DPI Podcasts

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Apr 10, 2020

In the April 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann (pic­tured) speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about Colorado’s repeal of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. McCann was elect­ed DA in 2016, as part of a nation­wide wave of reform-ori­en­t­ed pros­e­cu­tors. Both as pros­e­cu­tor and in her eight years in the Colorado leg­is­la­ture, McCann has advo­cat­ed for broad crim­i­nal jus­tice reforms, including the…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Mar 04, 2020

In the March 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Hannah Cox (pic­tured), National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP) speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham about the con­tin­u­ing move­ment by social and polit­i­cal con­ser­v­a­tives away from cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, how the death penal­ty is out of step with core con­ser­v­a­tive val­ues, and the key role that con­ser­v­a­tive leg­is­la­tors are play­ing in abo­li­tion efforts across the…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Feb 13, 2020

In the February 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, mem­bers of Myers’ legal team tell the sto­ry of how racial bias, poor rep­re­sen­ta­tion, and judi­cial over­ride led to the pos­si­ble wrong­ful con­vic­tion of an intel­lec­tu­al­ly dis­abled man. Assistant Federal Defender Kacey Keeton and Investigator Sara Romano speak with DPIC Managing Director Anne Holsinger and describe the shod­dy evi­dence used to con­vict Myers, his aban­don­ment by his original appellate…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Dec 27, 2019

In the December 2019 edi­tion of the Discussions with DPIC pod­cast, Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham and Managing Director Anne Holsinger dis­cuss DPIC’s 2019 Year End Report. The pod­cast explores the major themes pre­sent­ed in the year’s death-penal­­ty news and devel­op­ments, includ­ing inno­cence, declin­ing use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, and sys­temic prob­lems revealed by the new death sentences and…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Nov 12, 2019

Rob Warden and John Seasly speak with Anne Holsinger about their law review arti­cle and pro­file series,​“Unrequited Innocence,” which exam­ine death-penal­­ty cas­es in which pris­on­ers have not been exon­er­at­ed, despite strong evi­dence of inno­cence. Warden, the Executive Director Emeritus of the Center on Wrongful Convictions and a co-founder of both the National Registry of Exonerations and Injustice Watch, and Seasly, a reporter at Injustice Watch, pro­filed 24 cas­es involving 25…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Oct 03, 2019

James Rytting, an attor­ney who rep­re­sent­ed Texas pris­on­er Larry Swearingen, describes the junk sci­ence used to con­vict his client. Swearingen was exe­cut­ed on August 21, 2019, after mul­ti­ple courts declined to con­sid­er new evi­dence that revealed flaws in the foren­sic evi­dence pre­sent­ed at tri­al. Rytting also explains how Swearingen’s case high­lights flaws that con­tribute to wrong­ful con­vic­tions through­out the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem: unsci­en­tif­ic analysis of…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Aug 27, 2019

Writer/​director Chinonye Chukwu speaks with DPIC Senior Director of Research and Special Projects Ngozi Ndulue about her award-win­ning new film, Clemency. Chukwu dis­cuss­es her inspi­ra­tion for the sto­ry, the years-long process of research and immer­sion that helped her shape the nar­ra­tive, and her hopes for how this film will be…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Jul 03, 2019

In the lat­est episode of Discussions with DPIC, New Hampshire State Representative Renny Cushing talks with DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham about the life-alter­ing expe­ri­ence of hav­ing a close fam­i­ly mem­ber mur­dered and his jour­ney from being a mur­der-fam­i­­ly sur­vivor to spear­head­ing New Hampshire’s recent repeal of the death penal­ty. Cushing — whose father and broth­­er-in-law were killed in sep­a­rate inci­dents — dis­cuss­es his ongo­ing efforts to empower…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: May 17, 2019

Emmy- and Oscar-win­n­er Edward Zwick speaks about his lat­est film, Trial By Fire, in the lat­est episode of Discussions with DPIC. Zwick pro­duced and direct­ed Trial By Fire, which tells the sto­ry of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was con­vict­ed and sen­tence to death in 1992 for the alleged arson homi­cide of his three chil­dren. Arson inves­ti­ga­tors who tes­ti­fied against him used flawed meth­ods, and a jailhouse…

12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Published: Mar 14, 2019

In the lat­est episode of Discussions with DPIC, Dr. Katherine Beckett (pic­tured, left) and Dr. Heather Evans (pic­tured, right), authors of ​“The Role of Race in Washington State Capital Sentencing: 1981 – 2014,” dis­cuss their research and its impact on the Washington Supreme Court’s deci­sion to strike down the state’s death penal­ty. Their study was heav­i­ly cit­ed by the court in State v. Gregory, the October 2018 deci­sion that found Washington’s death penal­ty vio­lat­ed the state constitution…