Prison State

Sam and Emma host Meg O’Connor, senior reporter with The Appeal, to discuss her recent piece “POLICE KILLED HIS SON. PROSECUTORS CHARGED THE TEEN’S FRIENDS WITH HIS MURDER.”. Then, they’re joined by Kathy Hempstead, senior policy advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to discuss the impending unwinding of Medicaid continuous enrollment benefits. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on DeSanctis floundering […]
It’s Casual Friday! Emma speaks with Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and proprietor of the AP newsletter on Substack, to round up the week in news. Then Emma is joined by political commentator Olayemi Olurin! First, Emma runs through updates on the 1st anniversary of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the US’ Ukraine policy, the […]
Emma hosts Jarrod Shanahan, assistant professor of criminal justice at Governors State University, and Zhandarka Kurti, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Loyola University, Chicago, to discuss their recent book States of Incarceration: Rebellion, Reform, and America’s Punishment System. Then, Emma is joined by Jake Werner, Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to discuss his recent […]
Sam and Emma host Jefferson Cowie, Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, to discuss his recent book Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the GOP acting as the House majority, Ronna McDaniels winning the election for RNC Chair, and the murder of Tyre Nichols by the […]
Sam and Emma host Graham Rayman, criminal justice reporter for The New York Daily News, and Reuven Blau, senior reporter for The City to discuss their recent book Rikers: An Oral History. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on this weekend’s mass shooting at Monterey Park, a former New York FBI agent engaging in money laundering with Russian connections, Biden’s new […]
Sam and Emma host Daniel Medwed, Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, to discuss his recent book Barred: Why the Innocent Can’t Get Out of Prison. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Russian escalation, JD Vance’s relationship to a big opioid pill mill physician, and Oklahoma City’s Apple Store unionization, also touching on […]
Sam and Emma host writer Shon Faye to discuss her recent book The Transgender Issue: Trans Justice Is Justice For All. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District to discuss President Biden’s recent student loan debt forgiveness plan, as well as many of the other crazy goings-on on Capitol Hill. Emma and Sam first […]
Sam and Emma host freelance journalist Chris Pomorski to discuss his recent piece in The New Republic “When Innocence Isn’t Enough.” Then they are joined by Amjad Iraqi, editor at 972 Magazine, to discuss the recent violence in the Gaza Strip. Emma and Sam begin by covering updates on the DOJ search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, the continuing emergency in Jackson, the […]
Emma hosts Dorothy Roberts, professor of Law, Sociology, and Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss her recent book Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families–and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World. Emma first covers yesterday’s simultaneous mass shootings, including five dead in Tulsa, the continued shortage of US-produced baby formula, the Israeli […]
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Matthew Film Guy! Emma and Sam first dive into the Uvalde Police’s ever-changing story, the White House’s upcoming, likely-to-fail gun control package, and the GOP striking down a domestic terror bill, […]