fact checker

I’m a freelance fact-checker and research editor. I work with reporters, producers and authors to test every claim in a story against the best available sources, and to make sure the finished piece is as accurate, fair and clear as it can be.

Most of my work is on longform projects where the stakes are high and the details are easy to get wrong: criminal cases, democracy and ballot measures, health and inequality, climate and foreign policy. Recent credits include Kill List (Wondery & Novel), Trained to Kill and Candyman (48 Hours/CBS News), My Friend Daisy (11:11 Media / London Audio & iHeart), Without (Sony Music Entertainment & Hyperobject Industries), 100 Latina Birthdays and When the People Decide (LWC Studios), and Omar El Akkad’s nonfiction book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

On each project, I build a claim log, break the script or manuscript into individual statements, and check them against primary documents, court and government records, academic work and reliable reporting. I leave editors and writers concrete notes they can act on: what’s supported, what’s overstated, what needs context, and where the language might mislead or unfairly frame someone.

I treat questions of language and power—how a story talks about race, gender, class, migration, disability or mental health—as part of accuracy, not a separate “sensitivity” layer. A piece isn’t right if it gets the dates and numbers correct but distorts how institutions work or how people are seen.

I like working with teams that want their stories to do both things at once: reach a wide audience and also stand up to close scrutiny from listeners, readers, lawyers and, most importantly, the people in the story.

Credits and Projects

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values

“[A] bracing memoir and manifesto.” —The New York Times

On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.”

As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that it promised freedom. A place of justice for all. But in the past twenty years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie. That there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is a chronicle of that painful realization, a moral grappling with what it means, as a citizen of the U.S., as a father, to carve out some sense of possibility in a time of carnage.

National Book Award finalist (Nonfiction, 2025); shortlisted for the 2025 Palestine Book Awards; named among 2025’s must-read books by major outlets.

Every day, hundreds of people go about their lives with no idea that someone has paid to have them killed. In the depths of the dark net, tech journalist Carl Miller makes a disturbing discovery: a secret “kill list” targeting hundreds of innocent people on a murder-for-hire website. When the police are slow to investigate, Carl is thrown into a race against time to warn those in danger and uncover the truth before it’s too late. From Wondery and Novel comes a shocking true story about obsession, control and the price of life and death.

Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalism; Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards and True Crime Awards 2025; Best Podcast at the 2025 Broadcast Press Guild Awards; Signal Awards for Best True Crime and Best Sound Design.

Mark Stover was a talented dog trainer, better known as the dog whisperer of the Pacific Northwest. He was charismatic and attracted the attention of wealthy blonde heiress Linda Opdyke. They built a business together, along with a marriage. But Linda said Mark also had a dark side and when she tried to leave the marriage, he obsessively followed. She sought the protection of a security expert Michiel Oakes who soon became the new love of her life, her knight in shining armor. But when blood was found in Mark’s home and he was reported missing, detectives went looking for Michiel. In this dark love triangle, just who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Join 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant for Trained to Kill: The Dog Trainer, the Heiress, and the Bodyguard, a gripping six-episode podcast that unravels this dark story.

2025 W³ Gold Award (General Series – True Crime & Investigative Journalism) and Silver Award (Best Podcast Branding & Cover Art).

After 19-year-old Daisy De La O was murdered outside her Compton apartment, her friends and family looked to authorities to make an arrest. When that didn’t happen, they took matters into their own hands. Their secret weapon? TikTok! The online videos spawned an international manhunt, rallying amateur detectives to do something radical: Help catch a killer.

From London Audio, iHeart Radio, and executive producer Paris Hilton, My Friend Daisy is a ten-part investigative series written and hosted by L.A. journalist Jenn Swann. Each episode dives deep into the murder investigation and its fallout, exposing what went wrong, how it went viral, and why American communities are turning to social media to find justice.

On April 22, 1987, 52-year-old Ruthie Mae McCoy called 911 to report that someone was trying to enter her Chicago housing project apartment through the bathroom medicine cabinet. Police thought she was imagining things, but when authorities finally checked on McCoy two days later, they found her dead with four gunshot wounds. Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder, revisits the real-life account of McCoy’s strange death – one of the inspirations for the Candyman horror film.

