What is the Improvement Association PAC?
From the makers of Serial and The New York Times, a five-part series about allegations of election fraud — and the powerful forces that fuel them. The Improvement Association PAC’s power in the county is threatened when an unlikely candidate enters the race for county commissioner.
Where is the Improvement Association located?
And to everyone in Bladen County, North Carolina, for your incredible generosity with your time. The Improvement Association is produced by Serial Productions and The New York Times.
Is the Improvement Association a true story?
From Serial Productions, I’m Zoe Chace. This is The Improvement Association, a true story about election fraud. Cogdell is an incumbent who doesn’t want to lose his seat, obviously. So just on that score, he’s anti-Mark.
Who is the host of the Improvement Association?
The host is one of our longtime This American Life producers Zoe Chace, who started looking into this story as something she’d report for our show. But then it grew and grew and we all realized this is too good, and too big. It needed its own mini-series. Listen to the first episode of The Improvement Association today.
Why does Marshall say the PAC is powerful?
Marshall says that’s a common accusation directed at the Improvement Association PAC. Because the PAC is powerful, Marshall says, their endorsement’s powerful. So whichever candidate the PAC doesn’t endorse, that candidate or that candidate’s supporters will accuse the PAC of vote buying.
Who produced the music for Chapter One?
Listen to Chapter One. Reported by Zoe Chace; produced by Nancy Updike, with help from Amy Pedulla; edited by Julie Snyder, Sarah Koenig, Neil Drumming and Ira Glass; original score by Kwame Brandt-Pierce; and sound design and mix by Phoebe Wang.
Why is Mark not open to dealing with them?
Because Mark is open to dealing with them, but they are not open to dealing with him because they think that he’s going to be the white man’s little token. And that’s not true. But he’s been dealing with white folks all of his life. All of his life, he’s dealt with them.
New York Times
For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C. Some people in town point fingers at a Black advocacy group, the Bladen County Improvement Association, accusing it of bullying voters, tampering with ballots and stealing votes outright.
Trailer
A new podcast from the makers of "Serial" and The New York Times. For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C.
Episodes
A new podcast from the makers of "Serial" and The New York Times. For at least a decade, allegations of cheating have swirled around elections in rural Bladen County, N.C.
Popular Podcasts
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
Why was Zoe Chace's hearing so riveting?
zoe chace. To me, the hearing was riveting because of the testimony. Now McCrae is basically an elections professional, who loves politics, but the people who worked for him who took the stand and testified, they were not like that. This was a job they did for a few weeks or a few months, for a little extra money.
Who ran for Congress in 2018?
It looks like this. In the midterm election of 2018, this guy, Mark Harris, white, Republican, former Baptist pastor, ran for Congress in North Carolina. It seemed at first like he definitely won.
Where did the Improvement Association scandal take place?
Beneath every big scandal, there tends to be a foundation of earlier, smaller ones. The scandal in question here took place in rural Bladen County, North Carolina, back in 2018, when a congressional election in the state’s Ninth District ended with the Republican candidate’s victory over his Democratic opponent getting ...
Who is the host of the podcast Missing Richard Simmons?
There is the podcast version, led and hosted by Dan Taberski ( Missing Richard Simmons , Running From Cops ), which I’m talking about right now, and then there’s a visual docuseries version from the documentarian Jeffrey Zimbalist ( The Two Escobars ), which will be distributed exclusively on Apple TV+ later in the fall.
Is Running From Cops a documentary?
Running From Cops already marked something of a departure for him, position ing him more in the classic outsider documentary-producer role compared with Missing Richard Simmons and Surviving Y2K, in which his own inner life played a more prominent role in the proceedings.
