to work together, and how their lives led to

them crossing paths. Let's get started.

I'm so, so thrilled to have you here. I'm actually trying to find the words because I'm so excited.

I'm such a fan of both of you, of your work, of your reporting, and I think especially in the

landscape that we find ourselves in, in America, and certainly as we see this rising disinformation

and authoritarianism spreading around the world to have reporters who are really digging in,

and explaining to people and welcoming people in and teaching people what's really going on,

is I think the most invaluable resource we have. So thank you.

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