The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Why accidents aren't accidental

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Vox’s Marin Cogan talks with author and journalist Jessie Singer, whose book There Are No Accidents asks us to completely rethink our understanding of accidents as seemingly random, blameless, harm-inducing events. Marin and Jessie discuss what drug overdoses, car crashes, and apartment building fires have in common, the systemic structural vulnerabilities that lead to accidents, and how we can press for greater accountability.

Host: Marin Cogan (@marincogan), Senior Features Correspondent, Vox

Guest: Jessie Singer (@JessieSingerNYC), author; journalist

References: 

  • There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster—Who Profits and Who Pays the Price by Jessie Singer (Simon & Schuster; 2022)
  • "Stop calling them 'accidents'" by Marin Cogan (Vox; Apr. 12)
  • "Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads last year, agency says" by Tom Krisher and Hope Yen (AP News; May 17)
  • "NYC building space heater malfunction sparks fire that kills 19, including 9 children" by Maria Caspani (Reuters; Jan. 10)
  • "Remembering Eric Ng" by Maura Roosevelt (The Nation; Feb. 7, 2014)


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    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Editor: Amy Drozdowska
    • Engineer: Patrick Boyd
    • Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

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