Radio Atlantic

Last week, President Trump declared a national emergency to get funding for the wall. The move gave him elevated power to move money around, but it was immediately met with lawsuits from 16 states. What exactly is a national emergency? Why is this one different? And just how far do a president’s emergency powers really go? Alex Wagner speaks with Liza Goitein, Co-Director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center. Months before the president’s announcement, Goitein looked into what powers presidents have in a national emergency. She wrote about her research in The Atlantic magazine, describing over 100 emergency powers she said were “ripe for abuse” and that “this edifice of extraordinary powers has historically rested on the assumption that the president will act in the country’s best interest when using them.” What could happen in the hands of a president less concerned with norms? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently accused the National Enquirer of “extortion and blackmail” over private photos of him obtained by the tabloid. In a Medium post, Bezos shared emails from the Enquirer that threaten to publish those photos unless he accedes to their demands. How did a celebrity magazine get into the rough and tumble world of extortion? Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker staff writer and CNN’s Chief Legal Analyst, joins Alex Wagner to share insights from his 2017 profile of the man who runs the tabloid. How did the National Enquirer become what it is today? Why does it pay to silence stories about Donald Trump? And why is it at war with Jeff Bezos? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, news broke that Virginia’s Democratic governor and attorney general both wore blackface in the 1980s. The controversy now enveloping the state has seemed all too familiar, as blackface photos of even more politicians have come out in recent years. Alex Wagner sits down with staff writers Vann R. Newkirk II and Adam Serwer to ask: how does this keep happening? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Kamala Harris has drawn criticism for beginning her 2020 campaign by pitching herself as a ‘progressive prosecutor’ despite a more mixed record. Alex Wagner sits down with two people who have thought deeply about the power of prosecutors in America: Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler and New York Times Magazine staff writer Emily Bazelon. What exactly is Harris’s record? How does race inform the debate about prosecutorial power? And what does it all mean for the broader conversation in 2020 about criminal justice? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history, but President Trump seems no closer to a deal to resolve it. Why does the “master dealmaker” -- as he sold himself on the campaign trail -- seem at a loss in his first negotiation with a Democratic House? New York Times White House Correspondent and ‘Trump whisperer’ Maggie Haberman joins Alex Wagner to explain how his business career actually predicted his performance during the shutdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Friday, the New York Times published a startling story: In 2017, days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the bureau opened an inquiry into whether the president was secretly working on behalf of Russia. It was an explosive development in an already major story. Since this news came out, it’s informed how we see two other very big new stories: On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that Trump has gone to “extraordinary lengths” to conceal details of his conversations with Vladimir Putin. And on Monday, the Times reported that Trump had discussed withdrawing the United States from NATO. Trump claims he has been tougher on Russia “than any other President,” while also proposing that “getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.” Over the years, people have speculated about Trump’s ties to Russia. But this week’s news raises the question very clearly: Is the President of the United States a Russian asset? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social media platforms once promised to connect the world. Today’s digital communities, though, often feel like forces for disunity. Anger and discord in 2018 seemed only amplified by the social media institutions that now dictate our conversations. Executive editor Matt Thompson sits down with staff writer Alexis Madrigal to find out how we got to this point and whether we can do anything to solve it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Observing antidemocratic ‘power grabs’ by state Republicans, Atlantic staff writer George Packer writes that “the corruption of the Republican Party in the Trump era seemed to set in with breathtaking speed. In fact, it took more than a half century to reach the point where faced with a choice between democracy and power, the party chose the latter.” To understand how the party of Lincoln became the party of Trump, Alex Wagner spoke with Packer on this week’s episode of Radio Atlantic. Listen to hear Packer describe the three ‘insurgencies’ that explain the transformation of the GOP over the last half-century. An ideological revolution that began with Barry Goldwater became a coup for power with Newt Gingrich (A.K.A. “The Man Who Broke Politics”). Afterwards, moderate Republicans became an endangered species, the Tea Party emerged as a major force, and Trump’s brand of corrosive politics became, Packer says, “inevitable.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Maria Butina became the first Russian national convicted of seeking to influence the 2016 election. As part of Russia’s years-long effort to cozy up to the American right, Butina gained access to conservative circles through the National Rifle Association. And as the NRA is under scrutiny for ties to Russian operatives, it appears the organization illegally coordinated with the Trump campaign. Alex Wagner catches up on the week’s developments with Atlantic staff writer Natasha Bertrand. Then, to make sense of how the NRA, Russia, and the Trump campaign connect to one another, she’s joined by Mike Spies, a staff writer for The Trace who covers the gun lobby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Chinese researcher recently touched off a global controversy when he announced the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies. The claims remain unverified, but the news shocked and dismayed scientists around the world. Atlantic staff writers Ed Yong and Sarah Zhang join Matt Thompson to discuss the news and what it means for the future of genetic editing. Links - The CRISPR Baby Scandal Gets Worse by the Day (Ed Yong, December 3, 2018) - Chinese Scientists Are Outraged by Reports of Gene-Edited Babies (Sarah Zhang, November 27, 2018) -A Reckless and Needless Use of Gene Editing on Human Embryos (Ed Yong, November 26, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Manafort’s cooperation with the Mueller probe has collapsed. In a Monday filing, the special counsel’s office said he repeatedly lied to federal investigators, nullifying the plea agreement and exposing him to new charges. Not soon after, news stories broke reporting that Manafort had met with Julian Assange in 2016, that a meeting between Manafort and Ecuador’s then-president was under scrutiny by Mueller, and that Manafort’s lawyer was briefing Trump’s attorneys. All this comes as the investigation appears to be reaching a crescendo. What does Mueller know? What did Manafort lie about? And what will President Trump do next? