All too often, those in power say one thing in public and something else behind closed doors. This week’s Weekend Reader is devoted to examples of journalism that aim to expose what’s being said and done when people think no one is watching. The American Prospect reports on how the Biden White House is quietly using access and flattery to keep progressives in line. New York Magazine offers up a profile of a whistleblower willing to go to prison to expose the drone war the country’s military was keeping hidden away. And in The Daily Poster, we pull back the curtain on the crass internal documents government staffers are using to justify cutting off pandemic aid to millions of families during a historic deadly pandemic.

All this and much more in this Weekend Reader, exclusively for paying subscribers below.