David Simon is the co-creator and head writer of the HBO series “The Wire” (2002-08) and “We Own This City” (2022) as well as other outstanding TV series on policing, drug dealing, music, porn and the potential for fascism in the United States. We discussed the ways in which the war on drugs has undermined, distorted and corrupted effective policing; how issues of race and class manifest, or not, in policing and drug policies; and the extent to which Baltimore’s problems and challenges are indicative of those in other U.S. cities. We also talked about the actor, Michael K. Williams, who depicted Omar in The Wire, and who died of an overdose late last year.

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