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The midterms were over a week ago, but a number of races have yet to be called. In Florida, the senate and governor elections have both come down to a recount, and accusations of vote-tampering are flying. Alex Wagner talks with Atlantic staff writer Isaac Dovere to understand what’s going on, and then turns to two veterans of the last such debacle: Mark McKinnon, chief media adviser for George W. Bush's 2000 campaign and Jeremy Bash, national security issues director for the Gore campaign. They discuss winning the narrative, butterfly ballots, and landing to a “cloud of chads.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Executive Editor Matt Thompson interviews Atlantic reporters on what lessons they drew from the midterm elections, speaking in turn with: Vann Newkirk, Emma Green, Ron Brownstein, Adam Harris, and David Graham. Links - “The Democrats’ Deep-South Strategy Was a Winner After All”(Vann R. Newkirk II, November 8, 2018) - ”Tuesday Showed the Drawbacks of Trump's Electoral Bargain” (Ronald Brownstein, November 7, 2018) - “The Year of the Woman Still Leaves Women With Terrible Representation in Government” (Emma Green, November 7, 2018) - “The Democrats Are Back, and Ready to Take On Trump” (David A. Graham, November 7, 2018) - “America Is Divided by Education” (Adam Harris, November 7, 2018) - “The Georgia Governor’s Race Has Brought Voter Suppression Into Full View” (Vann R. Newkirk II, November 6, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The upcoming midterms mark the first nationwide referendum on the Trump presidency and the GOP-led Congress. Coming amid a shocking spree of political violence and an ugly showdown over voting rights, Tuesday’s election will have massive ramifications. What conclusions can we draw from the vote? Links - “The Jews of Pittsburgh Bury Their Dead” (Emma Green, October 30, 2018) - “Trump Shut Programs to Counter Violent Extremism” (Peter Beinart, October 29, 2018) - “Trump’s Caravan Hysteria Led to This” (Adam Serwer, October 28, 2018) - “A Broken Jewish Community” (Emma Green, October 28, 2018) - “Voter Suppression Is the New Old Normal” (Vann R. Newkirk II, October 24, 2018) - “The 2018 Midterms Are All About Trump” (Ronald Brownstein, October 18, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 2nd, Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen again. Details of the journalist’s brutal killing and dismemberment have since emerged, prompting an international crisis for the kingdom and its de-facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. This week, The Atlantic’s Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg sits down with Fred Hiatt, the Washington Post’s editorial page editor and Jamal Khashoggi’s former boss, to discuss the man Khashoggi was and what justice may come after his death. Links - “This is the first step to recalibrating U.S.-Saudi relations” (The Editorial Board, Washington Post, October 22, 2018) - “The U.S. Loved the Saudi Crown Prince. Not Anymore.” (Krishnadev Calamur, October 22, 2018) - “There can be no coverup of this act of pure evil” (The Editorial Board, Washington Post, October 19, 2018) - “Trump Sees Khashoggi’s Disappearance Mostly as a PR Problem” (David A. Graham, October 19, 2018) - “Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression” (Jamal Khashoggi, Washington Post, October 17, 2018) - “Saudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look Good'” (Jeffrey Goldberg, April 2, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Elizabeth Warren recently shared results of a genetic analysis to back up her family’s story of Cherokee ancestry, hoping to blunt a favorite Republican attack line. The move backfired. A DNA result does not confer a Cherokee heritage. And in general, efforts to link our genetics with our ethnic or cultural identities have a long and sordid history. So what’s more revealing: the results of DNA tests like Warren’s? Or what we try to find in them? Links - “The First DNA Test as Political Stunt” (Sarah Zhang, October 15, 2018) - “Trump, Warren, and America's Racial Essentialism” (Vann R. Newkirk II, October 16, 2018) - “Your DNA Is Not Your Culture” (Sarah Zhang, September 25, 2018) - “When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry” (Sarah Zhang, August 17, 2017) - "Radio Atlantic: Becoming White in America" (Kevin Townsend, April 13, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A college education has become a key asset towards success in the American economy, but for many Americans, access to higher education—especially at a prestigious university—feels increasingly out of reach. With its capricious admissions and massive debt loads, the system is struggling. So we’re sitting down this week with two members of our Education team—editor Alia Wong and staff writer Adam Harris—to ask the question: is U.S. higher education sustainable? Links - “Harvard Admissions on Trial” (Alia Wong, October 5, 2018) - “America Wakes Up From Its Dream of Free College” (Adam Harris, September 11, 2018) - “George Washington’s Broken Dream of a National University” (Adam Harris, September 21, 2018) - “Lotteries May Be the Fairest Way to Fix Elite-College Admissions” (Alia Wong, August 1, 2018) - “Why the Ivy League Needs to Admit More Students” (Alia Wong, September 28, 2018) - “Here’s How Higher Education Dies” (Adam Harris, June 5, 2018) - “The Era of Affirmative Action May Not Last Much Longer” (Adam Harris, July 3, 2018) - “The College-Graduation Problem All States Have” (Adam Harris, June 16, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four years ago, after a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, protestors took to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Among them was a school administrator, always clad in a trademark blue vest. DeRay Mckesson, now a face of what became the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke in Washington this week at The Atlantic Festival. Mckesson recently authored a memoir: On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. Links - On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope (DeRay Mckesson, 2018) - “DeRay McKesson Talks About the Hardest Job He's Ever Had” (Lola Fadulu, June 2, 2018) - “Hashtag Activism Isn't a Cop-Out” (Noah