You can do WHAT with seaweed???
How does it feel to be known as a “felon” forever?
Summary
Robert Stewart defended his doctoral dissertation almost 11 years to the day after he walked out of prison. Today, as a sociological criminologist at the University of Maryland, he researches the experiences and beliefs of people who have also been through the criminal legal system. Asking important questions about civic inclusion, Robert has researched the startling impact of criminal records on college admissions, and today is working to understand the political beliefs of the 4.6 million Americans who are barred from voting due to a felony conviction. “We have to rethink the labels that we apply to people,” Rob says. “We have to rethink how we reduce people from infinitely complex human beings with views and experiences and likes and dislikes to that one event that happened in their life.”
In this conversation, Dwayne and Rob talk about their own experiences with the prison system; what it feels like to carry the label of “felon” through life; and what we sacrifice as a society when we punish people by taking away their right to vote.
All episodes
- Listen
- Listen
Want to protect democracy? Hug an election official.
- Listen
The marvelous connections between poetry and medicine
- Listen
The anti-slavery roots of America's public parks
- Listen
If farmworkers pick the food, shouldn’t they get a seat at the table?
- Listen
What the AIDS epidemic taught this nurse about keeping the world healthy
- Listen
Is it possible to build a great school in a prison?
- Listen
You—yes, you—can decide how the government spends money
- Listen
Following the data to a fairer criminal justice system
- Listen
How to teach history in a divided America? Let students think for themselves.
- Listen
Could virtual reality make us better coworkers?
- Listen
Native life is everywhere. Just look around.
- Listen
What’s possible when Black mothers have the financial freedom to dream?
- Listen
What if we let asylum seekers fix our immigration system?
- Listen
Young people: here’s how to run for office—and win
- Listen
What you learn when you sail around the world without a compass
- Listen
This profoundly simple act can save the lives of millions of Black women
- Listen
Our buildings are making us sick. Can they heal us instead?
- Listen
How to tell ourselves the truth about the history of slavery