PodcastsHistoryRip Current

Rip Current

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Rip Current
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32 episodes

  • Rip Current

    S2 E11: Headwaters

    14/1/2026 | 38 mins.

    In the final episode of the season, Judi Bari’s story continues after her death from breast cancer in 1997. Her civil suit against the FBI and the Oakland Police Department is finally heard, and a deal is struck with Maxxam to preserve an important area of old growth redwoods. We assess Judi’s legacy and present one last theory of the bombing, one that has been overlooked for decadesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Rip Current

    S2 E10: The Usual Suspect

    07/1/2026 | 36 mins.

    **WARNING: This episode contains discussions about domestic violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion advised. While Judi Bari, Darryl Cherney and their supporters positioned the bombing of Judi’s car as political violence, others came to believe that a more likely suspect was her ex-husband, Mike Sweeney. While no physical evidence ties Sweeney to the crime, his background, including an alleged arson attack on a small airport near his home in 1980. And then there was the allegation of domestic abuse. But did he have the opportunity to place the bomb in her car?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Rip Current

    S2 E9: COINTELPRO

    31/12/2025 | 37 mins.

    After the bombing of her car, Judi Bari came to believe that the attack had been carried out by a conspiracy between the FBI and elements of the timber industry. There are, in fact, a numbers of reasons to believe that the FBI was involved -- a combination of strange "coincidences" and a history of subverting radical movements. But would the FBI really assassinate an environmental activist? And did she pose such a danger to the timber industry that they would want her dead?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Rip Current

    S2 E8: The Lord's Avenger

    24/12/2025 | 32 mins.

    With Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney no longer considered suspects, the question becomes, "if not them, who?" With the FBI and the police losing interest in the case, two journalists undertake their own investigation. A third journalist receives a letter claiming responsibility for the bomb, but all is not as it seems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • Rip Current

    S2 E7: It's Hard to Say Who the Victim Is

    17/12/2025 | 31 mins.

    On May 24th, 1990, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney are driving through Oakland when a pipe bomb detonates in their car. Judi is nearly killed. From the very beginning of the investigation, Judi and Darryl are the main suspects. Even while Judi lies in a hospital bed with terrible injuries, law enforcement and the media are making the case that they were transporting the bomb and it went off by accident. But that is not what happened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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About Rip Current

On the morning of May 24th, 1990, a pipe bomb exploded in the car driven by Judi Bari, a leader in the radical environmental group, Earth First!. She was critically injured, but she survived. The case of who placed the bomb has never been solved. In fact, law enforcement barely investigated. The bombing happened in the midst of a battle over the fate of the last remnants of the original Redwood forest in northernmost California. As timber companies looked to cut the remaining trees, Earth First! activists used whatever non-violent means they could to stop them. In a region reliant on timber for well over a century, threats and violence followed. This season on Rip Current, the story of a woman who led a group of people willing to put their lives on the line to stop irreversible environmental damage, and the price that she paid.
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