21 episodes

On seasons 1 and 2, we took a deep look into policing and criminal justice in America. This season on The Untold Story, we go even further, with three investigations of injustice happening in your own backyard. From executive producer Jay Ellis and Lemonada Media, this season covers how we can fix the humanitarian crisis happening at Rikers Island; why your tax dollars are funding software that leads to over policing in our most vulnerable communities; and the racist roots of the debunked medical term excited delirium. Host Travon Free talks to real people who have experienced the effects first-hand, as well as lawyers, organizers, and city officials who are all part of the effort to answer the question: How can we hold our most powerful institutions accountable?

The Untold Story: Criminal Injustice Lemonada

    • True Crime
    • 4.3 • 547 Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

On seasons 1 and 2, we took a deep look into policing and criminal justice in America. This season on The Untold Story, we go even further, with three investigations of injustice happening in your own backyard. From executive producer Jay Ellis and Lemonada Media, this season covers how we can fix the humanitarian crisis happening at Rikers Island; why your tax dollars are funding software that leads to over policing in our most vulnerable communities; and the racist roots of the debunked medical term excited delirium. Host Travon Free talks to real people who have experienced the effects first-hand, as well as lawyers, organizers, and city officials who are all part of the effort to answer the question: How can we hold our most powerful institutions accountable?

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    Travon Explores the Humanitarian Crisis on Rikers Island

    Travon Explores the Humanitarian Crisis on Rikers Island

    Rikers is a pretrial detention center and while people await their day in court, the conditions at the island are simply inhumane due to violence, overcrowding and inadequate medical care. Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027 but at the rate we're going, eighty more people might die on the island before the jail is shut down. How do we untangle this culture of perpetual violence at Rikers? And could an intervention called a federal receivership make conditions more humane for the people who live there? Host Travon Free uncovers why a receivership might be the only solution that could actually make things better for people right now. 

    The Untold Story is a Lemonada Media original and is presented by Campaign Zero. This episode is produced by Nicolle Galteland with production help from Hannah Boomershine and Priscilla Alabi. Supervising producer is Kristen Lepore. Production intern is Jala Everett. Fact checking by Steve Crighton. Music, sound design and mixing by Hannis Brown. Engineering from Andrea Kristinsdottir. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs, DeRay Mckesson and Jay Ellis. You can find host Travon Free on Instagram and Twitter: @Travon. 

    Resources:


    The Rikers in Crisis Campaign
    The New York Times: Tracking the Deaths in New York City’s Jail System in 2022
    The Brennan Center: Receiverships for Jails and Prisons, Explained, The Way Forward for Rikers Island: Receivership
    The Fortune Society: At pivotal time for Rikers, experts say federal control is best path forward
    The Columbia Justice Lab: Pros and Cons of Receiverships as a Catalyst for Institutional Reform
    Vital City: The Fatal Cost of Waiting: What Must Happen Now in the City’s Jails
    WNYC/ Gothamist: Correction commissioner absent from oversight hearing as Rikers Island violence escalates
    Just leadership USA
    The Close Rikers Campaign
    The Legal Aid Society 


    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 41 min
    Travon Asks If Microphones Really Stop Bullets

    Travon Asks If Microphones Really Stop Bullets

    Can you hear the difference between a firework and a gunshot? ShotSpotter says it can. It's a private sector company that uses microphones to detect gunfire and alert police to the scene. The company says it’s a powerful tool to stop gun violence, but critics say it’s an excuse to overpolice some of our most vulnerable communities. How did this technology with questionable accuracy lead to million-dollar contracts with police departments across the country? Travon walks us through the case of Silvon Simmons, a man falsely accused of shooting a cop, all because of an eight-second audio file from ShotSpotter. Plus, conversations with a former 911 operator and a city councilmember in Durham, NC, about the fight against ShotSpotter. 

    The Untold Story is a Lemonada Media original and is presented by Campaign Zero. This episode is produced by Hannah Boomershine with production help from Nicole Galteland and Priscilla Alabi. Supervising producer is Kristen Lepore. Production intern is Jala Everett. Fact checking by Steve Crighton. Music, sound design and mixing by Hannis Brown. Engineering from Andrea Kristinsdottir. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs, DeRay Mckesson and Jay Ellis. You can find host Travon Free on Instagram and Twitter: @Travon. 

