DPIC Podcasts

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Aug 31, 2023

In the August 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Dr. Roya Boroumand, Executive Director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran. A spe­cial­ist in Iran’s post-World War 2 his­to­ry, Dr. Boroumand pro­vides his­tor­i­cal con­text for ongo­ing events and dis­cuss­es the cur­rent increase in exe­cu­tions. With the one-year anniver­sary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death approach­ing, Dr. Boroumand also­high­lights the inter­na­tion­al community’s response to this event and the protests that followed.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Jul 21, 2023

In the July 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Kirk Bloodsworth, the first per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row by DNA evi­dence. Mr. Bloodsworth reflects on the thir­ty years since his exon­er­a­tion and dis­cuss­es the expe­ri­ence of being wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed. He also describes the work he and oth­er exonerees have done, and how the issue of inno­cence has affect­ed leg­is­la­tion on the death penalty.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Jun 26, 2023

In the June 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Managing Director Anne Holsinger and Data Storyteller Tiana Herring dis­cuss the lat­est Racial Justice Storytelling Report, Doomed to Repeat: The Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty. The report exam­ines the his­to­ry of Tennessee’s cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment sys­tem, doc­u­ment­ing the con­tin­ued impact of racial dis­crim­i­na­tion and racial vio­lence on the admin­is­tra­tion of the death penal­ty. Ms. Herring, the author, pro­vides an overview of the report, explores key find­ings, explains its rela­tion­ship to DPIC’s ear­li­er work, and identifies…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: May 31, 2023

In the lat­est episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, inter­views Dr. Sally Satel (pic­tured), a psy­chi­a­trist and senior fel­low at the American Enterprise Institute. She shares her insights on the role of severe men­tal ill­ness in death penal­ty cases.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Apr 27, 2023

In the lat­est episode of ​“Discussions with DPIC,” Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, inter­views Ron McAndrew, a for­mer Florida Prison Warden who wit­nessed exe­cu­tions using elec­tro­cu­tion and lethal injec­tion in Florida and Texas. He offers reflec­tions on the neg­a­tive impact that exe­cu­tions have on the fam­i­lies of both the vic­tim and the con­demned, the cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers, and on himself.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Mar 23, 2023

In the lat­est episode of ​“Discussions with DPIC,” Robert Dunham, for­mer Executive Director of DPIC inter­views Karen Steele (pic­tured), a researcher and defense attor­ney in Oregon, regard­ing the spe­cial char­ac­ter­is­tics of late ado­les­cent defen­dants fac­ing the death penal­ty. Research by Steele and oth­ers points to the incom­plete brain devel­op­ment in those aged 18 – 21 and how that can be exac­er­bat­ed in those suf­fer­ing from fetal alco­hol spec­trum dis­or­der. The research has also found that late-ado­les­cent defen­dants of col­or are dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly sen­tenced to death.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Feb 21, 2023

In the February 2023 edi­tion of Discussions with DPIC, for­mer Oregon Superintendent of Prisons Frank Thompson speaks with DPIC Managing Director Anne Holsinger about how his expe­ri­ences as a cor­rec­tions offi­cer — as well as being a mur­der victim’s fam­i­ly mem­ber — have affect­ed his views on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Thompson over­saw the only two exe­cu­tions per­formed in Oregon in the past 50 years and was respon­si­ble for devel­op­ing the exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. He said the process of per­form­ing exe­cu­tions cre­at­ed ​“an addi­tion­al group of vic­tims” among the prison staff. Seeing the stress it caused him…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Jan 06, 2023

Longtime civ­il and human rights lawyer, Diann Rust-Tierney, the exec­u­tive direc­tor of Georgetown University’s Racial Justice Institute, joins DPIC exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham for a dis­cus­sion of race, human rights, and the U.S. death penal­ty. Prof. Rust-Tierney argues that the death penal­ty has long been mis­per­ceived as a nor­mal pub­lic safe­ty tool. The real­i­ty, she says, is that ​“from its very begin­ning in his­to­ry, [the death penal­ty] was part of a legal and social sys­tem designed to keep var­i­ous races in their place.” Rust-Tierney says that racial dis­par­i­ties in the…

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Oct 31, 2022

In the October 2022 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Death Penalty Information Center Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue and Data Storyteller Tiana Herring dis­cuss DPIC’s recent­ly released report Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty. The report looks at the racial his­to­ry, present, and future of Oklahoma’s death penal­ty. Ndulue and Herring explore Oklahoma’s unique his­to­ry, the key find­ings of the report, its rela­tion­ship to DPIC’s ear­li­er work, and lessons from Oklahoma’s expe­ri­ence that are applic­a­ble nationwide.

Discussions With DPIC

Published: Aug 24, 2022

Former Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and for­mer U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester, who co-chaired the bipar­ti­san Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, join DPIC exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham in the August 2022 Discussions With DPIC pod­cast. Governor Henry, a Democrat, and Judge Lester, a Republican, dis­cuss the find­ings of the commission’s review that led them to call for a halt to the state’s planned exe­cu­tions of 25 pris­on­ers, at least until sig­nif­i­cant reforms have been adopted.