Investigating the political impacts of “dark money” with Anna Massoglia
Air Dates: August 4 – August 10, 2025
It’s comforting to think about American political institutions as “transparent” and open to scrutiny. However, this week on “Story in the Public Square,” Anna Massoglia describes a campaign finance system built, increasingly, on so-called “dark money.”
Massoglia is a political influence expert and investigative journalist with more than a decade of experience exposing the hidden forces of money, power and politics. As the founder and author of “Influence Brief,” Massoglia helps readers to navigate the complex financial systems and influence networks shaping politics and public policy in the United States and across the globe. She also works as an independent consultant and advisor for various organizations, offering expertise in research, strategy and public policy. She is a director of investigations at the Sunlight Reseach Center, a nonpartisan journalism support organization that equips newsrooms to provide their communities fact-based, transparent investigative journalism holding power to account.
On this week’s episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Massoglia spoke about the surplus of “dark money,” or, money that comes from untraceable origins, that is funneled into elections in the United States. She spoke about the profound impacts these funds can have on American politics and said, “it can impact different industries, different issues and policies, as well as, at the core of it, who is going to represent the average American in Congress and make the choices that really impact their lives, sometimes on a daily basis.”
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Check your local public television listings for airtimes near you! An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 2:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Mondays at 4:30 a.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a project of the Pell Center at Salve Regina University. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.