Garrett Tiedemann

The White Whale is an audio zine. A podcast of mixtape journalism, fiction, and sound experimentation. We are hosted on Podbean and can be found wherever you catch our feed. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook! For transcripts of episodes check out our feed.

Join our podcast host and former NYT editor David Corcoran as he talks with Charles Schmidt about a misguided U.S. crackdown on lead poisoning. Also, Vanessa Schipani on media violence, and Garrett Tiedemann on the personal toll of a genetic disorder.

The Civil War ended more than 150 years ago, but the Confederacy didn’t completely die with it. Monuments, shrines and museums are found throughout the South. We teamed up with The Investigative Fund to visit dozens of them and found that for devoted followers they inspire a disturbing – and distorted – view of history: Confederate generals as heroes. Slaves who were happy to work for them. That twisted history is also shared with schoolchildren on class trips. And you won’t believe who’s funding these site to keep them running.

Sudan has been involved in ongoing civil wars since 1983. The wars were about religion, culture and resources. By 2005, approximately two million civilians had died. In 2011, the southern part of the country voted to secede from the north, creating the new country of South Sudan. But there were still three regions that were claimed by both north and south: Abyei, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan. These regions are rich in oil and have fertile farmlands, so politicians and humanitarians predicted there would be violence following the secession. Civilians in these regions, mostly farmers and shepherds, would be caught in the middle.