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New Thinking Podcast

new thinking podcast guests

Rooted in history and the urgency of now, New Thinking talks to the people working to reform—or remake—the criminal legal system. It’s hosted by Matt Watkins.

  • Audio

    The Cycle: Police Violence, Black Rebellion

    by Matt Watkins

    In her new book, historian Elizabeth Hinton highlights a "crucible period" of often violent rebellions in the name of the Black freedom struggle beginning in 1968. Initiated in almost every instance by police violence, the rebellions—dismissed as "riots"—have been largely written out of the history of the civil rights era. Hinton contends the period is critical for understanding the roots of mass incarceration and contains important lessons today for people organizing against police violence.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Violence
  • Audio

    The Front End: Policing, Race, and Mental Health

    by Matt Watkins

    One of every four people killed by police is experiencing a mental health emergency. Changing how we respond to crisis in the moment—and to widespread, ongoing mental health needs—means deferring to the leadership of people with lived experience and putting racial equity at the center of every reform. On our New Thinking podcast, listening to the people who know how to fix systems, because they’re surviving those systems' harms.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Diversion, Problem-Solving Justice, Treatment Courts
  • Audio

    Does the Criminal Justice System Cause Crime?

    by Matt Watkins

    What's the most effective way to reduce the chance of an arrest in the future? A new study suggests it's shrinking the size of the justice system in the here and now. Boston D.A. Rachael Rollins and the director of NYU's Public Safety Lab, Anna Harvey, talk about the benefits of not prosecuting low-level charges—an almost 60 percent reduction in recidivism—and the challenges, even with data in hand, of bucking the conventional wisdom.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Diversion, Evidence-Based Practices
  • Audio

    How Will the Death Penalty End?

    by Matt Watkins

    Maurice Chammah says the unprecedented federal execution spree during the final weeks of the Trump presidency is evidence of the death penalty's continued decline, not its resurgence. The journalist is the author of the new book, Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty. Chammah tracks the use and symbolism of the death penalty alongside the long arc of U.S history and the evolution of the criminal justice system.

    Addressing Racial Disparities
  • Audio

    COVID-19 Behind Bars: A Pandemic of Neglect

    by Matt Watkins

    Homer Venters has been inspecting prisons, jails, and ICE detention centers for COVID-compliance almost since the start of the pandemic. The former chief medical officer for New York City jails says what were already substandard health systems and abusive environments have deteriorated sharply. Any fix to health care behind bars, he says, has to start with listening to the people these facilities have worked to silence: those with lived experience of the conditions.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Evidence-Based Practices
  • Audio

    Josie Duffy Rice: Fighting a Big Fight

    by Matt Watkins

    Josie Duffy Rice says remaking the justice system is a generational struggle, but it's one progressives are winning. The well-known criminal justice commentator and activist, and president of the news site The Appeal, explains why she believes in the power of big ideas, and offers her take on the federal election, "defund the police," and the role of the media in promoting—or thwarting—change.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Reducing Violence, Treatment Courts
  • Audio

    Guns, Young People, Hidden Networks

    by Matt Watkins

    Why do some young people carry guns? It's a difficult question to answer. People in heavily-policed neighborhoods with high rates of violence aren't generally enthusiastic about answering questions about guns. On New Thinking, hear from three of the authors of a year-long study we led into young people and guns. The findings are disturbing, but if the goal is to learn from marginalized communities themselves what help they need, no less important is the way the research was conducted.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Violence, Youth Initiatives
  • Audio

    Reform and Its Discontents

    by Matt Watkins

    The movement to reform prisons is almost as old as prisons themselves. But what is the ultimate goal of reform of a system like the criminal justice system? On our New Thinking podcast, Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law explain why they think many of today's most popular reforms are extending, rather than countering, the justice system's harmful effects. Their new book is Prison By Any Other Name.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Diversion, Gender and Family Justice, Justice-Involved Women, Restorative Justice, Technology, Treatment Courts
  • Audio

    Restorative Justice is Racial Justice

    by Matt Watkins

    Restorative justice is about repairing harm. But for Black Americans, what is there to be restored to? This special episode of New Thinking features a roundtable with eight members of our Restorative Justice in Schools team. They spent three years embedded in five Brooklyn high schools—all five schools are overwhelmingly Black, and all five had some of the highest suspension rates in New York City.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Restorative Justice, Youth Initiatives
  • Audio

    Justice and the Virus: Racial Patterns

    by Matt Watkins

    The death of George Floyd after a white police officer pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for close to nine minutes has triggered a wave of anger and revulsion. Vincent Southerland, the executive director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU, compares the brazen nature of Floyd's death to a lynching. The furor comes in the midst of a pandemic itself exacerbated by racism. How will COVID-19, and the reaction to police violence, affect the deep racial patterns of the justice system?

    Addressing Racial Disparities

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