The Blotter Presents

102: 16 Shots and The Thin Blue Line


Listen Later

Showtime's 16 Shots looks at the murder of Laquan McDonald in 2014, and why this police-involved shooting galvanized Chicago. Kevin and I talk about the excellent access filmmaker Richard Rowley gets on both sides of the issue; give suggestions for police procedural manuals; and wonder when the "a few bad apples" line of rationalizing will stop getting trotted out.

Another police-involved shooting, of a police officer, and the injustices that rolled downhill from it are the topic of Errol Morris's legendary The Thin Blue Line. Does it hold up, more than three decades after its release? Or does it mostly feel relevant because of the dozens of instances of misconduct and false confessions we've seen (and heard) laid bare in the meantime? The police, the public('s) trust, and the power of testimony in The Blotter Presents, Episode 102.

Get even more true-crime content reviewed: support the pod/site on Patreon, and sign up for the newsletter, Best Evidence!

SHOW NOTES

  • 16 Shots: https://www.sho.com/titles/3466069/16-shots
  • Vic Mensa’s “16 Shots”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPWXOAYlgOc
  • Bill James’s Popular Crime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043RSK9Y/
  • Local 5-0 confiscate discipline records at Summit, NJ schools: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1984/02/22/05340018.h03.html
  • The Thin Blue Line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEb\_2mj1V8w
  • Jill Lepore on Joe Gould and Joseph Mitchell: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/27/joe-goulds-teeth
  • Special Guest: Kevin Smokler.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    The Blotter PresentsBy The Blotter Presents

    • 4.2
    • 4.2
    • 4.2
    • 4.2
    • 4.2

    4.2

    178 ratings


    More shows like The Blotter Presents

    View all
    Sword and Scale by Sword and Scale

    Sword and Scale

    62,425 Listeners

    20/20 by ABC News

    20/20

    11,916 Listeners

    48 Hours by CBS News

    48 Hours

    10,854 Listeners

    Snapped: Women Who Murder by Oxygen

    Snapped: Women Who Murder

    5,056 Listeners

    Cold Case Files by A&E / PodcastOne

    Cold Case Files

    8,678 Listeners

    Southern Fried True Crime by Erica Kelley

    Southern Fried True Crime

    10,603 Listeners

    Dateline NBC by NBC News

    Dateline NBC

    47,784 Listeners

    Ozarks True Crime by editaudio, Anne Roderique-Jones

    Ozarks True Crime

    817 Listeners

    It's the Mystery for Me (A True Crime Podcast) by Priscilla and Norma

    It's the Mystery for Me (A True Crime Podcast)

    861 Listeners

    Dateline Originals by NBC News

    Dateline Originals

    1,415 Listeners