Collateral Damage from The Intercept

Collateral Damage from The Intercept

Host: The Intercept

Collateral Damage is an investigative podcast series examining the half-century-long war on drugs, its enduring ripple effects, and the devastating consequences of building a massive war machine aimed at the public itself. Hosted by Radley Balko, an investigative journalist who has been covering the drug war and the criminal justice system for more than 20 years, each episode takes an in-depth look at someone who was unjustly killed in the drug war.The so-called “war on drugs” began as a metaphor to demonstrate the country’s fervent commitment to defeat drug addiction, but the “war” part quickly became all too literal, complete w...

Episodes

Ep. 4 Criminalizing Care: The Remarkable Life and Cruel Death of Peter McWilliams
01October 29, 2025 4:30am

Ep. 4 Criminalizing Care: The Remarkable Life and Cruel Death of Peter McWilliams

Peter McWilliams was an optimist, activist, poet, and advocate for personal freedom. His book “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country” resonated across the political spectrum. After contrac…

Ep. 3 Blown Cover: The Preventable Murder of LeBron Gaither
02October 22, 2025 4:30am

Ep. 3 Blown Cover: The Preventable Murder of LeBron Gaither

When LeBron Gaither was 17, he got into an altercation with a staff member at his school that resulted in assault charges. As Gaither faced the possibility of a criminal record, a Kentucky State Police detective offered him a deal: Charges …

Ep. 2 A Death in the Dark: The Story of Ryan Frederick and Detective Jarrod Shivers
03October 15, 2025 4:30amExplicit

Ep. 2 A Death in the Dark: The Story of Ryan Frederick and Detective Jarrod Shivers

In January 2008, Ryan Frederick, a 28-year-old who worked the night shift at a Coca-Cola plant in Chesapeake, Virginia, found himself at the center of a tragedy. Just days after his home had been burglarized, Frederick was jolted awake by t…

Ep. 1 Dirty Business: The Atlanta Narcotics Unit’s Deadly Raid on 92-Year-Old Kathryn Johnston
04October 08, 2025 4:30amExplicit

Ep. 1 Dirty Business: The Atlanta Narcotics Unit’s Deadly Raid on 92-Year-Old Kathryn Johnston

In 2006, a 92-year-old Atlanta woman was gunned down in her own home by police during a drug raid. The police initially claimed the woman was a marijuana dealer who fired a gun at them. The story might have ended there. But an informant bra…

Ep. 0 Trump’s War on Drugs
05October 08, 2025 4:28am

Ep. 0 Trump’s War on Drugs

From Afghanistan to Iraq, the United States has long used drone strikes to take out people it alleges are terrorists or insurgents. It’s a legacy that started under President George W. Bush and greatly expanded under President Barack Obama.…

Introducing Collateral Damage
06October 01, 2025 7:15am

Introducing Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage is a new investigative podcast series examining the half-century-long war on drugs, its enduring ripple effects, and the devastating consequences of building a massive war machine aimed at the public itself. Hosted by Radl…