One Book, One Northwestern: The Podcast

In Just Mercy, Stevenson shows us the inhumanity of the U.S. prison system. Today, we will discuss the road to dismantling that system with a leading abolitionist and One Books spring speaker: Andrea Ritchie.

Andrea Ritchie has over 30 years of experience in organizing, litigating, writing about the criminalization of women of color and LGBTQ people in the U.S. After last year's pandemic and economic recession collided with police violence, Ritchie explains why recentering the defund movement on the needs of these marginalized groups is more important than ever. Learn more at interruptingcriminalization.com

Xavier McElrath-Bey didn’t understand what it meant to be tried as an adult when he was 13. But after serving 13 years of his 25 year sentence, his mission has become to work on behalf the victim of his case and all the incarcerated youth handed extreme sentences. Now, at age 45, he’s the co-executive director of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, a national based organization fighting in courtrooms, legislatures and prisons across the U.S. He tells his story, hoping it will change people’s minds and our justice system.

To learn more about the campaign, visit cfsy.org. You can also learn more about Xavier's extensive advocacy and story, visit nochildisbornbad.com/

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, founded in 2006, built eight youth prisons, or as they are formally called “youth centers.” Two closed in 2012, another in 2016. This August, The Final Five Campaign launched to close the last five youth prisons in Illinois.

In this episode, we got insight on how the effort is forming from Olivia Blocker, the campaign’s coordinator, and Ja’Vaune Jackson, a youth advocate who was incarcerated in two of the centers as a minor. They break down why prisons cause irreparable harm to entire communities and what alternatives to youth prisons may look like. thefinal5campaign.com/resources.

For more information on how you can support, visit the final5campaign.com/

Around two years ago, the Northwestern Prison Education Program started offering courses to incarcerated men at Stateville Correctional Center -- a maximum-security prison in Illinois. The program aims to give incarcerated men and women the opportunity to obtain a full liberal arts education.

In this episode, we explore NPEP more in-depth hearing from Jennifer Lackey, the founder and director of the program, about their work and from participants at Stateville about their experiences in order to understand the importance of education programs in prisons.

This year's One Book One Northwestern Podcast will focus on the issues presented in Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. In future episodes, we will focus on national and local issues regarding the U.S. criminal justice system. Hear more about what you can look forward to in this trailer.

Written and Produced by Sophia Lo, Baylor Spears & Camille Williams

Edited By Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell

Music: Uprising by Purple Planet Music from https://www.purple-planet.com**

To wrap up this year's podcast, I brought it back to our main theme of this year, women of color in STEM, and a little closer to home. I talked to Dr. Heather Pinkett a professor and researcher in Northwestern's Department of Molecular Biosciences. In the first half of the episode, we discuss her background that shaped her research of proteins in her lab at Northwestern today. In the second half, we discuss what STEM research fields look like today for women and other underrepresented groups and how the field can continue to improve.

During the winter quarter, Northwestern's Wirtz Center produced the show Legally Blonde which highlights Elle Woods through a journey to find the person she loves that takes a big turn when she ends up finding her love of law. It's a funny show that once you take a closer look may have more to it than it may seem on the surface. I talked to two students to learn more about their experience acting in the show, their interpretations of the story and its place in the conversation about representation and women in theater.

Tarana Burke, the founder of the Me Too Movement, visited Northwestern to discuss the movement's beginnings and purpose. Some Northwestern faculty and students bring some insight into how the movement and global culture shift has impacted Northwestern.

For over 40 years, Andrea Mosie, a NASA "Hidden Figure" has dedicated her career to Apollo moon rock samples. Mosie works in a clean lab at Johnson Space Center working with the samples to help allocate them to different scientists around the world who need them for research. This includes making sure a ton of different steps and procedures are precisely followed so that no samples are lost, contaminated, damaged, etc. The story of how she ended up there and why she loves her work is one of dedication and love for her craft.

While education may be the most accessible as its ever been, there are still many obstacles that students, especially low-income and first-generation students, face in attending school. Dr. Anthony Jack, author of the Privileged Poor and Harvard Professor discusses his book and his research in this episode of the One Book One Northwestern Podcast. I also talk with some Northwestern community members about how these issues affect Northwestern.