Send a text

Dr. Carl Hart is a neuroscientist and professor of Psychology at Columbia University and is also the author of Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. In this episode we:

• uncover the benefits of drug use
• debunk several myths including that (1) drugs destroy the brain, and (2) drugs cause violence and crime
• discuss the feasibility of drug legalization
• examine the importance of harm reduction efforts, including drug testing
• provide listeners data to support the argument for alternative solutions to preventing harm and violence

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

Dr. Alex Vitale is the author of End of Policing, a Sociology professor at Brooklyn College, and the coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project. He has spent the last 25 years writing about policing and consults both police departments and human rights organizations internationally. In this episode we:

• unpack the differences between the concepts of police abolition and police reform
• discuss the social and financial costs of policing
• examine existing community-based and state-led interventions beyond policing that are found to enhance public safety
• provide listeners data to support the argument for alternative solutions to preventing harm and violence

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This episode features a critical conversation with Dr. H. Jean Wright, the Deputy Commissioner for Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and the Director of the Behavioral Health and Justice division. In this episode, we discuss social determinants of health and specifically how the criminal justice system impacts the health of all those in contact with it. We also discuss tangible ways to create a healthier society, including healing circles and restorative practices.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

In this episode, I’m joined by Stacey Torrance. Stacey was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at the age of 14. Upon the supreme court ruling that sentencing children to life without parole was unconstitutional, Stacey was released after 30 years in prison. In this episode, we speak about how he maintained hope throughout his sentence, the harsh reality check he confronted upon returning home, his experiences with restorative justice, and how proximity and conversation can challenge assumptions and contribute to the healing process.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This critical conversation features Abd’allah Lateef, the Senior Strategic Advisor and Racial Equity Specialist at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Sentenced to life without the possibility of parole as a child, Abd’allah was resentenced and released in 2017 after spending over 30 years in prison. In this episode, Abd’allah provides an intimate account of the effects of prison on the mind, body, and soul. As a means of moving forward, we discuss how public safety can and should be achieved by restoring community rather than seeking retribution.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This episode features Michael A., a teaching assistant at the University of Kent in England and motivational speaker. Michael was incarcerated at the age of 16 and spent 12 years in the UK prison system and was released in the summer of 2020. In this episode, we speak on how police action can instigate criminal engagement, what it was like to be incarcerated and released during a global pandemic, and how the prison experience incites PTSD.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This critical conversation features Dr. Rashawn Ray, a fellow at The Brookings Institution, and a Sociology Professor and the Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at the University of Maryland.  In this episode, we discuss some of the public health issues stemming from racism. Dr. Ray also presents some tangible solutions to America’s policing crisis, including abolishing qualified immunity, implementing insurance policies and malpractice liability for individual officers, and providing officers with housing subsidies to live in or around the communities they patrol. 

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This episode features Kamilah Newton, a writer, advocate, and previous participant of Justice Home, an alternative to incarceration program hosted by the Women’s Prison Association. This episode exposes the unique gendered experience of the criminal justice system, highlighting the cycle of victimization and the pervasiveness of trauma that the majority of justice-involved women experience. Kamilah speaks about what it is like being a mother to Black children in America today, what it is like being a co-parent to an incarcerated father, what her personal experience was like with the criminal justice system, and how to think critically about what safety means and what victims need from first responders.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This week's critical conversation features Michael Fischer, a writer, activist, and advocate. Michael was incarcerated for 2 years in upstate New York and in this conversation, we speak about how social connections significantly impacted his opportunities upon re-entry, how his whiteness and the location of his arrest impacted his experiences with the criminal justice system,  how to hold individuals accountable and increase public safety without relying on prisons, and how the binary constructs of "violent" and "nonviolent" offenders are detrimental to the pursuit of equity and justice.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show

Send a text

This episode features a critical conversation with Dr. Monica Bell. Dr. Bell is an Associate Professor of Law as well as an Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University. In our conversation, we speak about some of Dr. Bell's proposals for reducing harm until we abolish racist systems, including anti-segregation policing and community racism response funds.  Our discussion highlights the importance of combating complacency in reformist efforts as well as the importance of holding the community accountable for individual acts of routine racism.

If you have any questions or comments that you would like addressed in the YouTube series Office Hours with Abbie and Juwan please email [email protected]

And, as always, please review, subscribe, and share with everyone you know :)

To stay up to date on all of the latest announcements, be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter!

Become a supporter of the show with a monthly subscription (amount of your choice) and get a shoutout in upcoming episodes!

Support the show