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Reveal

The Real Conspiracy Behind the Texas Floods

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.78K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

David Sirota is a journalist, former speechwriter to Bernie Sanders, and co-writer of the Oscar-nominated movie Don’t Look Up, about the threat of climate change. On this week’s More To The Story, Sirota joins host Al Letson to discuss how climate change is fueling more intense weather events like the recent floods in Texas, how the country’s leaders are failing to address climate disasters while avoiding accountability, why Trump’s domestic policy bill is “class war in legislative form,” and why some Democrats still don’t know how to react to socialist Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral primary win in New York City.

Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Digital producer: Nikki Frick | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson

Listen: Master Plan (The Lever)
Listen: 2024 Broke The Democrats. Can They Put Themselves Back Together? (Reveal)
Read: How Zohran Mamdani Tied Climate Policy to Voters’ Pocketbook Issues (Mother Jones)

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Transcript

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0:00.0

You wonder like people in Texas, it's like, is this a wake-up moment to say, hey, those oil companies, those fossil fuel companies in Houston are creating the environment that is fueling these more intense weather systems that are creating these kinds of disasters in our state.

0:24.7

Coming up on more to the story, as rescuers continue searching for bodies following the devastating floods in Texas,

0:31.7

I sit down with journalists and former Democratic advisor David Serota. We discuss our persistent inability to address climate change,

0:40.4

the long shadow of Trump's quote,

0:42.0

big beautiful bill,

0:43.2

and why many Democrats still don't know how to respond

0:46.3

to Zoran Mamdani's upset win in New York City.

0:50.0

Stay with us.

0:55.2

Hey, this is Al, and before we start the show, I wanted to talk to you directly.

1:00.9

Just you and I. Public media is under attack.

1:05.2

Each week, listeners hear reveal on local public radio stations, many of which received funding from the Corporation for

1:12.0

Public Broadcasting.

1:13.5

The White House recently requested that Congress take back $1.1 billion that had already

1:19.1

been approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

1:22.7

This would profoundly destabilize a public service that's all about reporting the truth.

1:28.4

And I got to tell you that in the time that I have been working at Reveal, which is over 10

1:32.7

years now, that I work with some of the most fearless journalists in the business.

1:38.3

We are not afraid. We are not intimidated by their threats to silence us.

1:43.2

And the reason why we are not afraid is because we

1:46.6

have you. Fueled by your support, we'll keep investigating and exposing the truth no matter who

1:53.6

tries to hold us back. To help us fight back, please give today. Visit revealnews.org slash give. Again, that's

2:02.6

Revealedews.org slash give. And thank you.

...

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