Wood for the Trees

The police have a duty to protect our right to protest while maintaining public safety. Too often they get the balance wrong. Edward Maguire is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University and the author of a guidebook on policing protests safely. He talks to Cait about crowd psychology, the history of protest policing, and his advice for police who take on these challenging events. Support the Show.For background reading and a list of refe...

Prof Muntingh is the Director of the Dullah Omar Institute, a human rights organisation based in Cape Town, South Africa. He's been involved in criminal justice reform for three decades. We spoke about: Wins and fails in African criminal justice The cheapest way to cut crimeTackling torture in prisonsAnd even why a man was imprisoned for burying his cat. Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

Professor Mark Osler used to push for heavy sentences for narcotics trafficking as a federal prosecutor. Now he helps prisoners petition for clemency. How's that for a plot twist? In this episode we discuss:- Whether the justice system can have an impact on drug use- Why narcotics should be treated more like white collar crime- The notion of compassionate prosecution.Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

Prison is supposed to protect, deter, and rehabilitate. But what if isn't a very effective way of doing those things? My guests offer two different visions of how the prison system could be re-imagined - including a glimpse of a Norwegian prison that looks nicer than most college dorms. FeaturingDr David Scott - abolitionism activist and scholar from the Open UniversityAre Hoidal - former warden of Halden Prison in NorwaySupport the Show.For background reading and a list of referen...

Prisons don't do what we want them to do. Should we ditch them? Or perhaps reimagine them? Cait speaks to abolitionist and criminologist David Scott about why he hopes for a world without prisons. Then she interviews Are Hoidal, former warden of Halden Prison in Norway, about a different approach to imprisonment that seems to yield better results. Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

A conversation with Ronan Levy, industry pioneer and CEO of Field Trip Health, a company that offers psychedelic-enhanced psychotherapy. Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

Drugs kill hundreds of thousands of people a year. The war on drugs hasn't solved the problem. Could legalisation be the answer? Featuring: Dr Keith Scott - retired general practitioner and co-founder of the South African Drug Policy InitiativeJonathan Caulkins - professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College and co-director at RAND's Drug Policy Research CenterMusic by: Lexin Music from PixabaySupport the Show.For background reading and a list of referenc...

Drugs kill hundreds of thousands of people a year. The war on drugs hasn't solved the problem. Could legalisation be the answer? Featuring: Dr Keith Scott - retired general practitioner and co-founder of the South African Drug Policy InitiativeJonathan Caulkins - professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College and co-director at RAND's Drug Policy Research CenterSupport the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

The Prevent Duty is a legal obligation placed on authorities in the UK, including teachers, to identify and report signs of radicalisation. The goal is to stop people from being indoctrinated by terrorist ideologies. But activists argue that the policy infringes on civil liberties and intrudes on the lives of young people. Featuring:Professor Steven Greer - a scholar of human rights and counter-terrorismProfessor John Holmwood - sociologist and co-chair of the People's Review of PreventA...

The Prevent Duty: Countering Terror or Terrorising the Innocent?Featuring human rights scholar and counter-terrorism expert Professor Steven Greer and Professor John Holmwood, sociologist and co-chair of the People's Review of Prevent. Available from 26 January 2023. Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

After the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020, the call from protestors was to defund the police. Since then, media coverage of this debate has waned but the problem of police violence hasn't gone anywhere. Cait interviews reformer Arthur Rizer and "defunder" Alex Vitale to unpack the arguments on both sides.Interviewees:Alex Vitale - Author of The End of Policing, professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, visiting professor at London South Bank U...

Defund, Refund or Reform? The Unsolved Problem of Police Violence. Featuring cop turned conservative policy expert Arthur Rizer and Alex Vitale, one of the leading voices in the movement to defund the police. Available from 11 January.Support the Show.For background reading and a list of references, visit cantseethewood.com

This episode comes from a discontinued podcast called Debatable.When the South African government banned all sale of alcohol during lockdown, there were reports of blissfully empty emergency wards. Only 31% of South Africans over the age of 15 drink alcohol but the amount of alcohol consumed per drinker per day is over double the global average. Cait interviews Professor Charles Parry (Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug Research Unit of the South African Medical Res...

This episode comes from a discontinued podcast called Debatable. The relationship between fat and health is often presented as linear but there are activists and medical professionals who argue that things are far more complex. In this episode, Cait asks: Does being fat always mean you're unhealthy? Should fatness carry shame? Is 'curing' obesity as simple as changing your lifestyle? Should society change to accommodate bigger bodies? And how does fatness interact with other social just...

An interview with Professor Charles Parry from the South African Medical Research Council about the challenge of alcohol-related death, violence and injury and the possible solutions. 

Why does the word 'fat' make us so uncomfortable? Can you be fat and healthy? Is it okay to celebrate your body if you are large? What does fat have to do with Black Lives Matter? The world population is heavier than ever before so what should we do about it and how should society adapt? My guests are:Jackie Maris, fat liberation movement advocateLizzie Cernik, journalistDr Arya Sharma, scientific director of Obesity CanadaYou can follow Jackie on Instagram @theotherotherfword. Here are the names of the writers, activists and academics that Jackie references in our interview: Sabrina Strings (and her book 'Fearing the Fat Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia'), Roxane Gay, Sonya Renee Taylor, Linda Bacon and the blogger Your Fat Friend. A link to Lizzie's article in the Guardian: It's not fine to be fat. Celebrating obesity is irresponsible. Dr Sharma's website: http://www.drsharma.ca/

When the South African government banned the sale of alcohol during the Covid-19 lockdown, hospital trauma admissions plummeted, putting the issue of alcohol abuse centre stage. Cait talks to Professor Charles Parry, Director of the Alcohol , Tobacco & Other Drug Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), about the causes and consequences of alcohol abuse, the role of the industry and the policy measures that could solve the problem.

Freelance writer and campaigner Inaya Folarin Iman and emergency doctor Bibi Ayesha Bassa debate whether it was wrong to institute a lockdown in response to COVID-19. As most of the world emerges from lockdown, it's time to take stock and ask some important questions. Was the lockdown effective? Was it justified? Did the nations who locked down fare any better than those who didn't? What role should scientists play in public policy? You can contact me with feedback and questions at debatablecait@gmail.com