Inmate and Corrections Officer: Bridging the Gap
Recently, this American Life recorded an conversation between an inmate and a corrections officer. The conversation covered many issue that are central to prison reform and provides a glimpse into prison dynamics
Undocumented Immigrants Intentionally Arrested in Protest
As the debate about immigration reform continues to simmer, This American Life ran a story recently about a group of activists
from the National Immigrant Youth Alliance who intentionally got arrested for being undocumented. They believed if they could get inside the Broward Transitional Center in Florida, they could prevent lots of the immigrants there from being deported. Obama Administration policy, laid out in a series of documents called the Morton memos, states that non-violent immigrants who are not criminals are low priority for detention. Michael May also wrote a print version of this story, for The American Prospect. (27 minutes)
This past weekend, This American Life feature the story of Kirk Johnson and the thousands of Iraqis seeking asylum in the United States after aiding America in the War in Iraq.
Here is a description of the story, its prologue, and two acts:
The truly incredible story of a guy named Kirk Johnson who started a list of hundreds of Iraqis who needed to get out of their country. They were getting death threats, and he was their only hope. Only 26 and living in his aunt’s basement, he had no idea what to do. How Kirk kind of succeeded spectacularly and failed spectacularly at the same time.
PROLOGUE–Ira talks with Producer Nancy Updike about when she first met Kirk Johnson in 2007. At the time he was mulling a crazy plan that involved Iraqi refugees, the Coast Guard and a boat. (5 minutes)
ACT ONE: RELUCTANT SAILOR–Kirk sleepwalks through an open window and into a completely different life. He explains how he starts compiling a list of Iraqis who’d worked with the U.S. government after the invasion, whose lives were now in danger because of that. Carrying around that list gets some very strange reactions from government officials. Kirk is founder and executive director of The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. His memoir To Be a Friend Is Fatalcomes out in September. (23 minutes.)
ACT TWO: EMAILS FROM A DEAD MAN.–To get a sense of what may be broken about our process for bringing these Iraqis into the US, the ones who worked with US forces and who believe their lives are now in danger because of that, Kirk Johnson tells Nancy Updike about one guy. Almost a year of his emails were forwarded to Kirk, who printed them out and started to realize that he was looking at a dead man’s attempt to immigrate to the U.S. (29 minutes)
Why We Are Failing Good Teachers
Last weekend, This American Life ran a story about an award winning teacher who is being forced to quit. It’s a really exasperating story if you care about the state of American education. Here is a description of the segment:
Science teacher Jason Pittman, who teaches pre-school through sixth grade at a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, won a big teaching award this week. In fact, during his ten years teaching, he’s won many, many awards. He loves his job. But this week, he explains to Ira why he’s quitting, even though he doesn’t want to. (6 minutes)
Florida: Expedites Death Penalty Process Despite Chilling Exoneration Rate
Yesterday, This American Life ran a short story about a recent bill signed by Florida Governor Rick Scott. Despite the fact that Florida has one of the worst record for poor lawyering in death penalty cases (which only requires a majority vote for death in Florida), the bill would make executions quicker and easier.
Here is a description of the story:
On Wednesday, Florida executed a death row inmate named William Van Poyck. His execution came the same week that Florida’s governor signed a new law designed to speed up executions in the state. Emily Bazelon, legal affairs editor at Slate, explains that of all the states in the country, Florida is probably the last one where you’d want executions to move faster. (8 minutes)