Community Corrections w/ Edward Latessa

In our second episode on alternatives to incarceration we sit down with Professor Edward Latessa and discuss everything from the ever controversial halfway houses to the ever absurd bootcamps.

You can download the episode here, or if you haven't itunes, then here. 

Probation and Parole w/ Megan Sacks

Given American prisons' overcrowding and expense, judges have increasingly looked for alternatives to incarceration. Probation, or releasing convicts in lieu of serving prison time, has proven especially popular. Professor Megan Sacks, a former probation officer, fills us in on the pluses and perils of probation, the utter failure(s) of parole, and her own work on the front lines.

Listen to the episode here, or if you haven't iTunes, here. 

The Politicization of Punishment w/ Jonathan Simon

In our final episode on mass incarceration in the United States, we speak to Jonathan Simon, among the most influential sociologists currently breathing. According to Professor Simon, all three branches of federal and state government, not to mention us voters, are ultimately responsible for the nation's repressive and wasteful prison system.

You can find the episode here, or if you haven't iTunes, then here.

Also check out Professor Simon's latest work, Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear, here. 

Mass Incarceration w/ Ernest Drucker

The United States, despite its plummeting crime rate, continues to imprison people en masse. According to today's guest, the nation's incarceratory zeal constitutes a literal epidemic, comparable to the AIDS outbreak or the rising rates of obesity. How did we get here? How do we get out? Listen up and find out!

You can download the episode on iTunes here, or, if you haven't iTunes, here.

And make sure to check out Professor Drucker's book, A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America.