Why one teenager set fires and then stopped setting them. Paul Tough interview. (7 minutes)
More in Crime
Act One: Grime Scene
Reporter Nancy Updike spends two days with Neal Smither, who cleans up crime scenes for a living, and comes away wanting to open his Los Angeles franchise, despite the gore — or maybe because of it.
Act Three: A Criminal Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Sometimes criminals return to the scene of their misdeeds — to try to make things right, to try to undo the past. Katie Davis reports on her neighbor Bobby, who returned to the scene where he robbed people and conned people.
Act One
Samantha Broun interviews her mom about surviving a brutal attack by Reginald McFadden 20 years ago, and sets out to interview friends, family and policymakers about how that attack changed Pennsylvania law regarding life sentences at the time.
More by Paul Tough
Act One: Harlem Renaissance
Paul Tough reports on the Harlem Children's Zone, and its CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada.
Act Two: My Favorite Martian
Paul Tough's father was a mild-mannered professor.
Act Five: When Attacks Really Count
There's little in adult life that can hurt as much as a character assassination attack when it happens in junior high school.