Unruly Subjects
Unruly Subjects is a weekly show about politics and culture hosted by Chenjerai Kumanyika, media professor and Peabody Award-winning audio journalist. Each week, Chenjerai makes sense of the week’s struggles with some of his favorite people - thinkers, journalists, friends, and folks who can help us laugh through the pain.
The show is created in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Support Unruly Subjects at Patreon.com/UnrulySubjects
Unruly Subjects
Locked Up for Being Poor: The Reality of Cash Bail and the Copaganda Machine
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This week, we hear the story of how the "punishment bureaucracy" uses narrative and media to maintain state violence. We’re looking at the devastating impact of jailing someone simply because they cannot afford to pay bail. We dive into how punishment systems defend themselves and the stories that police, prosecutors, politicians, and media institutions tell in order to make cages sound like safety.
🙏 We make Unruly Subjects 100% independently! Support the show on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/UnrulySubjects.
First, Chenjerai talks with Alec Karakatsanis, founder of Civil Rights Corps and author of the book Copaganda: How Police and Media Manipulate Our News. Alec tells the story of the fight against wealth-based detention—from the devastating reality of the cash bail system to the ways "copaganda" is used to attack reform victories and justify the jailing of people because they are poor.
Later, Chenjerai is out for a ride in New York City when his bike breaks down, leading to an encounter that sticks with him. He meets a bike mechanic who is clearly living without much of a safety net, but who carries an incredible archive of skill, a set of tools and a deep willingness to help others. It’s a reflection on the genius that lives all around us, and the uncomfortable reality of the city’s inequality.
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Additional Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Grizzly Beatz
Unruly Subjects is created in partnership with Rowhome Productions
Further reading & sources from this episode
- Alec Karakatsanis’s book: Copaganda: How Police and Media Manipulate Our News
- Civil Rights Corps: Learn more about their litigation and advocacy work
- The Puerto Rico Report: The Transformation of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau
- The Body Camera: The Language of our Dreams by Alec Karakatsanis
- The California Supreme Court Ruling: The Marshall Project
- Debt Collective: Carceral Debt