Berlatsky, January 7, 2015) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a news week that’s felt more like a news month, Matt Thompson sits down with two experienced editors to ask how people manage to make and consume news in today’s environment. Adrienne LaFrance is the editor of TheAtlantic.com. Franklin Foer is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the author of World Without Mind. Links - “The Death of the Public Square” (Franklin Foer, July 6, 2018) - “The Most Powerful Publishers in the World Don’t Give a Damn” (Adrienne LaFrance, August 8, 2018) - “Mark Zuckerberg Doesn’t Understand Journalism” (Adrienne LaFrance, May 1, 2018) - “The Era of Fake Video Begins” (Franklin Foer, May 2018 Issue) - “When Silicon Valley Took Over Journalism” (Franklin Foer, September 2017 Issue) - “It’s Time to Regulate the Internet” (Franklin Foer, March 21, 2018) - “Social Media in 1857” (Adrienne LaFrance, November 1, 2017) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces assault allegations, the #MeToo movement reaches its first anniversary. Beyond a potential hearing reminiscent of the Anita Hill testimony 27 years ago, recent days have seen the head of CBS toppled, the editor of The New York Review of Books gone, and even a glacier renamed. What’s changed since the start of the #MeToo movement and what hasn’t? Links - “The Logical Fallacy of Christine Blasey Ford’s ‘Choice’” (Megan Garber, September 20, 2018) - “The Phantom Reckoning” (Megan Garber, September 16, 2018) - “Brett Kavanaugh and the Revealing Logic of ‘Boys Will Be Boys’” (Megan Garber, September 17, 2018) - “I Believe Her” (Caitlin Flanagan, September 17, 2018) - “Why the Les Moonves Departure Is Not Enough” (Megan Garber, September 10, 2018) - “Shame and Survival” (Monica Lewinsky, Vanity Fair, June 2014) - “Nanette Is a Radical, Transformative Work of Comedy” (Sophie Gilbert, June 27, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With authoritarianism and populism on the rise around the world, The Atlantic examines the fate of democracy in its October issue. Anne Applebaum writes that Poland shows how quickly things can fall apart and Jeffrey Rosen writes that the state of American politics is one Founder’s worst nightmare. They join Jeffrey Goldberg and Alex Wagner to discuss this precarious moment in history. Links - “Is Democracy Dying?” (October 2018 Issue) - “America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare” (Jeffrey Rosen, October 2018) - “A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet to Come” (Anne Applebaum, October 2018) - “The Threat of Tribalism” (Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, October 2018) - “Americans Aren’t Practicing Democracy Anymore” (Yoni Appelbaum, October 2018) - “Twitter’s Flawed Solution to Political Polarization” (Christopher A. Bail, New York Times, September 8, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Leibovich has a day job covering the reality show of politics as the New York Times Magazine’s Chief National Correspondent, but he’s spent the spent the last few years reporting a book on America’s other biggest reality show: football. The new season begins with Colin Kaepernick the face of Nike, Donald Trump the NFL’s biggest commentator, and America’s most popular sport facing a myriad of problems. How does football survive both CTE and declining ratings? Which is the bigger swamp – Washington, DC, or an NFL owner’s box? Links - Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times (Mark Leibovich, 2018) - “The Absurdist Spectacle of the Nike Boycotts” (Hannah Giorgis, September 5, 2018) - “Colin Kaepernick, Nike, and the Myth of Good and Bad Companies” (Joshua Hunt, September 5, 2018) - “Taking a Blowtorch to Debate” (Alex Wagner, September 5, 2018) - “Trump’s Divisive and Relentless Politicization of the NFL” (Ben Strauss, September 1, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the most rigorous estimate yet of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria was published, marking a grim milestone: the hurricane season of 2017 was one of the deadliest in North America in a century. A year after Puerto Rico, Houston, and other communities were devastated by storms, they’re still counting the victims and trying to rebuild. Because of climate change, these types of extreme disasters may only grow more common. In this episode, The Atlantic’s staff writers Vann Newkirk and Elaina Plott join Matt Thompson to discuss their reporting on Puerto Rico and Houston. How are they doing a year later? And what should we learn from their recovery efforts? Links - “A New Death Toll for Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria” (Vann R. Newkirk II, August 28, 2018) - “Hurricane Harvey Is Houston’s Unending Nightmare” (Elaina Plott, August 26, 2018) - “A Look Back at Hurricane Harvey: One Year Since Landfall” (Alan Taylor, August 26, 2018) - “Researchers Are Still Counting the Dead From Hurricane Maria” (Vann R. Newkirk II, August 2, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Gillian discuss Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea with Franklin Foer and David A. Graham. Was Tuesday a turning point for the Trump administration? Links - “The Day That Everything Changed for Trump” (David A. Graham, August 22, 2018) - “Trump’s Victory Was a Disaster for Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort” (David A. Graham, August 23, 2018) - “Blind Confidence Couldn’t Save Paul Manafort” (Franklin Foer, August 21, 2018) - “The Plot Against America” (Franklin Foer, March 2018 Issue) - “Will Trump Be Meeting With His Counterpart — Or His Handler?” (Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, July 8, 2018) - “All Eyes on the Presidency” (Adam Serwer, August 22, 2018) - Corruption in America (Zephyr Teachout, 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With movies like Crazy Rich Asians, BlacKkKlansman, and Sorry To Bother You out in theaters, Hollywood is trying to mute the complaint that it lacks racial and ethnic diversity, to avoid another #OscarsSoWhite. But depicting people of color onscreen was always the easy part. Next comes a harder question: how authentically are minority experiences being represented? Matt sits down with senior editor Gillian White and culture writer Hannah Giorgis to discuss. Links - “What Does It Mean to ‘Sound’ Black?” (Hannah Giorgis, August 15, 2018) - “There’s Nothing Wrong With Black English” (John McWhorter, August 6, 2018) - “With BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee Sounds the Alarm About America’s Past and Present” (David Sims, August 8, 2018) - “Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal on Blindspotting and the Power of Poetry” (Hannah Giorgis, July 21, 2018) - “Blindspotting Is a Boldly Sincere Love Letter to Oakland” (David Sims, July 20, 2018) - “The Oscars’ Terrible Idea” (David Sims, August 9, 2018) - “Yet Another Reason the New ‘Popular Film’ Oscar Is a