Fresh Air

Exposing The Health Risks Of Incarceration

03.18.2019 - By NPRPlay

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Dr. Homer Venters spent nine years overseeing the care of thousands of inmates on New York City's Rikers Island. He details horrific cases of inmate deaths from beatings and neglect, and how a new medical record system could be used as a human rights tool. "Jail settings [are] incredibly dehumanizing, and they dehumanize the individuals who pass through them," Dr. Venters says. Security staff and health staff can stop seeing inmates as people. "They look at them as problems. They look at them as liars, as malingerers."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews unusual recordings of familiar pieces by Beethoven and Mozart.

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