Matt sits down with John Pfaff, professor and author of Locked In, an influential and important 2017 book about mass incarceration in America. The two discuss some common misconceptions about America's prison population, three different meanings of the term "broken windows," and what might be the true cause of the current trending rise in violent crime across the nation.

Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform by John Pfaff (2017; Basic Books)

Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Levoy (2015; One World)

"Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach" by Gary S. Becker (Journal of Political Economy v. 76 no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 1968)

Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence by Patrick Sharkey (2019; W.W. Norton)

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (1961)

"Broken Windows: The police and neighborhood safety" by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson (March 1982; The Atlantic)

John Pfaff (@JohnFPfaff), author; professor, Fordham Law School

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer

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