White Lies

In 1965, Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma, Alabama. Three men were tried and acquitted, but no one was ever held to account. Fifty years later, two journalists from Alabama return to the city where it happened, expose the lies that kept the murder from being solved and uncover a story about guilt and memory that says as much about America today as it does about the past.

Episodes

Introducing White Lies

May 6, 2019 • 2 min

A new serialized podcast from NPR investigates a 1965 cold case. New episodes every Tuesday starting May 14.

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The Murder Of The Rev. James Reeb

May 13, 2019 • 51 min

In 1965, the Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma, Ala. No one was ever held to account. We return to the town where it happened, searching for new leads in an old story.

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The Who And The What

May 20, 2019 • 57 min

In Episode 2, we unravel the aftermath of the Rev. James Reeb's murder: the arrest of three men and the defense brought at trial. We also track down the last living jurors.

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The Counternarrative

May 27, 2019 • 50 min

In Episode 3, we break down the conspiracy theory that emerged after the Rev. James Reeb's murder: that he was allowed to die or was killed because the civil rights movement needed a white martyr.

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The Sphinx Of Washington Street

June 3, 2019 • 45 min

In Episode 4, we find a woman who says she knows who killed the Rev. James Reeb, because she was there. She's ready — for the first time in more than 50 years — to tell the truth about what she saw.

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The X On The Map

June 10, 2019 • 51 min

In Episode 5, we search for the fourth attacker while digging into the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a black civil rights activist who was murdered in Alabama just weeks before the Rev. James Reeb. Jackson's killer was brought to justice in 2010. We look at his case for strategies to help solve Reeb's.

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Learn Not To Hear It

June 17, 2019 • 51 min

In Episode 6, we reveal the identity of the fourth man who participated in the attack on the Rev. James Reeb.

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A Dangerous Kind Of Self-Delusion

June 24, 2019 • 66 min

In our final episode, we examine the legacy of the Rev. James Reeb's death. We speak both to his descendants and to those of one of his attackers, exploring how the trauma and the lies that followed it affected both families.

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