12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

Death Penalty Information Center
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Examining issues in the death penalty system. Brought to you by the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment.

  1. Jul 2

    Sam Spital on 50 Years Since Gregg v. Georgia and Examining the Decision's Legacy and Unfulfilled Promises

    In the July 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI’s Executive Director Robin M. Maher speaks with Samuel Spital, Associate Director Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). To mark the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Gregg v. Georgia, they explore the history of the landmark case, the pivotal role played by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the litigation, and the enduring legacy of legendary LDF attorney Anthony Amsterdam. They conclude their conversation by looking back on the results of that 1976 decision.

  2. May 28

    Naomi Yavneh Klos on Gas Executions, Holocaust Memory, and Common Ground

    In the May 2026 episode of 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Dr. Naomi Yavneh Klos, Dean of the Honors College at the University of New Mexico, and a prominent scholar of the Holocaust. Dr. Yavneh Klos is a founding member of the Jews Against Gassing Coalition, a New-Orleans area group formed to oppose the use of nitrogen gas as a method of execution in Louisiana. She joins DPI’s podcast during Jewish American Heritage Month to discuss the historical ties between lethal gas executions and the use of gas as a tool of genocide during the Holocaust.

  3. Apr 29

    Sherrerd Hartness on Victims’ Needs, Trauma, and the Limits of the Death Penalty

    In the April 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sherrerd Hartness, a writer and speaker who advocates for victims’ families and co-victims of murder. In 1977, Ms. Hartness’s sister, Carlotta, was killed—an experience that shaped her understanding of the long-term emotional impact of violent crime on families and communities. Her work now focuses on raising awareness about the needs of co-victims and the emotional challenges they face in the aftermath of loss.

  4. Mar 20

    Elizabeth Vartkessian on Mitigation and "The Deserving"

    In the March 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Elizabeth Vartkessian (pictured), the executive director of Advancing Real Change (ARC), a national non-profit that works to provide mitigation investigation services and training that ensure the full life histories of individuals facing extreme sentences are presented to judges and juries. Ms. Vartkessian is a mitigation specialist who has spent decades investigating the lives and backgrounds of individuals facing the death penalty in order to present mitigating evidence to juries. Her new book, The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal about American Justice, explores her experience in capital defense and her deep professional relationship with Wesley Purkey, a federal prisoner executed in 2020.

  5. Feb 26

    DPI’s Taylor Bonner and U.S. Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty’s Furonda Brasfield on the Racial History of the Death Penalty

    Taylor Bonner and Furonda Brasfield speak with DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger about the racial history of the death penalty and how current data and narratives about racial justice play a role in advocacy on the death penalty. As the Death Penalty Information Center’s Racial Justice Storyteller, Ms. Bonner blends data and history to tell the story of the death penalty throughout the U.S. Ms. Brasfield is the Director of Leadership Development at the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty; in that role, she supports leaders in the death penalty movement across the country and leads the Noose to Needle campaign, educating the public about the death penalty’s historical ties to lynching. The two guests bring their distinct and complimentary expertise to a discussion of race and the death penalty in honor of the 100th anniversary of Black History Month.

  6. Jan 30

    Fair and Just Prosecution’s Aramis Ayala on the Death Penalty, Prosecutorial Discretion, and Conviction Integrity

    In the January 2026 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Aramis Ayala, Executive Director of Fair and Just Prosecution. Ms. Ayala made history in 2016 as Florida’s first Black state attorney and later became the first Black woman in Florida to be nominated for state attorney general by a major party. In the podcast, she discusses her decision to not seek the death penalty, the reaction to her decision, and the evolving role of prosecutors in the capital punishment system.

  7. 11/12/2025

    Experts Discuss New DPI Report on Veterans and the Death Penalty

    In the November 2025 episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Captain Art Cody, Dr. Steven Xenakis, and DPI Staff Attorney Leah Roemer about DPI’s new report, Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty. Their conversation covers the legal and scientific reasons behind the overrepresentation of veterans on death row. Captain Cody, a retired U.S. Naval officer, currently serves as Director of the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy. Dr. Xenakis, a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and psychiatrist, works extensively with youth and adults and is a leading advocate for improving mental health care for veterans. Both bring extensive experience and a long-standing commitment to reform within the military and civilian justice systems. Ms. Roemer, the lead author of DPI’s new report Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds, describes how the legal system treats veterans sentenced to death and underscores the role of military service, trauma, and inadequate treatment in shaping case outcomes. As part of this report, DPI has produced the first comprehensive list of veterans sentenced to death in the modern era of the death penalty.

  8. 10/20/2025

    Maha Jweied of The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice Discusses Intersection of Business and the Legal System

    In October 2025’s episode of 12:01: The Death Penalty in Context, DPI managing director Anne Holsinger interviews Maha Jweied. Ms. Jweied, the CEO of The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ), is an internationally recognized expert on the role of the private sector in justice systems and an advocate for improved access to justice worldwide. During the podcast, Ms. Jweied describes RBIJ’s mission of working with business leaders to push for criminal justice reform. Along with death penalty abolition, RBIJ advocates for policies addressing challenges facing formerly incarcerated individuals reentering the workforce.

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About

Examining issues in the death penalty system. Brought to you by the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment.

Information

  • Creator
    Death Penalty Information Center
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    97
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ℗ & © 2011—2026 Death Penalty Information Center
  • Show Website
    12:01 The Death Penalty in Context

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