18 | GREG PALAST – Investigative Journalist
Shownotes
Four decades into his career, he hounds truth harder than ever.Greg Palast has exposed some of the biggest scandals of the last century. The award-winning investigative reporter, four-time New York Times Bestselling author, and documentarian seeks justice and shines a light on the truth. His investigations have become instrumental in exposing historic controversies including the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station Project, Exxon Valdez, the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election, and Deepwater Horizon. Palast turns his attention to the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election with his latest book, How Trump Stole 2020: The Hunt For America’s Vanished Voters.
Greg grew up in Sun Valley, CA. He clawed his way into The University of Chicago and studied under none other than Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences). Upon graduation, he declined an offer to go work for Goldman Sachs and in 1975, he completed his first investigation, revealing massive overcharges by the Chicago Gas Company during the energy crisis that year. Over the next decade, he developed a reputation for success in racketeering cases brought against the nuclear industry. The State of New York and U.S. Justice Department enlisted him to investigate massive fraud by Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) when it came to the development of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. Greg and his team led an extensive review of internal documents and encouraged whistleblowers, uncovering fraud to the tune of $1.6 billion. The jury reached the largest settlement in history at the time with $4.8 billion awarded to Suffolk County. Greg even helped write the law which committed the public takeover of the company. Read the full bio HERE.
Greg’s mission: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
Greg’s one-line message to the world: “Go to www.GregPalast.com.”
- Origins – wrong side of the tracks. Made him mad and an undercover investigative reporter to reveal truth
- “Exiled.” Only work in England: BBC television and the Guardian newspaper.
- Rachel Maddow
- Heather Cox Richardson
- Follow the money – read Wall ST journal, Fortune Magazine, Financial Times
- Winston Churchill’s “History of WWII”
- BBC’s “In Our Time”
- Big thinkers with big ideas: read them everyday
- Milton Friedman
- Deregulation mantra: Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Anti-government — led to Occupy Wallstreet
- Spirituality: Does he believe in God?
- Florida made Bush President – how (voter purges)
- Greg says as an investigative reporter it’s all about the facts, not opinions
- The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: You can download the movie for free on GregPalast.com
- Leonardo DiCaprio put out Greg’s reporting
- Sue’s idea: a Wisdom Council of an ad hoc group of truth tellers
- Consortionnews.org – Bob Perry
- Steve Donziger
- Greg’s in the truth business, uncovering things, so people know that the way it is isn’t how it should be
- If he ruled the world: he’s a fan of democracy