unabridgedpod

Jun 5, 20192 min

76: Bryan Stevenson's JUST MERCY - A Must Read for All Human Beings

Updated: Mar 16, 2020

In this #unabridgedbookclub episode, we discuss Bryan Stevenson's nonfiction book Just Mercy.  Stevenson discusses his work as an attorney with prisoners on death row and with individuals who were sentenced to life in prison when they were children.
 

During our discussion, we strive to cover the plethora of issues raised by the book, including mass incarceration, the way we deal with mental disabilities and mental illness, the death penalty, and the role of poverty in the criminal justice system. Our conversation, like the book, is wide ranging both in topic and emotion as we reflect on what we gained from Stevenson's book. This truly is, as Sara says in the episode, a book that should be a "must read."


 
Timeline

Introduction: 00:00 - 01:42

Just Mercy: 01:43 - 52:19​

Book Pairings: 52:30 - 61:10

Classroom Connections: 61:15 - 64:04
 

Book Pairings 

Ashley - Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Jen - Ernest J. Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying

Sara - Beth Macy’s Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
 

Other Mentions and Additional Resources

Equal Justice Initiative

"Michael B. Jordan Headlines Film Adaptation of Criminal Justice Memoir, 'Just Mercy'"

"Lethal Injections: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)"

Bryan Stevenson’s TED Talk: “We need to talk about an injustice

In the Dark Podcast (Season Two)

Ian Richardson's Story

Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Orange Is the New Black series

Loving film

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Case for Reparations

Richard Wright's Black Boy and Native Son

Patrisse Khan Cullers and Asha Bandele's When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

Mónica Teresa Ortiz’s “Untitled [Executions have always been public spectacles]

Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.

#shownotes #unabridgedpodbookclub #socialjustice #nonfiction #socialissues #classics #ownvoices #addiction #podcasts #film #memoir #poetry


Want to support Unabridged?

Check out our Merch Store!
 
Become a patron on Patreon.​
 
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
 
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
 
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
 
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on iTunes or on Stitcher.
 
Check us out on Podbean.

    240
    2