From a botched execution in Tennessee to the commutation of over 500 people on death row in California, capital punishment is all over the headlines. But where do American attitudes toward the death penalty come from? And what do those attitudes say about the kind of society we want to be? To find out, Brittany chats with <a href="https://law.udc.edu/home-new/faculty/ngozi-ndulue/"target="_blank" >Ngozi Ndulue</a>, Associate Professor of Law & Director of the Post-Conviction Criminal Defense Clinic at University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, and <a href="https://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/mtrotti"target="_blank" >Dr. Michael Trotti</a>, History professor and coordinator of legal studies at Ithaca College, and author of The End of Public Execution: Race, Religion, and Punishment in the American South. Looking for more conversations about law and culture? Check out these episodes: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/10/30/nx-s1-6022279/why-is-divorce-financially-harder-on-women"target="_blank" >Why is divorce financially harder on women?</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/08/04/nx-s1-5918533/abortion-access-is-limited-is-hollywood-to-blame"target="_blank" >Abortion access is limited. Is Hollywood to blame?</a> Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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