Hosted by journalist and Chicago native Dometi Pongo, this 6-episode limited series – produced by 48 Hours and CBS News – explores why McCoy’s desperate calls for help were ignored, the surprising outcome of her murder trial, and the broader systemic issues of racial injustice, housing inequality, and the stigma of mental illness that surround this tragic event.

The health and wellness of Latinas is crucial to the health and wellbeing of the U.S. economy.

In 100 Latina Birthdays, an original documentary series from Peabody-nominated LWC Studios, reporters in Chicago investigate the health and lifetime outcomes of Latinas in the United States from birth to age 100.

Episodes shortlisted/finalist for the New York Festivals Radio Awards in Health/Medical Podcast and Narrative/Documentary Podcast categories.

In 2013, journalist Suzanne Rico gets the call. Her mother, Gabriele, is dying. As time ticks down, Gabriele reveals an unfinished memoir about her World War II childhood–and makes a daunting last request: “Finish what I started.” When Suzanne and her sister, Stephanie, dive into their mother’s turbulent past, they come face to face with the truth of their own ancestry for the first time, including mind blowing mysteries that swirl around inventor Robert Lusser–their grandfather–and his work for the Third Reich. As they struggle to bring closure to something as intimate as a memoir, they have no idea of the revelations in store, or the reckoning they will require.

The Battersea Poltergeist’s Danny Robins investigates chilling first-hand stories of paranormal encounters, from ghostly phantoms to sinister folklore and UFOs.

The “Female Bernie Madoff.” The “Anna Delvey of the OC.” Slot Whisperer. Lady Mafia. Sara King is a woman of many monikers. But who is she really? Veteran reporter Michele McPhee takes us into Sara’s world to detail her rise and impossible fall in this riveting behind-the-scenes look at a master of deception. Sara is a glorified loan shark swimming in the murky waters of fast money and shady deals in Orange County. Did she blow 10 million dollars of other people’s money? Or does the world, according to her, have it all wrong?

At age 45, Steve Patterson made a shocking online discovery: his own missing person’s page.

Desperate to uncover why he had been included on the list, Steve called Todd Matthews, a missing-persons investigator, in search of answers. Together, Todd and Steve discover a sordid family past that includes long-lost relatives, kidnappings, and murders. It turns out that Steve was presumed dead because around the time he was born, his biological mother had married a serial killer who tore their family apart. Along the way, Steve would have to make sense of a personal story with more twists and turns than he’d ever imagined.

In this ten-episode narrative series, Todd Matthews, an amateur sleuth from Tennessee, tells the story of a family torn apart by tragedy and his quest to bring them back together. From Revelations Entertainment, First and Last Productions, and Neon Hum Media, “Hello John Doe” is a winding, poignant tale that explores what it means to be lost and found.

Hosted by international bestselling author and journalist Omar El Akkad, Without explores all of the things we can’t imagine losing. In some cases, it’s something we’ve already lost – species, natural phenomena, places. In other cases, it’s things we should probably learn to live without, like fossil fuels or nuclear weapons. Every episode of WITHOUT is a thought experiment – what would the world look like if something we’ve become used to were no longer around? HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production.

Ambies 2024 nominee for Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast.

This is a story about a scam. But this isn’t any old scam. At the turn of the 21st century, set in one of London’s most wealthy suburbs, Hampstead, Juliette D’Souza wreaked havoc on a number of people’s lives. She became filthy rich, and one of the most prolific con women in British history. 

Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala, the soulmates behind the hit true crime podcast, Redhanded, are on the case. They speak to the reporters who travelled to Suriname to track Juliette down, one of Britain’s leading shamans and the victims who came together in search of justice.

Sergeant Jill Evans is a small town cop in Wales with an impressive record in her job, and a less than impressive record in her love life. After three engagements, two divorces and one affair, she’s beginning to worry that love is only true in fairy tales. That is until she meets: Dean. He’s a wealthy beauty entrepreneur with his own range of toiletries.

Girl meets boy. Boy meets girl. They kiss and fall in love. Roll credits.

