Reckon Radio

Reckon Radio

Panther: Blueprint for Black Power is the story of the unexpected birthplace of the Black Panther, a site that changed the course of the nation. But it’s not where you might expect. Far from Oakland, the Black Panther and its principles came from just outside Selma, Alabama. Lowndes County, Alabama: a county where every single thing Black folks did was an act of rebellion. A county where an all-Black party made it to the ballot in the year 1966. A county that paved the way for revolution. The fourth season of the Murrow Award-winning Reckon Radio examines the first year the Voting Rights Act was put to the test, deep in the heart of the Jim Crow South. Pulitzer Prize finalist Roy S. Johnson and journalist Eunice Elliott tell the story of Lowndes County and the election that shaped politics - and activism - as we know it.

Episodes

Trailer: Greek Gods

July 31, 2018 • 2 mins
Episode Notes Threats of violence, wire-tapping, boycotts, voter coercion, whatever it takes to win. That's the playbook of The Machine, a secret society that has controlled student government at the University of Alabama for more than a century. The Machine has been described as "the most powerful fraternity in America" and its tentacles reach to the State House, Washington and beyond. Reckon Radio presents, "Greek Gods," an exami...
Mark as Played

S1E1 - Greek Gods Episode 1

August 27, 2018 • 36 mins
Episode Notes Episode One: What is “The Machine?” Hosts Amy and John trace the history of the secret society, with a focus on the events of 1970 – 1993, including allegations of arson, wiretapping, crossing burning and physical assault. Also shares the story of Fran Viselli, owner of Bama Bino’s a popular pizza joint that faced a boycott after his son dared run against the Machine. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out inf...
Mark as Played

S1E2 - Greek Gods Episode 2

August 27, 2018 • 33 mins
Episode Notes Episode Two: The Machine strikes back. Is the organization nefarious, or just a voting block of friends? Former members of the Machine share their side of the story, including Lee Garrison a Tuscaloosa politician who allegedly used the secret society to be elected to an office beyond the University setting. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Mark as Played

S1E3 - Greek Gods Episode 3

August 27, 2018 • 32 mins
Episode Notes Episode Three: What role does race play on campus? In recent years, the University of Alabama Greek system has been scrutinized by national media for sorority women caught on video using racial slurs and for sorority alumni intent on preserving the school’s “tradition” of white sororities. Also includes the story of Elliot Spillers, the first black student government president in 40 years, and what his surprise electi...
Mark as Played

S1E4 - Greek Gods Episode 4

August 27, 2018 • 35 mins
Episode Notes Episode Four: What does The Machine teach students about real world politics? John Archibald shares his reflections on how student politics has real world ramifications. His wife Alecia also describes how she was forced to choose between her sorority and her relationship in college, illustrating the difficult decisions young women face during their time on campus. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informa...
Mark as Played

Trailer: Recused

November 13, 2018 • 59 secs
Episode Notes Reckon’s Amy Yurkanin dives into the untold story of Jeff Sessions, from the people who knew him best. • How did Jeff Sessions become President Trump’s most controversial cabinet member? And what led to his downfall? • Did you know President Trump wasn’t the first person to pressure Sessions to look the other way during an investigation into the executive branch? • What was the political fallout of Sessions’ failed ju...
Mark as Played

Doug Jones: The Reckon Interview

November 21, 2018 • 49 mins
Episode Notes Reckon's John Hammontree spoke with U.S. Sen. Doug Jones about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played

S2E1 - Recused Episode 1

December 11, 2018 • 33 mins
In 2016, Jeff Sessions was announced as President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. For nearly two years, he held his dream job -- but the experience turned into something of a nightmare due to ongoing investigations into allegations of Russian meddling in the election. Sessions recused himself, drawing the ire of the president. But did you know Sessions political career was almost over before it began? In episode one of Re...
Mark as Played

S2E2 - Recused Episode 2

December 18, 2018 • 28 mins
Years before he was the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions served as the Alabama Attorney General. And in that post, he faced a situation similar to the Russia investigation. It involved a Republican governor, cries of a "witch hunt" and a marble shower stall. Listen to this episode to see the similarities between Sessions' handling of that case and the way he dealt with the Russia investigation. See acast.com/privacy for priva...
Mark as Played

