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DPIC Podcasts

DPIC is pleased to provide podcasts that discuss a wide variety of issues relating to the death penalty.

Our podcasts cover three different types of death penalty issues.

  • DPIC’s current monthly podcast series is called “Discussions With DPIC.” We speak with death penalty experts about timely death penalty developments in the news.
  • The “On the Issues” podcast series explores different factual, legal, and ethical topics relating to capital punishment.
  • A second series of podcasts details the history of capital punishment in each state.

To listen to any of the podcasts below, simply click the play button. To download the podcast, click the podcast title and then the “Download” button on the episode’s page.

To subscribe to our podcast you can:


  • Click here to automatically add it to your iTunes directly.
  • Click here to automatically add it to your Spotify Account.
  • Copy this link (Right click, copy link location), and add it to your podcast app of choice.

    Featured

    Discussions With DPIC

    Classifying Capital Punishment as Torture with John Bessler

    Published: Dec 08, 2023

    In this mon­th’s episode of Discussions with DPIC, Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with John Bessler (pic­tured), of Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Professor Bessler is the author of sev­er­al books on the death penal­ty, includ­ing his 2023 book The Death Penalty’s Denial of Fundamental Human Rights: International Law, State Practice, and the Emerging Abolitionist Norm. In his most recent book, Professor Bessler argues that the death penal­ty should be clas­si­fied as tor­ture, which would pro­hib­it its use under inter­na­tion­al law and treaties. The…

    Latest

    Discussions With DPIC

    Gender and the Death Penalty with Sandra Babcock

    Published: Nov 28, 2023

    In this month’s Discussions with DPIC, Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sandra Babcock (pic­tured), Clinical Professor at Cornell Law School, Faculty Director, and founder of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide. Ms. Babcock’s clin­ic cur­rent­ly rep­re­sents death sen­tenced women in the United States, Malawi, and Tanzania and is focused on pro­vid­ing defense teams in reten­tion­ist coun­tries with train­ing and con­sul­ta­tion in order to pro­vide the best pos­si­ble legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion for indi­vid­u­als fac­ing sen­tences of death. The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide also pro­duces research highlighting…

    Discussions With DPIC

    How A British Charity Works to Assist US Capital Defenders

    Published: Nov 02, 2023

    In this month’s Discussions with DPIC, Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Margot Ravenscroft, the Executive Director of AMICUS UK, a British char­i­ty that works to sup­port the cap­i­tal defense effort in the United States. Ms. Ravenscroft describes how AMICUS was found­ed by a British woman who became a pen friend with a Louisiana death row pris­on­er and returned to the UK after his exe­cu­tion, deter­mined to pro­vide assis­tance for those still on death row. Ms. Ravenscroft describes why the orga­ni­za­tion trains and sup­ports British lawyers and law firms to…

    Discussions With DPIC

    Evangelical Pastor Rich Nathan Discusses How a ​“Culture of Life” Informs His Opposition to the Death Penalty

    Published: Sep 25, 2023

    In the September 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Pastor Rich Nathan, found­ing pas­tor of Vineyard Columbus, an evan­gel­i­cal Christian church based in Ohio. Mr. Nathan shares his pro-life per­spec­tive and explains how reli­gious teach­ings inform his posi­tion on the death penalty.

    Discussions With DPIC

    Dr. Roya Boroumand

    Dr. Roya Boroumand discusses capital punishment in Iran

    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

    Kirk Bloodsworth, Thirty Years After His Exoneration

    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

    Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty with Tiana Herring

    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

    Ron McAndrew, Former Florida Warden Who Presided Over Executions

    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

    Protecting Especially Vulnerable Defendants from the Death Penalty
    A Discussion with Karen Steele

    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

    Former Prison Superintendent Frank Thompson on How Executions Affect Corrections Officers

    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…