
The Naked Truth — Season 1
Investigative journalists tackle complex and under-reported subjects ranging from online extortion to fentanyl addiction and partisan gerrymandering.
About this season
Investigative journalists tackle complex and under-reported subjects ranging from online extortion to fentanyl addiction and partisan gerrymandering.
Episodes (12)

1. Death by Fentanyl
6.0Aired 31 January 2016
A dangerous drug called fentanyl is turning the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history even deadlier. Fusion correspondent Mariana van Zeller tracks down the drug’s two sources: pharmaceutical companies and Mexican drug lords.

2. Mugged
8.0Aired 6 March 2016 • 30 min
An investigation into web pages, which publish online police photos and charge money to eliminate them, reveals who is behind these operations.

3. Radicals Rising
6.0Aired 27 March 2016
Correspondent Mariana van Zeller gets up close and personal with extremists on all sides, to see how otherwise open-minded people are finding purpose in hatred and how that hatred is infecting even mainstream politics.

4. Dirty Little Secrets
5.0Aired 17 April 2016
What do illegal arms traffickers, human traffickers, terrorists and some billionaires have in common? They all have to hide their money. Fusion uncovers the dark world of the owners of these secrets.

5. District of Cannabis
Aired 22 May 2016
Ryan Nerz circulates in the US capital to follow a man and his Cannabis crusade to the White House. There he discovers some of the weirdest laws about marijuana in the US, and who is really funding their legalization.

6. ISIS Fighters
7.0Aired 26 June 2016
Westerners are joining the fight against ISIS, “They just want to kill Daesh,” a former Marine says. As part of its latest Naked Truth documentary, Fusion’s Vytenis Didziulis travels to northern Syria to embed with the unpaid western volunteers signing up to fight the Islamic State.

7. Shadow Town
3.0Aired 28 August 2016 • 30 min
Fusion’s Investigative team, in collaboration with a group of young aspiring journalists, looks at Police Relations, Water Quality and Healthcare problems for the people living life in the shadows of California’s Central Valley.

8. Rigged
6.0Aired 25 September 2016 • 30 min
The arrangement exposes a toxic fermentation of partisan politics, voter repression and traps that make it almost impossible to have free and fair elections. Natasha del Toro investigates how democracy came to this and how we can repair it.

9. Trumpland
5.0Aired 16 October 2016
They’ve been mocked as “The Deplorables” but they’ve changed the face of presidential politicals in 2016. Fusion profiles the real people fueling the Trump candidacy.

10. The Numbers Game
Aired 23 November 2016
Fusion examines the inadequate and outdated collection of crime statistics and how this practice skews policing and public policy. We wrangled raw FBI data to develop key insights into policing in the U.S. Plus, how gaming the numbers can lead to further inequality, discrimination, and in some cases, neglect. Stats may not be sexy, but this data affects how we live our lives every single day, especially if you are black in America. This episode of The Naked Truth won the prestigious 2017 NABJ Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism.

11. Frat Power
3.0Aired 29 January 2017
Fusion spent nearly a year investigating college fraternities and their influence on and off campus. It turns out that one of the real paths to power may lie in whether you pledge a fraternity or not.

12. Standing Rock
4.0Aired 22 December 2017
Protesters won a major victory over the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) project. Braving water cannons, dogs, police brutality, and extreme weather, #NoDAPL activists captured the world’s attention and convinced President Obama the pipeline needed to be rerouted away from sacred land. But as Donald Trump, who has said he supports the project, prepares to take office, many in the movement realize the struggle has just begun.