Terrible Idea” (Christopher Orr, August 11, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a year since the violence of the “Unite the Right” rally and the political turmoil of its aftermath. How did Charlottesville change the country? Has the alt-right withered under the new scrutiny or grown amidst the new visibility? And what responsibility do tech platforms have to stop the spread of hateful ideologies? Links - "The White Nationalists Are Winning" (Adam Serwer, August 10, 2018) - “White threat in a browning America” (Ezra Klein, Vox, July 30, 2018) - “The Hate Report: The alt-right is down, but not out” (Will Carless and Aaron Sankin, Reveal, June 1, 2018) - “The Defense That Failed White Nationalists” (Adam Serwer, May 10, 2018) - “The Lost Boys” (Angela Nagle, December 2017 Issue) - “The Hoods Are Off” (Matt Thompson, August 12, 2017) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first anniversary of Radio Atlantic this week coincides with one of the newsiest weeks of 2018. So we’ve decided to take the opportunity to lift our sights above the fog of news for a few minutes, and discuss the things that are most important to remember—the Keepers of the Year. We revisit some of the most memorable keepers of the show’s earliest months, and share reflections from our Atlantic colleagues. Links - “Nanette Is a Radical, Transformative Work of Comedy” (Sophie Gilbert, June 27, 2018) - Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Neil Postman, 1985) - “My Family's Slave” (Alex Tizon, June 2017 Issue) - “Complicating the Narratives” (Amanda Ripley, Medium, June 27, 2018) - “how to do nothing” (Jenny Odell, Medium, June 29, 2017) - “Philip Roth's final interview: 'Life can stop on a dime'” (Charles Mcgrath, Irish Times, January 22, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As President Trump meets with other western leaders in Europe, the spirit of democratic cooperation we’re used to in NATO summits is gone. But it’s not just Trump. Populist movements around Europe are agitating against the cooperation that has bound the continent since World War II. Where is the West headed? Is this a short-term fever brought on by unique stresses? Or does it herald a re-fracturing of the continent? Are the ‘member states’ of Europe becoming ‘nation states’ again? Links - “Angela Merkel, Escape Artist” (Yasmeen Serhan, July 3, 2018) - “What If Russia Invaded the Baltics—and Donald Trump Was President?” (Uri Friedman, July 27, 2016) - “England’s Unfamiliar Emotion: Hope” (Sophie Gilbert, July 10, 2018) - “Why Didn't Boris Johnson Get Fired Before He Quit?” (Yasmeen Serhan, July 9, 2018) - “The End of the Brexit Illusion” (David Frum, July 9, 2018) - “Trump’s Plan to End Europe” (David Frum, May 2017 Issue) - Educated (Tara Westover, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Humanity is now in the midst of its fastest-ever period of change,” writes Ed Yong in the July/August issue of The Atlantic. Urbanization and globalization mean pathogens can spread and become drug-resistant more quickly than ever. Yong joins executive editor Matt Thompson and fellow science writer Sarah Zhang to discuss what vulnerabilities exist a century after the 1918 pandemic, and how our sharpest risks might be societal and psychological. Links - “The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?” (Ed Yong, July/August 2018 Issue) - “VIDEO: Is Trump Ready for a Global Outbreak?” (Ed Yong, Jun 14, 2018) - “China Is Genetically Engineering Monkeys With Brain Disorders” (Sarah Zhang, June 8, 2018) - “The Perfect Storm Behind This Year's Nasty Flu Season” (Sarah Zhang, January 13, 2018) - “Trees That Have Lived for Millennia Are Suddenly Dying” (Ed Yong, Jun 11, 2018) - @sarahzhang on Twitter; @-mention her if you’ve read Audrey Schulman’s A Theory of Bastards - 160 Years of Atlantic Stories - “How Bad Is the Flu?” (Justina Hill, March 1944 Issue) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outrage over families separated at the border has reached a fever pitch. Social media is awash with images of undocumented migrants held in cages, sounds of children crying for their parents, and viral videos of a callous administration response. On Wednesday, President Trump caved to immense political pressure and signed an executive order meant to end family separation at the border. But what effect will it actually have? Video producer Jeremy Raff has been in McAllen, Texas, attending "mass trials" of immigrants—many of whom have been separated from their children with no certainty on when, or if, they will be reunited. Raff shares what's happening along the border, then staff writer Priscilla Alvarez joins to discuss what the news in Washington means for separated families. Links - "Purgatory at the Border" (Jeremy Raff, June 19, 2018) - "'So What? Maybe It Is a Concentration Camp'" (Jeremy Raff, February 23, 2018) - "Extinguishing the Beacon of America" (Alex Wagner, June 15, 2018) - "Trump Says He Will End the Family Separations He Imposed" (David A. Graham, June 20, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nationwide, black Americans live three years less than white Americans. In places with a history of segregation, that life-expectancy gap can be as much as twenty years. Staff writer Olga Khazan joins Matt Thompson, Alex Wagner, and Vann Newkirk to share the story of Kiarra Boulware, a young black woman from Baltimore whose struggles shed a light on how people living only a few miles apart have such disparate health prospects Links - “Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health” (Olga Khazan, July/August 2018 Issue - “The 'Horrifying' Consequence of Lead Poisoning” (Olga Khazan, November 8, 2017) - “The Lead-Poisoned Generation in New Orleans” (Vann R. Newkirk II, May 21, 2017) - “How Income Affects the Brain” (Olga Khazan, May 15, 2018) - “The Obesity Cure Is Out of Reach in the Heaviest States” (Olga Khazan, May 7, 2018) - “Trump's EPA Concludes Environmental Racism Is Real” (Vann R. Newkirk II, February 28, 2018) - “Food Swamps Are the New Food Deserts” (Olga Khazan, December 28, 2017) - “What the 'Crack Baby' Panic Reveals About The Opioid Epidemic” (Vann R. Newkirk II, July 16, 2017) - “The Fight for Health Care Has Always Been About Civil Rights” (Vann R. Newkirk II, June 27, 2017) - “VIDEO: Environmental Racism Is the New Jim Crow” (Vann R. Newkirk II, June 5, 2017) - “When You Can't Afford Sleep” (Olga Khazan, September 15, 2014) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two of the world’s most volatile heads of state—Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump—have moved in the span of a year from trading insults to trading fawning letters. Now, they're days away from the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Between Kim's nuclear ambitions and Trump's political pressures, the stakes of this exchange couldn’t be higher. Are we headed toward the world’s most unlikely match? Or its worst diplomatic divorce? Links - “The Threat to Kim Jong Un Within North Korea” (Uri Friedman, June 4, 2018) - “So Is the North Korea Summit Back On, or What?” (Uri Friedman, May 31, 2018) - “How South Korea Pulled Trump and Kim Back From the Brink” (Uri Friedman, May 27, 2018) - “South Korea’s President Moon is the man in the (very precarious) middle” (Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Washington Post, May 28, 2018) - “Former South Korean National-Security Adviser: The U.S. May Have to Withdraw Some Troops” (Uri Friedman, May 23, 2018) - “Trumpism: Speak Loudly and Carry a Big Stick" (Uri Friedman, April 6, 2018) - “The Man Behind the North Korea Negotiations” (S. Nathan Park, March 12, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new generation of political activists have grown up more interested in provoking outrage from their fellow citizens than in winning them over. Among the most influential exemplars of the genre is Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser to President Trump. What happens when the trolls run politics? What happens when they run the White House? Links - “Trump’s Right-Hand Troll” (McKay Coppins, May 28, 2018) - “How an Aspiring It-Girl Tricked New York's Party People - and Its Biggest Banks” (Jessica Pressler, New York Magazine, May 28, 2018) - “Review: 'Children of Blood and Bone,' by Tomi Adeyemi” (Vann R. Newkirk II, April 2018 Issue) - “This Is The Daily Stormer’s Playbook” (Ashley Feinberg, Huffington Post, December 13, 2017) - “Watch: Young Stephen Miller jokes “torture is a celebration of life”” (Noah Kulwin, Vice, May 30, 2017) - “The Future of Trumpism Is on Campus” (Elaine Godfrey, January 2, 2018) - “Is Free Speech Really Challenged on Campus?” (Julian E. Zelizer and Morton Keller, September 15, 2017) - “Trolls Are Winning the Internet, Technologists Say” (Adrienne LaFrance, March 29, 2017) - “The First Troll” (James Parker, December 2016 Issue) - “Should We Feed the Trolls?” (Adrienne LaFrance, April 28, 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The decades-old dispute between Israelis and Palestinians seems to be at a new low these days. Two American-born writers – an Israeli author and a Muslim journalist – join editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and global editor Kathy Gilsinan to grapple with the bleak state of affairs. Yossi Klein Halevi is the author of the new book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. Wajahat Ali recently traveled to the West Bank to write “A Muslim Among Israeli Settlers” for the June 2018 issue of The Atlantic. The four discuss how we got here and what paths forward remain. Links - “A Muslim Among Israeli Settlers” (Wajahat Ali, June 2018 Issue) - "Settlers in the 'Most Contentious Place on Earth'" (Wajahat Ali, May 10, 2018) - “The Real Dispute Driving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” (Yossi Klein Halevi, May 14, 2018) - Yossi Klein Halevi joined Jeffrey Goldberg on The Atlantic Interview (May 1, 2018) - “Jerusalem’s Ramadan Is Different This Year” (Emma Green, May 18, 2018) - “The Coming Storm in Israel” (Neri Zilber, May 11, 2018) - “Iran vs. Israel: Is a Major War Ahead?” (Avi Issacharoff, May 11, 2018) - “Celebration in Jerusalem, Bloodshed in Gaza” (Emma Green, May 14, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has been the focus of headlines and cable news for a full year now. Despite his seemingly leak-proof team, speculation and anxiety swirl around the inquiry. What do we actually know about the investigation? How much deeper does the iceberg go? And where is it heading next? Links - "The Lingering Mysteries of a Trump-Russia Conspiracy" (Natasha Bertrand, May 16, 2018) - "Trump Finally Fesses Up to Reimbursing Michael Cohen" (David A. Graham, May 16, 2018) - “What Exactly Is Rudy Giuliani's Role?” (David A. Graham, May 7, 2018) - "Trump Goes to War With Mueller" (David A. Graham, May 2, 2018) - "Mueller's Probe Is Even More Expansive Than It Seems" (Natasha Bertrand, May 14, 2018) - "'These Are Very Dangerous Questions for the President'" (Adam Serwer, May 1, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Radio Atlantic brings you the first episode of our new show Crazy/Genius, hosted by Atlantic staff writer (and past Radio Atlantic guest) Derek Thompson. In this episode, two guests debate whether Facebook is fixable, or whether its business model is designed to sell us lies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some Americans who grew up identifying with Roseanne have found themselves alienated by Roseanne Barr’s outspoken devotion to President Trump. Many of Kanye West’s fans revolted after he tweeted out an image of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. Pop culture will probably always mirror the divides playing out in society. But when social divides are more massive than they’ve been in generations, does all our entertainment become a litmus test for our political beliefs? Links - “Bill Cosby and the Slow Death of Celebrity Impunity” (Megan Garber, April 26, 2018) - "The 'Dragon Energy' of Kanye West and Donald Trump" (Vann Newkirk, April 25, 2018) - "How 'Roseanne' Divides the Left" (Conor Friedersdorf, April 4, 2018) - “Roseanne vs. the 'Nasty Woman'” (Megan Garber, March 23, 2018) - Chika Oranika on Twitter (April 26, 2018) - Teddy Bear scene, “Daisy” (The Golden Girls, September 17, 1987) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We are a president-obsessed nation, so much so that we undermine the very idea of our constitutional democracy,” writes John Dickerson in his May cover story in The Atlantic. “No one man—or woman—can possibly represent the varied, competing interests of 327 million citizens.” Have we heaped so much upon the president that the job has become impossible? Is Trump testing the office in valuable ways? And if the presidency is broken, how do we fix it? Links - "The Hardest Job in the World" (John Dickerson, May 2018 Issue) - “Scott Pruitt Bypassed the White House to Give Big Raises to Favorite Aides” (Elaina Plott and Robinson Meyer, April 3, 2018) - "Letter to Joseph Hooker from Lincoln, January 26, 1863" (Library of Congress) - Educated (Tara Westover, 2018) - Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It (Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik, 2018) - Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders, 2017) - “There’s Something Funny About Tiffany Haddish” (Caity Weaver, GQ, March 26, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long the crossroads of civilizations, Syria has now spent seven years as the proxy warzone of great powers. With over half a million dead and millions more displaced, the conflict is now “arguably the world’s largest humanitarian disaster since World War II,” writes Andrew Tabler in The Atlantic. “The Syrian Civil War now threatens to morph into the Syria War—a regional conflagration which seems likely to burn for a generation. And civilians are cursed to live