Big Promises, Small Print

Why do local governments keep handing out tax breaks to defense contractors… even when the promised jobs don’t materialize? In the first episode of our new season, reporter Taylor Barnes takes us deep into the Utah desert, where Northrop Grumman is building the next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles with the help of massive state subsidies. But when she asked how many jobs those subsidies were supposed to create, officials redacted nearly everything. Then they got a lawyer. Then they rewrote the rules. This episode is about more than one company or one contract. It’s about what happens when state and local leaders subsidize secrecy, and when media systems — hollowed out by layoffs, ownership conflicts, and techno-fetishism — stop asking questions. From shady job tallies in Ohio to corporate influence on Capitol Hill to military ribbon cuttings reported without context, we examine how the war machine hides in plain sight. And we follow the reporters and local watchdogs still trying to uncover the truth. GUESTS: Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media; Mary Vavrus, University of Minnesota ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Legal Moves, New Lobbyist Point to Northrop Grumman’s Influence in Utah , Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media Utah Refuses to Share Details of Nuclear Weapons Plant Subsidy , Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media

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Big Promises, Small Print is an episode from Things That Go Boom by PRX.

This episode is 33:21 long.

This episode was published on Sep 22, 2025.

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