    Resources:

    CancelShotSpotter.com


    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 44 min
    Travon Unravels the Racist Roots of Excited Delirium

    Travon Unravels the Racist Roots of Excited Delirium

    In this episode, host Travon Free uncovers the racist roots of the debunked medical term “excited delirium.” A study from Maryland in 2017 found that excited delirium was referenced in 11 percent of cases where someone died in police custody. And when these cases go to court, the concept of excited delirium can be used to argue that the police did nothing wrong. How did TASER, a couple of doctors and a handful of so-called experts take a meaningless psychiatric term and get it picked up by police departments, medical professionals and courtrooms all over the country?

    The Untold Story is a Lemonada Media original and is presented by Campaign Zero. This episode is produced by Nicolle Galteland with production help from Hannah Boomershine and Priscilla Alabi. Supervising producer is Kristen Lepore. Production intern is Jala Everett. Fact checking by Steve Crighton. Music, sound design and mixing by Hannis Brown. Engineering from Andrea Kristinsdottir. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs, DeRay Mckesson and Jay Ellis. You can find host Travon Free on Instagram and Twitter: @Travon. 

    Resources:


    Campaign Zero @campaignzero on Twitter and Instagram; Sign up to learn more: https://campaignzero.typeform.com/untold-story 
    Physicians for Human Rights: “Excited Delirium” and Deaths in Police Custody
    Richard Burns documentary: Exposed: Last Writes
    The American Medical Association: Policy on Excited Delirium
    BART Police Department: New policy on excited delirium
    Brookings: How “excited delirium” is misused to justify police brutality
    Dr. Obasogie in the Virginia Law Review: Excited Delirium and Police Use of Force
    Justice for Angelo Quinto
    California Attorney General, Rob Bonta
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 50 min
    The Untold Story: Season 3, we're back!

    The Untold Story: Season 3, we're back!

    From executive producer, Jay Ellis, and Lemonada Media, season 3 of The Untold Story drops October 25. Host Travon Free talks to real people about the injustices happening in your own backyard.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 min
    Why we can’t incarcerate our way to public safety

    Why we can’t incarcerate our way to public safety

    There has been a lot of media coverage around recent spikes in violent crime. A LOT. Even though overall crime rates are at historic lows, many people are feeling unsafe and want solutions. Most people also want to tackle our country’s incarceration crisis while addressing public safety concerns. As it turns out, these things go hand in hand. Join us for this special live event between Lemonada Media and The Just Trust to hear from executive directors of three leading criminal justice reform advocacy organizations – a former Police Lieutenant, a former federal prosecutor, and a social worker focused on drug law reform – about the intersection of safety and criminal justice reform in this moment. We’ll ask questions like “what really makes communities safer?” (hint - it’s not more prisons), and “what myths do we need to bust about justice reform?”

    The bottom line is that the criminal justice system impacts all of us, and we all have a role to play in making it better – in every city, in every state, regardless of who is in the White House or the Governors’ mansions. Join us as we break down some of the most urgent strategies for change, and how unlikely allies across sectors are leading the way. 

    This is a sponsored episode by The Just Trust, a philanthropic venture that is 100% dedicated to powering criminal justice reform, state by state and across the country. Visit TheJustTrust.org to learn more.

    Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

    Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 57 min
    Jay Learns that a Pair of Jeans Could Ruin Your Life

    Jay Learns that a Pair of Jeans Could Ruin Your Life

    Host Jay Ellis has dealt with shoplifters first-hand, back when he was a teenaged retail manager at a high-end shoe store. But he never learned about the other side of the story - what motivates people to shoplift and what happens to them if they’re caught. In this episode, Jay learns that people can become convicted felons for stealing as little as $200 in value in some states, because of Felony Theft Thresholds written into state law. Jay hears from people who have first-hand, personal experience dealing with the fallout of felony theft convictions. He also speaks to experts who unpack why these policies aren’t helping anyone. Listeners can learn more about felony theft policies in their own states, and find out what they can do to help increase felony theft thresholds at raisethethreshold.org.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 43 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
547 Ratings

547 Ratings

podcastjac ,

So glad this show is back!

I listened to all of season 3 back to back- WOW.

usahozierfan2019 ,

Rikers ep is insane

Thank god this is a binge. Travon is wonderful.

AshaB_FTW ,

Always learning new stuff here

The Feb 22nd forensics episode !! I learned so much. Thank you Jay!

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