Texas Tough

The Leonard Lopate Show | Jun 23, 2010

Historian Robert Perkinson gives a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, and looks how Texas has influenced criminal justice severity, from executions to supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. His book Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, shows how a plantation-based penal system became the national standard.

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

NYC still refused most emergency aid requests to prevent eviction after Mamdani took office

In the first three months of the year, the city rejected about 75% of applications for One-Shot Deal emergency grants, which help tenants cover unpaid rent.
Gothamist |

When AI Models Go Rogue

The Brian Lehrer Show |

"The Vessel" Follows the Grief and Trauma of an Unlikely Trio

All Of It with Alison Stewart |

How the U.S. Government Built an Underground City, and Other State Secrets

How FEMA's secretive beginnings fed conspiracy theories that haunt the agency today.
On the Media |
YOU ARE ONLINE