it, and die in it, every day.” How did we get here? And what comes next? Links - “How Syria Came to This” (Andrew Tabler, April 15, 2018) - “What If There Is No Ethical Way to Act in Syria Now?” (Sigal Samuel, April 13, 2018) - “The Obama Doctrine” (Jeffrey Goldberg, April 2016 Issue) - “The Syrian War Is Actually Many Wars” (Krishnadev Calamur, April 13, 2018) - “Trump's Selective Empathy for Syrian War Victims” (Krishnadev Calamur, April 18, 2018) - The Poems of Max Ehrmann (Max Ehrmann, 1906) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her new book Futureface, Alex Wagner writes that “immigration raises into relief some of our most basic existential questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? And in that way, it’s inextricably tied to an exploration of American identity.” In the book, Alex explores her own American identity – daughter of a Burmese immigrant mother and a small-town Irish Catholic father – and asks how true the stories we grow up with really are. Along with co-hosts Matt and Jeff, Alex is joined by The Atlantic’s deputy politics editor Adam Serwer to discuss the tangled intersections of history, heritage, family, race, and nationality. Is America truly a melting pot? Can nationalism be liberal? And is that stalwart American immigrant story just a history written by the victors? Links - Futureface (Alex Wagner, 2018) - “The Nationalist's Delusion” (Adam Serwer, November 20, 2017) - “America Is Not a Democracy” (Yascha Mounk, March 2018 Issue) - ”The End of Identity Liberalism” (Mark Lilla, New York Times, November 18, 2016) - ”How Can Liberals Reclaim Nationalism?” (Yascha Mounk, New York Times, March 3, 2018) - “Why Are We Surprised When Buddhists Are Violent?” (Dan Arnold and Alicia Turner, New York Times, March 5, 2018) - “The Americans Our Government Won’t Count” (Alex Wagner, New York Times, March 30, 2018) - “Huapango” by José Pablo Moncayo (South West German Radio Kaiserslautern Orchestra, 2007) - Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the South (Timothy Thomas Fortune, 1884) - Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History (Steven Zipperstein, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Atlantic staff writer Robinson Meyer recently wrote, Facebook “is currently embroiled in the worst crisis of trust in its 14-year history.” This week, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the U.S. Congress for the first time. It’s not clear whether Congress will seek to exert more regulatory control over the company, even after revelations that as many as 87 million people unwittingly had their Facebook data given to the political firm Cambridge Analytica, which may have used some of that data to influence the 2016 U.S. election. And the questions senators asked of Zuckerberg suggest they may not yet understand Facebook well enough to regulate it effectively, even if they wanted to. In this Radio Atlantic news update, Rob shares what he learned from his exclusive interview with Zuckerberg, and from the CEO’s testimony before Congress. We discuss with Atlantic senior editor Gillian White whether Facebook can be regulated, and whether it will. Links - “Mark Zuckerberg Says He’s Not Resigning” (Robinson Meyer, April 9, 2018) - “The 3 Questions Mark Zuckerberg Hasn’t Answered” (Robinson Meyer, April 10, 2018) - “How Facebook’s Ad Tool Fails to Protect Civil Rights” (Gillian B. White, October 28, 2016) - “Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race” (Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr., ProPublica, October 28, 2016) - Sarah Jeong on Twitter - “The Most Important Exchange of the Zuckerberg Hearing” (Alexis C. Madrigal, April 11, 2018) - “Mark Zuckerberg Is Halfway to Scot-Free” (Alexis C. Madrigal, April 11, 2018) - “My Facebook Was Breached by Cambridge Analytica. Was Yours?” (Robinson Meyer, April 10, 2018) - “Can Anyone Unseat Mark Zuckerberg?” (Robinson Meyer, March 22, 2018) - “The Cambridge Analytica Scandal, in 3 Paragraphs” (Robinson Meyer, March 20, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Trump gambled that Americans resent each other’s differences more than they cherish their shared democracy. So far that gamble has paid off,” writes David Frum in his new book Trumpocracy. Along with The Atlantic's Global Editor Kathy Gilsinan, David joins to explain how President Trump has undermined our most important institutions. What does democracy around the world look like when the leader of the free world is less interested in it himself? Links - Trumpocracy (David Frum, 2018) - “Saudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look Good'” (Jeffrey Goldberg, April 2, 2018) - “The Risks to Freedom in Hungary” (David Frum, April 5, 2018) - “How to Build an Autocracy” (David Frum, March 2017 Issue) - “Freedom Fights for Survival in Hungary” (David Frum, April 10, 2017) - “An Exit From Trumpocracy” (David Frum, January 18, 2018) - “Americans Can't Afford to Grow Used to This” (David Frum, January 9, 2018) - “Tracking the appearances of “rosy-fingered Dawn” in The Odyssey” (Jason Kottke, kottke.org, April 3, 2018) - “Strategies of Attainment” (C. Lee Shea, War on the Rocks, April 1, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his last speech, known to history as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Martin Luther King Jr. began by remarking on the introduction he’d been given by his friend, Ralph Abernathy. “As I listened to ... his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself,” King said modestly, “I wondered who he was talking about.” The facsimile of King that America would fashion after his assassination—saintly pacifist, stranger to controversy, beloved by all—might have provoked something well beyond wonder. To create a version of King that America could love, the nation sanded down the reality of the man, his ministry, and his activism. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, Vann Newkirk and Adrienne Green join our hosts, Jeffrey Goldberg and Matt Thompson, to discuss the truth of King in the last year of his life and after. Links - KING: Full coverage from The Atlantic of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy - “The Whitewashing of King’s Assassination” (Vann R. Newkirk, MLK Issue) - “The Chasm Between Racial Optimism and Reality” (Jeffrey Goldberg, MLK Issue) - King’s Three Evils (Martin Luther King Jr., May 10, 1967) - “The Civil-Rights Movement’s Generation Gap” (Bree Newsome, MLK Issue) - “Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'” (Martin Luther King Jr., August 1, 1963) - “How Much Had Schools Really Been Desegregated by 1964?” (Martin Luther King Jr., MLK Issue) - “Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War” (Martin Luther King Jr., MLK Issue) - “Generational Differences in Black Activism” (Conor Friedersdorf, June 30, 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The family is where the forces that are driving Americans farther apart—political