Mass Incarceration, Then and Now

About this episode

<p><span>The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world; although the country makes up about five per cent of the global population, it holds nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners. </span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/david-remnick"><span>David Remnick</span></a><span> is joined by WNYC’s Kai Wright, the host of the podcast “The United States of Anxiety,” to talk about mass incarceration and the beginning of a movement against it. Remnick also talks with Michelle Alexander, whose book “</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595586431"><span>The New Jim Crow</span></a><span>,” from 2010, which was a best-seller for nearly five years, identified how mass-incarceration policies have been a disaster for communities of color. The poet and public defender Reginald Dwayne Betts, who was formerly incarcerated, reads from his book “</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Felon-Poems-Reginald-Dwayne-Betts/dp/0393652149"><span>Felon</span></a><span>.” And we follow a man who returns home from prison to find a changed world. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><i><span>Taber Gable contributed original music for this episode.  </span></i><i><span> </span></i></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>