But that would be boring, wouldn’t it? Instead, this is a love story like no other. It’s all going so well for Jill and Dean, until Halloween night, when Dean disappears. And Sgt. Jill is left to pick up the pieces. From Wondery and Novel, comes a new series. Hosted by Kerry Godliman.

Narrator Kerry Godliman nominated for Best Podcast Host at the Ambies 2024; the series has also been recognized with critical acclaim and UK audio-industry honors.

In the 1930s, Lucky Luciano, one of American history’s most notorious mobsters, was finally taken down by a rookie prosecutor, Eunice Carter. She was one of the first Black Women ever to become a prosecutor in America. She changed the course of  history, but she has largely been forgotten. The Godmother tells the story of Eunice: a bad-ass anti-hero unafraid to bend the rules in pursuit of ambition, justice and legacy. The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts.

When the People Decide, a podcast from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, tells the stories of the Americans who decided they wanted more from their democracy and put in the hard work to bring change to their communities.

Season 1 focused on citizen-led ballot measure campaigns. Season 2, launching in summer 2023, will explore democratic innovation at the local level.

Winner, 2022 Signal Award.

In 2003, WNET journalist Jenna Flanagan reported on the murder of 15-year-old Newark native Sakia Gunn. Now, 20 years on, Flanagan revisits the story to examine what progress might have been made in protecting Newark’s queer youth — and how exactly justice was served in one of New Jersey’s first prosecuted LGBTQ+ hate crime homicides.

Flanagan sits down to talk with those whose lives intersected with Sakia’s — from her classmates and friends to the wide community of academics, artists, journalists, and politicians that got to know Sakia only after her death.

For almost two decades, DEA Special Agent Chad Scott ruled the streets just North of New Orleans. He controlled a network of snitches by convincing people he arrested to work for him as informants. Chad would stop at nothing to put drug dealers behind bars. His successes won awards at the DEA, but his willingness to bend the rules earned him a terrifying reputation on the streets. Some called him the Golden Boy. Others called him the White Devil. But when one of guys on Chad’s team is caught dealing drugs, Chad’s life is overturned. His right-hand men betray him and confess everything to the FBI. Investigators go over his career with a fine-toothed comb, asking the question: is Chad Scott the greatest DEA Agent in the South, or is he a criminal?

Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today.

We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the hidden history that lies beneath Central Park.  

From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the space race, join Don as he speaks to leading experts to delve into America’s past. Brought to you by History Hit, the award-winning podcast network and world’s best history channel on demand.

The SoundGirls Podcast – Resonating Beyond Sound. We speak to audio professionals from all walks of life, to learn how we can better support one another toward a more diversified industry. We also talk to our soundgirls.org profile people and dive a little deeper with them.

In July 1997, the first contestant voted off the first episode of the first ever reality TV elimination show took his own life. Expedition Robinson was the first show of its kind anywhere, and it was going to be remembered not for breaking the mold of television, but for a death, the first of at least 40 suicides linked globally to a reality TV show.

In this powerful series, journalist Jacques Peretti charts the meteoric rise of reality TV from the early days of Survivor and The Contender through to The Bachelor, Married At First SightThe Circle and Love Island.For the first time TV Insiders reveal the lengths the industry is willing to go to to make the most sensational viewing possible, and the collateral damage that followed.

The damaged lives of the everyday people who sold their souls to entertain us. And throughout, we talk to – or try to talk to – the people pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Some of the testimonies shared in this series are deeply personal and sensitive in nature. To help those contributors who may need support, the producers of this show have offered them access to a counseling service for free.

This series contains discussions about mental health, trauma, sexual abuse and suicide which some listeners may find upsetting. If you have been affected by any of the themes in the series please find links to organisations that can help you below:

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. 

National Alliance on Mental Health – The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or helpline@nami.org

Other international crisis helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. 

©2022 Audible, Ltd (P)2022 Audible, Ltd

How one small state got its hands around picking our presidents – and why it won’t let go. An investigation into the power and people behind the New Hampshire Primary, and a political story unlike any you’ve heard before. Learn more at www.strangleholdpodcast.org