polarization, generational divides, class stratification, Facebook fights—literally hit home. Economic, ideological, and technological shifts pose uncertain consequences for what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “the basic social unit of American life.” And not even a burgeoning industry of experts can tell parents what to do. “Parents are now more anxious than ever about their children,” writes Paula Fass in The Atlantic, “while disputes about how to raise children the ‘right’ way to meet a darkening future are a commonplace of child-rearing advice.” On March 20, The Atlantic launched a new section on the family—looking not just at America, but around the world; focusing not just on today, but on yesterday and tomorrow. In this episode, two of the editors steering this coverage, Rebecca Rosen and Adrienne LaFrance, join our hosts to explore how families are faring amid massive change. Links -“Millennials: The Mobile and the Stuck” (Derek Thompson, August 24, 2016) - “The Perils of 'Sharenting'” (Adrienne LaFrance, October 6, 2016) - “It's Hard to Go to Church” (Emma Green, August 23, 2016) - “The Graying of Rural America” (Alana Semuels, June 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Politicians from both parties publicly worship the solemn dignity of entrepreneurship and small businesses. But by the numbers, America has become the land of the big and the home of the consolidated,” writes The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson. In a time when Americans have lost faith in their institutions, the nation seems to now look to corporations for positive action. Can big business be a force for good or only a force for profit? Does their very size pose a threat? If corporations can be people, can they be good citizens? Links - “Is Big Business Really That Bad?” (Robert D. Atkinson and Michael Lind, April 2018 Issue) - “America’s Monopoly Problem” (Derek Thompson, October 2016 Issue) - “'Corporations Are People' Is Built on an Incredible 19th-Century Lie” (Adam Winkler, March 5, 2018) - “How American Business Got So Big” (Gillian B. White, November 18, 2016) - “A Small Town Kept Walmart Out. Now It Faces Amazon.” (Alana Semuels, March 2, 2018) - “Why Amazon Pays Some of Its Workers to Quit” (Alana Semuels, February 14, 2018) - “The Internet Is Enabling a New Kind of Poorly Paid Hell” (Alana Semuels, January 23, 2018) - “Hitchens Talks to Goldblog About Cancer and God” (Jeffrey Goldberg, August 6, 2010) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discarding the limits on a leader's time in office is a classic autocrat's move. So when Xi Jinping began to clear a path for an indefinite term as China's president, he dimmed many once-bright hopes that he would speed the nation's path toward a new era of openness and reform. For James Fallows,The Atlantic's national correspondent, it was a sad vindication of a warning he issued two years ago in the magazine, of “China’s Great Leap Backward.” As the 15th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq approaches, we review the developments in China, and look back at another warning that proved prescient: Fallows's National Magazine Award-winning essay, "The Fifty-First State?" Fallows joins our hosts, Alex Wagner and Matt Thompson, along with The Atlantic's global editor Kathy Gilsinan. Links - “China’s Great Leap Backward” (James Fallows, December 2016 Issue) - “Xi Jinping Reveals Himself As An Autocrat” (James Fallows and Caroline Kitchener, February 26, 2018) - “China Is Not a Garden-Variety Dictatorship” (David Frum, March 5, 2018) - “The Myth of a Kinder, Gentler Xi Jinping” (Isaac Stone Fish, February 27, 2018) - “China's Surveillance State Should Scare Everyone” (Anna Mitchell and Larry Diamond, February 2, 2018) - China's Trapped Transition (Minxin Pei, 2006) - “The Fifty-First State?” (James Fallows, November 2002 Issue) - “The Obama Doctrine” (Jeffrey Goldberg, April 2016 Issue) - Steve Coll on “The Atlantic Interview” (February 7, 2018) - A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East(David Fromkin, 1989) - On Grand Strategy (John Lewis Gaddis, 2018) - An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser, 1925) - “Babylon Berlin” on Netflix - “Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier” (Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, March 12, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Moviegoers across America are filling theaters to see, as The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer describes it, “a high-tech utopia that is a fictive manifestation of African potential unfettered by slavery and colonialism.” Wakanda, the setting of Marvel’s blockbuster film Black Panther, is suddenly everywhere, which means people the world over are seeing something that’s never had this widespread an audience: Afrofuturism. “Blockbusters rarely challenge consensus, and Disney blockbusters even less so,” Vann Newkirk wrote for The Atlantic in an essay about the film. “That’s what makes the final provocation of Black Panther so remarkable and applicable today.” But what is Black Panther’s remarkable provocation, and how does it apply to our world? Black Panther is only one part of a sudden explosion of Afrofuturism into mainstream American culture, from a new visual concept album by Janelle Monae to Children of Blood and Bone, a forthcoming YA book series by Tomi Adeyemi that has already become part of a seven-figure deal. Adam Serwer and Vann Newkirk join our hosts to talk about what this genre encompasses, and what its newfound popularity means. Links - “The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger” (Adam Serwer, February 21, 2018) - “The Provocation and Power of Black Panther” (Vann Newkirk, February 14, 2018) - “What Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong'o Learned About Wakanda” (David Sims, February 28, 2018) - “Why Fashion Is Key to Understanding the World of Black Panther” (Tanisha C. Ford, February 14, 2018) - “Why I'm Writing Captain America” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, February 28, 2018) - “‘Black Panther’ and the Invention of ‘Africa’” (Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, February 18, 2018) - “The Surprising Optimism of African Americans and Latinos” (Russell Berman, September 4, 2015) - Standing at Armageddon (Nell Irvin Painter) - Autonomous (Annalee Newitz) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Rick Magnis, a Texas judge, reviewed the evidence in Benjamine Spencer’s case, he recommended a new trial for Spencer “on the grounds of actual innocence.” But Texas’s highest criminal court took the rare step of rejecting the judge’s ruling. Why? Because Spencer did not meet the state’s “Herculean” standard of unassailable proof, such as DNA, that would remove all doubts of his innocence. According to the judge who wrote the opinion denying Spencer a new trial, this standard has kept innocent people in prison without a