S2E3 - Recused Episode 3

December 25, 2018 • 27 mins
In the 1980s and 1990s, Jeff Sessions fought political corruption and drug traffickers as a U.S. Attorney and Alabama attorney general. He didn't mention immigration until his first term in the U.S. Senate. It started with questions about special agent staffing, and ended with one of the most controversial immigration policies in American history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad...
Mark as Played

Trailer: Unjustifiable

November 2, 2020 • 2 mins
Reckon Radio presents: “Unjustifiable,” an investigative series from Pulitzer-prize winning columnist John Archibald and Roy S. Johnson examining an overlooked moment of civil rights history in the heart of the South.  The story begins in 1979, when a police officer with a history of complaints shot and killed a 20-year-old Black woman named Bonita Carter. Her death would forever change the course of Birmingham, Alabama. The lega...
Mark as Played

S3E1: 'It was a girl in the car'

November 16, 2020 • 27 mins
June 22, 1979, just another evening in Birmingham Alabama, and Bonita Carter and her friends ride their bikes to a convenience store as the sun sets. What happened there would change their lives, and their cities forever. Chapter one of “Unjustifiable” reconstructs those events, moment by moment and step by step, from the vantage points of onlookers, participants, store workers, witnesses and police. By the end of the night, a poli...
Mark as Played

S3E2: Anger and action

November 16, 2020 • 38 mins
Protest began to swell in Birmingham began to swell the night Bonita Carter was killed, and it grew larger and larger in the days that followed. Black people, who had marched for voting power and integrated water fountains and lunch counters a decade and a half before, took to the streets to condemn police violence from a department built by Bull Connor. The killing of Bonita Carter seemed to be the last straw, especially when the ...
Mark as Played

S3E3: The Shoebox

November 23, 2020 • 37 mins
What was it about the killing of Bonita Carter that sparked police reform? The search for that answer led the Reckon Radio team into the bowels of the Birmingham Public Library, to a recently discovered box of “Birmingham Police Shooting and Incident Cards.” These cards, seen by almost no one in decades, detail the lives of hundreds of people in Jefferson County, Alabama – the deaths of hundreds, killed by police and security offic...
Mark as Played

S3E4: Catching the Devil on All Sides

November 30, 2020 • 35 mins
The status quo was broken in Birmingham, Alabama, in the weeks after the Bonita Carter killing. The city once known as Bombingham, as the Johannesburg of the South, reeled from protests, and counter-protests from the Ku Klux Klan. A scientist, a former college dean named Richard Arrington who had long been aligned with that white progressive mayor, David Vann, broke away from the mayor to launch his own campaign. A committee formed...
Mark as Played

S3E5: "Shoot her again"

December 7, 2020 • 33 mins
Who is Officer George Sands? The Birmingham police officer had amassed more than a dozen complaints before fatally shooting Bonita Carter. He’d been seen as a problem by some city leaders, while others protected him – saying he was just a symptom of a poorly trained police department rather than a rogue bad apple? Before being elected mayor, Richard Arrington had been shocked to learn Sands was Bonita Carter’s killer, for he had be...
Mark as Played

S3E6: Point 14

December 14, 2020 • 44 mins
The killing of Bonita Carter in 1979 changed Birmingham, and its leadership. Protests following her death forced the city to reshape its police department, four decades before Black Lives Matter made its greatest impact. It was a decade after Black civil rights leaders had gathered in Birmingham to make 14 points to their white peers in Birmingham, to demand acknowledgement that Black people were still treated as second class citiz...
Mark as Played

Introducing 'Panther: Blueprint for Black Power'

July 3, 2023 • 2 mins
This is the story of the surprising roots of the Black Panther and the election when America truly became a democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played

S4E1: Between Selma and Montgomery, a Black Panther is Born

July 12, 2023 • 35 mins
It’s a story we think we know well. It’s 1965, and the Civil Rights Movement is in full swing. Thousands are marching on Montgomery, protesting the treatment of Black Americans. But what about the people who lived alongside that road? The people who remained after the national cameras and big names left town were the lifeblood of the movement for Black Power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played

S4E2: “Bloody Lowndes” - The County that Changed the Nation

July 12, 2023 • 34 mins
How did a county known as “Bloody Lowndes” become the birthplace of the Black Panther? Because the people of Lowndes met vicious, racist violence with a powerful response. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    24/7 News: The Latest

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Mobile

Wearables

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.