An exhaustingly familiar story. Maybe it’ll have a different ending this time, but maybe not. We hear what different people said and did one weekend in reaction to the killing of George Floyd.
Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.
Letter from America
Bim Adewunmi talks about the feeling of now. (10 minutes)
Song:
Before Sunrise
Producers Diane Wu and Lina Misitzis spend the night at a corner grocery store in Brooklyn, New York and talk to some of the people that pass by. (25 minutes)
Grand Army
Ira watches videos of police behavior at protests. The videos were pulled from a Twitter thread (and corresponding spreadsheet) created by T. Greg Doucette, who has collected more than 600 of them to date.
Then, a protest that wasn’t supposed to happen. An organizer with no experience organizing. Dana Chivvis tagged along on one demonstration in Red Hook, Brooklyn. (15 minutes)
Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200
Writer Kimberly Jones provides context with a brief history of the American economy, told through a popular board game. (5 minutes)
Song:
Related
Act Four: And On The Eighth Day, God Created Tartar Sauce
Act Three: A Real Nail Biter
Act One: Pole Vault
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Mistakes Were Made
Freezing dead people so scientists can reanimate them in the future is a lot harder than it sounds.
Petty Tyrant
The rise and fall of a school maintenance man in Schenectady, New York who terrorized his staff and got away with it for decades.