constantly curious
Bad Watchdog
What happens when the watchdog tasked with overseeing the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country doesn’t do its job? In a six-part series, host Maren Machles and investigative reporters from the Project On Government Oversight uncover a shocking pattern of misconduct at the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, which resulted in a failure to investigate some of the most troubling events in recent history.
Maren Machles
Maren Machles is an investigative producer at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She fuses hard-hitting investigations with narrative storytelling to shed light on the federal government’s most powerful agencies and hold them to account.
Before joining POGO, Maren worked with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, researching, documenting, and advocating for community-led solutions to the digital divide across the country and specifically within tribal communities.
Previously, Maren was an investigative journalist with the Scripps Washington Bureau where she covered the U.S. immigration system, criminal justice, tribal justice issues, gender violence, and influential political figures. She has spent her career digging into the finances and backgrounds of powerful political figures, and into the systemic oppression of marginalized communities.
Maren was a recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Grand Prize Award for her work on criminal justice issues in Indian Country. In 2021, she was part of a team that was nominated for a Peabody and won the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Audio – Small award for their work investigating the Louisville Metro Police Department after Breonna Taylor was killed by police.Maren Machles is an investigative producer at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She fuses hard-hitting investigations with narrative storytelling to shed light on the federal government’s most powerful agencies and hold them to account.
Before joining POGO, Maren worked with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, researching, documenting, and advocating for community-led solutions to the digital divide across the country and specifically within tribal communities.
Previously, Maren was an investigative journalist with the Scripps Washington Bureau where she covered the U.S. immigration system, criminal justice, tribal justice issues, gender violence, and influential political figures. She has spent her career digging into the finances and backgrounds of powerful political figures, and into the systemic oppression of marginalized communities.
Maren was a recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Grand Prize Award for her work on criminal justice issues in Indian Country. In 2021, she was part of a team that was nominated for a Peabody and won the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Audio – Small award for their work investigating the Louisville Metro Police Department after Breonna Taylor was killed by police.
OUR HOST
Maren Machles
Maren Machles is an investigative producer at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She fuses hard-hitting investigations with narrative storytelling to shed light on the federal government’s most powerful agencies and hold them to account.
Before joining POGO, Maren worked with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, researching, documenting, and advocating for community-led solutions to the digital divide across the country and specifically within tribal communities.
Previously, Maren was an investigative journalist with the Scripps Washington Bureau where she covered the U.S. immigration system, criminal justice, tribal justice issues, gender violence, and influential political figures. She has spent her career digging into the finances and backgrounds of powerful political figures, and into the systemic oppression of marginalized communities.
Maren was a recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Grand Prize Award for her work on criminal justice issues in Indian Country. In 2021, she was part of a team that was nominated for a Peabody and won the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Audio – Small award for their work investigating the Louisville Metro Police Department after Breonna Taylor was killed by police.Maren Machles is an investigative producer at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She fuses hard-hitting investigations with narrative storytelling to shed light on the federal government’s most powerful agencies and hold them to account.
Before joining POGO, Maren worked with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, researching, documenting, and advocating for community-led solutions to the digital divide across the country and specifically within tribal communities.
Previously, Maren was an investigative journalist with the Scripps Washington Bureau where she covered the U.S. immigration system, criminal justice, tribal justice issues, gender violence, and influential political figures. She has spent her career digging into the finances and backgrounds of powerful political figures, and into the systemic oppression of marginalized communities.
Maren was a recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Grand Prize Award for her work on criminal justice issues in Indian Country. In 2021, she was part of a team that was nominated for a Peabody and won the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Audio – Small award for their work investigating the Louisville Metro Police Department after Breonna Taylor was killed by police.