A free community event with special guest Al Letson, Peabody Award-winning host of Reveal, in conversation with Aspen Journalism Editor and Executive Director Curtis Wackerle. The discussion will explore the evolving landscape of multimedia storytelling, the role independent news organizations play in informing and strengthening communities and democracy, and the growing importance of listener- and reader-supported journalism. Reveal is the nationally acclaimed investigative radio show and podcast from The Center for Investigative Reporting, and Aspen Journalism is a local, nonprofit, investigative newsroom that produces in-depth stories on topics of water, environment, social justice, history and more.

Celebrate and learn more about the vital role of nonprofit, investigative journalism and in-depth story telling.

Reveal reaches more than one million listeners weekly on more than 500 public radio stations nationwide and has earned multiple Peabody and duPont awards, along with several Pulitzer Prize finalist honors.

Aspen Journalism is a local, nonprofit, investigative newsroom that produces in-depth stories on topics of water, environment, social justice, history and more. Every story is available to publish and read for free, made possible by readers and donors, because well-informed citizens make better decisions.

Thank you to our co-sponsors: Aspen Public Radio, PRX and the Hotel Jerome.
Al Letson is the Peabody Award-winning host of Reveal. Born in New Jersey, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, at age 11 and as a teenager began rapping and producing hip-hop records. By the early 1990s, he had fallen in love with the theater, becoming a local actor and playwright, and soon discovered slam poetry. His day job as a flight attendant allowed him to travel to cities around the country, where he competed in slam poetry contests while sleeping on friends’ couches. In 2000, Letson placed third in the National Poetry Slam and performed on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam, which led him to write and perform one-man shows and even introduce the 2006 NCAA Final Four on CBS.In Letson’s travels around the country, he realized that the America he was seeing on the news was far different from the one he was experiencing up close. In 2007, he competed in the Public Radio Talent Quest, where he pitched a show called State of the Re:Union that reflected the conversations he was having throughout the U.S. The show ran for five seasons and won a Peabody Award in 2014. In 2015, Letson helped create and launch Reveal, the nation’s first weekly investigative radio show, which has won four duPont Awards and three Peabody Awards and been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize three times. He has also hosted the podcast Errthang; wrote for several major TV or streaming shows, including AMC’s Moonhaven and AppleTV’s Monarch; and is currently writing a comic for DC Comics (he loves comics.) When he’s not working, Letson’s often looking for an impossibly difficult meal to prepare or challenging anyone to name a better album than Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides.

Curtis Wackerle is the Editor and Executive Director of Aspen Journalism, where he guides the nonprofit’s mission to deliver in-depth, independent reporting on environmental and community issues in Colorado’s mountain regions. His experience in journalism and editorial leadership includes 14 years at Aspen Daily News, where he covered city hall and, from 2016 until joining Aspen Journalism in 2020, served as editor in chief. Under his direction, Aspen Journalism has grown as a trusted source for nuanced coverage of water, land use, public policy and socioeconomic issues in the West. He grew up in Portland, has a journalism degree from the University of Montana, and lives in Woody Creek.