Free Will and Just Deserts w/ Tamler Sommers

In the first part of our interview with philosophy professor and fellow podcaster Tamler Sommers, we discuss the link between free will and deserving punishment.

The episode can be found here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And check out Tamler's wonderful podcast, Very Bad Wizards. 

Payback Culture w/ Thane Rosenbaum

In the second part of our interview with Professor Thane Rosenbaum, we discuss his (and my) favorite films, books, and music about revenge.

The episode can be found here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And check out Professor Rosenbaum's book Payback: The Case for Revenge. 

Celebrating Payback w/ Thane Rosenbaum

In this interview with Professor Thane Rosenbaum, we discuss why revenge is a good thing and how our criminal justice system has failed to recognize this.

The episode can be found here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And check out Professor Rosenbaum's book Payback: The Case for Revenge. 

The Death of the Death Penalty? w/ Austin Sarat

In this wide-ranging interview with capital punishment expert Austin Sarat, we discuss the new abolitionist movement's arguments against the death penalty as well as Professor Sarat's own study of botched executions.

The episode can be found here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And check out Professor Sarat's latest work, Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty. 

Animal Trials (and Punishments) w/ Katie Sykes

Do you find the idea of a pig on trial for murder or locusts punished for trespass ridiculous? If so (and I hope you do), than the history of medieval animal trials will likely intrigue, disturb, and downright baffle you. Fortunately, Katie Sykes helps us unpack one of the strangest phenomena in the long, lurid history of punishment.

Listen up here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And purchase the classic treatise on this topic here. 

Sex and Punishment w/ Eric Berkowitz

Few acts have inspired more creative, repressive, and downright disturbing punishments than s-e-x. Author Eric Berkowitz joins us for a discussion on the long history of punishing sex, and how recent sex laws can be just as disturbing as those passed during the Middle Ages.

The episode can be found here, or if you haven't iTunes, here.

And check out Eric's book, Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire, and visit the book's website. 

From Jailhouse Lawyer to Law Student w/ Shon Hopwood

Shon Hopwood spent over a decade in federal prison for a series of bank robberies. While incarcerated, Hopwood became the most successful jailhouse lawyer in recent American history, writing two successful petitions to the United States Supreme Court. Join us for part two of our interview, where we discuss Hopwood's experience as a jailhouse lawyer and his transition back into society.

Check it out here or here.

And make sure to check out Shon's book, Law Man. 

From Bank Robber to Jailhouse Lawyer w/ Shon Hopwood

Shon Hopwood spent over a decade in federal prison for a series of bank robberies. While incarcerated, Hopwood became the most successful jailhouse lawyer in recent American history, writing two successful petitions to the United States Supreme Court. Join us for part one of a very special two-part series, where we first discuss Hopwood's bank robberies and his time behind bars.

You can listen here, or if you haven't iTunes here.

And be sure to pick up Shon's book, Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption. 

The American Origins of Prison w/ Michael Meranze

Prison is as American as apple pie. And unlike apple pie, the modern prison system actually began in the United States.  Today's guest, Professor Michael Meranze, not only discusses the origins of American prisons with us, but some of early incarceration's rather grislier details.

You can listen here, or if you haven't iTunes then here.

And check out Professor Meranze's book, Laboratories of Virtue. 

From Dungeons to Medieval Prisons w/ Guy Geltner

Few things occupy a more terrifying place in the modern mindset than medieval prisons. According to Professor Guy Geltner, however, this historical conception is far from the truth. While medieval prisons were no paradise, they were, in many important ways, not nearly as bad as penal conditions today. How can that be? Listen up and find out!

 You can listen here on iTunes, or if you haven't iTunes, here.

 And make sure to check out Professor Geltner's groundbreaking book, The Medieval Prison.