possibility of getting out. In this third and final chapter of “No Way Out,” we reveal more evidence that points to Spencer’s innocence: A new witness who confirms his alibi, new technology that calls into question the testimony of the star eyewitness in his trial, and a full recantation by another key eyewitness against him. We also share a stunning discovery: potential DNA evidence that offers Spencer the thinnest hope of meeting the state’s astronomical burden of proof. And yet, none of this may be enough to exonerate Benjamine Spencer. In this episode, we explore why that is, and what it means. Links: - A list of key individuals mentioned in this story - "Can You Prove Your Innocence Without DNA?" (Barbara Bradley Hagerty, January/February 2018 issue) - "Innocence Is Irrelevant" (Emily Yoffe, September 2017 issue) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part one of our three-part series "No Way Out," Barbara Bradley Hagerty told the story of how Benjamine Spencer was convicted for the murder of Jeffrey Young, and how much of the evidence that led to that conviction has fallen apart under scrutiny. But if Spencer did not kill him, who else could have? And if the evidence does point to another assailant, is that enough to free Spencer? In this episode, part two of three, Barbara explores an alternate theory of the crime. She talks with two friends of another man they say boasted about committing it. Their story, coupled with the shoddiness of the evidence that convicted Spencer, was enough to secure a recommendation that Spencer be given a new trial, "on the grounds of actual innocence." --- Key individuals mentioned in this story (listed in order of appearance): From Part I:Benjamine Spencer, the prisoner, convicted in October 1987, retried and convicted in March 1988, given life in prisonJeffrey Young, the victim, murdered in Dallas in March 1987Jay Young, Jeffrey’s son, the elder of twoCheryl Wattley, Spencer’s current attorneyTroy Johnson, a friend of Jeffrey Young’s, who tried calling him the night of his murderHarry Young, Jeffrey’s father, a senior executive in Ross Perot’s companyJesus “Jessie” Briseno, a detective for the Dallas Police Department, the lead investigator on the murder of Jeffrey YoungGladys Oliver, the prosecution’s star eyewitness in the trials of Benjamine SpencerRobert Mitchell, another man convicted a week after Spencer in a separate trial for the same crime, now deceasedFaith Johnson, the current district attorney in DallasFrank Jackson, Spencer’s defense attorney in the original trialAndy Beach, the prosecutor in the trial that sent Spencer to prisonAlan Ledbetter, the foreman of the jury that convicted SpencerDanny Edwards, the jailhouse informant who testified in Spencer’s original trials that Spencer had confessed to himDebra Spencer, Benjamine Spencer’s wife at the time of his convictionChristi Williams, the alibi witness who testified in Spencer’s defense at his trialsJim McCloskey, the founder of Centurion Ministries, the group that has aided Spencer's quest for exonerationDaryl Parker, a private investigator who has helped re-examine Spencer’s case and Young’s murderJimmie Cotton, one of three eyewitnesses for the prosecution in Spencer’s original trialsCharles Stewart, another of three eyewitnesses for the prosecution in Spencer’s trials, now deceasedSandra Brackens, a potential witness in Spencer’s defense who was not called to testify at his trialsNew to Part II:Michael Hubbard, an alternative suspect in Young's deathFerrell Scott, a childhood friend of Hubbard'sKelvin Johnson, a friend of Hubbard's who claims to have committed robberies with himCraig Watkins, a newly-elected District Attorney interested in reinvestigating claims of innocence Judge Rick Magnis, the judge of Texas' 283rd DistrictSubscribe to Radio Atlantic to hear part three in the “No Way Out” series when it's released. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1987, Jeffrey Young was robbed and killed, and his body was left on a street in the poor neighborhood of West Dallas. Benjamine Spencer was tried and convicted for the attack. Spencer was black, 22 years old, and recently married. Young was 33 and white, and his father was a senior executive for Ross Perot, one of the most prominent businessmen in Dallas. No physical evidence connected Spencer to the murder. Instead, he was convicted based on the testimony of three eyewitnesses and a jailhouse informant who claimed Spencer confessed to the crime. Spencer has now been in prison for most of his life. From behind bars, Spencer amassed evidence to support his claim of innocence, and secured the assistance of Centurion Ministries, a group that re-examines cases of prisoners like him. Together, they were able to convince a Texas judge of Spencer’s innocence. In investigating this story, not only did we confirm Centurion’s findings, but we’ve gathered new, exculpatory evidence, some of which appears first in this special, three-episode series of Radio Atlantic. --- Key individuals mentioned in this story (listed in order of appearance):Benjamine Spencer, the prisoner, convicted in October 1987, retried and convicted in March 1988, given life in prisonJeffrey Young, the victim, murdered in Dallas in March 1987Jay Young, Jeffrey’s son, the elder of twoCheryl Wattley, Spencer’s current attorneyTroy Johnson, a friend of Jeffrey Young’s, who tried calling him the night of his murderHarry Young, Jeffrey’s father, a senior executive in Ross Perot’s companyJesus “Jessie” Briseno, a detective for the Dallas Police Department, the lead investigator on the murder of Jeffrey YoungGladys Oliver, the prosecution’s star eyewitness in the trials of Benjamine SpencerRobert Mitchell, another man convicted a week after Spencer in a separate trial for the same crime, now deceasedFaith Johnson, the current district attorney in DallasFrank Jackson, Spencer’s defense attorney in the original trialAndy Beach, the prosecutor in the trial that sent Spencer to prisonAlan Ledbetter, the foreman of the jury that convicted SpencerDanny Edwards, the jailhouse informant who testified in Spencer’s original trials that Spencer had confessed to himDebra Spencer, Benjamine Spencer’s wife at the time of his convictionChristi Williams, the alibi witness who testified in Spencer’s defense at his trialsJim McCloskey, the founder of Centurion Ministries, the group that has aided Spencer's quest for exonerationDaryl Parker, a private investigator who has helped re-examine Spencer’s case and Young’s murderJimmie Cotton, one of three eyewitnesses for the prosecution in Spencer’s original trialsCharles Stewart, another of three eyewitnesses for the prosecution in Spencer’s trials, now deceasedSandra Brackens, a potential witness in Spencer’s defense who was not called to testify at his trialsSubscribe to Radio Atlantic to hear part two in the “No Way Out” series when it's released. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices