Collateral Damage from The Intercept
Claim This Podcastby The Intercept
Podcast Overview
<p>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.</p><p>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 with helicopters, tanks, and suspension of basic civil liberties protections. </p><p>All wars have collateral damage: the civilians, the noncombatants, the innocent people whose deaths are tragic but deemed necessary for the greater cause. Collectively, we’ve decided that the lives of these people were expendable — unfortunate but acceptable sacrifices for the impossible goal of a drug-free America. They are collateral damage, and these are their stories.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
10/1/2025
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Recent Episodes
December 3, 2025
Ep. 8 Legalized Takings: The Land Grab That Killed Donald Scott
<p>In 1992, Donald Scott, the eccentric owner of a large Malibu estate, was killed in his home by an ad hoc team of raiding cops. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department led the raid, but a panoply of state and federal police agencies participated too. Police claimed Scott was operating a large marijuana grow on the property. Scott, who always feared the government would take his land, actually repudiated the use of illegal drugs.</p><p>No marijuana or any illicit drugs were found on his property. A subsequent investigation by the local district attorney confirmed Scott wasn’t paranoid: The LA County Sheriff’s Department was motivated by a desire to take Scott’s property under civil asset forfeiture laws, auction it off, and keep the proceeds for the department. Bizarrely, Scott’s home wasn’t even in LA County. Despite recent reform efforts, the promise of forfeiture continues to be a major motivating force in drug policy across the country.</p><p>You can support our work at <a href="https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">theintercept.com/join</a>. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
November 19, 2025
Ep. 7 Dirty Information: The NYPD’s Shock Tactics and the death of Alberta Spruill
<p>In 2004, New York narcotics officers raided Alberta Spruill’s home, shattering her door and detonating a flash grenade. Spruill, a 57-year-old city worker, went into cardiac arrest and died two hours later. The raid was based on faulty intel from a discredited informant, and the suspect they were searching for was already in custody. Spruill’s death came amid a surge in New York City Police Department raids, which had skyrocketed from 1,400 in the mid-’90s to over 5,000 by the time she was killed, nearly all no-knock.</p><br><p>Despite repeated warnings that these reckless raids would end in tragedy, few listened. This episode of <a href="https://theintercept.com/podcasts/collateral-damage/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Collateral Damage</a>, hosted by <a href="https://theintercept.com/staff/radley-balko/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Radley Balko</a>, explores how Spruill’s death catalyzed the political rise of Eric Adams, a young Black NYPD officer who would later become mayor. It also examines how promises of reform quickly faded, and the NYPD returned to business as usual.</p><br><p>You can support our work at <a href="https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">theintercept.com/join</a>. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
November 12, 2025
Ep 6: Airborne Imperialism: The Tragic Deaths of Veronica and Charity Bowers.
<p>Veronica and Charity Bowers, a young Christian missionary and her daughter, are killed when the Peruvian Air Force shoots down a small passenger plane in 2001. The plane had been mistaken for a drug smuggling plane and was shot down as part of a joint anti-drug agreement between the CIA and the Colombian and Peruvian governments.</p><p>President Donald Trump has made the Bowers's deaths newly and urgently relevant since he began ordering the U.S. military to strike down alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean in September 2025. By early November, the U.S. had launched a total of 17 strikes, killing at least 70 people, and those figures seem to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/29/us/us-caribbean-pacific-boat-strikes.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">grow</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/29/us/us-caribbean-pacific-boat-strikes.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">almost by the day</a>. The attacks are illegal under both U.S. and international law. The administration also provided <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/10/31/trump-venezuela-boat-strikes-unprivileged-belligerants/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">no documentation of the alleged drug trafficking</a>. </p><p>The attack on the Bowers family pierced the veil that obscures drug war foreign policy because of their nationality, skin color, and relatability. More than 20 years ago, House Oversight Committee hearing members Jan Schakowsky and Elijah Cummings demanded accountability after U.S. drug interdiction forces killed the Bowers. They demanded to know how such a mistake could happen, and how we could prevent the loss of innocent life going forward.</p><p>“The kind of action we saw in Peru … amounts to an extrajudicial killing,” said Schakowsky at the time. Cummings added, “The Peruvian shootdown policy would never be permitted as a domestic United States policy precisely because it goes against one of our most sacred, due process principles — namely, that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”</p><p>Now, a new administration openly celebrates summary execution of alleged drug smugglers without a hint of due process, and is now threatening to topple another government to prevent the U.S. from sating its appetite for illicit drugs. </p><p>The story of Veronica and Charity Bowers is a stark reminder of how aggressive drug policy is wasteful and futile, how we never seem to learn from past failures, and how the generations-long effort to stop people from getting high also — and necessarily — treats human lives as expendable.</p><p>You can support our work at <a href="https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">theintercept.com/join</a>. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. </p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
10 total episodes available
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- What is Collateral Damage from The Intercept?
<p>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.</p><p>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 with helicopters, tanks, and suspension of basic civil liberties protections. </p><p>All wars have collateral damage: the civilians, the noncombatants, the innocent people whose deaths are tragic but deemed necessary for the greater cause. Collectively, we’ve decided that the lives of these people were expendable — unfortunate but acceptable sacrifices for the impossible goal of a drug-free America. They are collateral damage, and these are their stories.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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