Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
They’ve Got Weapons
Episode 4
Horrific race riots erupt when New York City starts to draft soldiers into the Civil War. A mob of white people, who resent fighting for emancipation, direct their rage at the Black community as well…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
What’s Done Can Be Undone
Episode 3
New York’s power-hungry mayor weaponizes the police to help him control the city – and bulldoze a thriving Black community for his own real estate profits. The state, fearing that the mayor and his p…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
If It Bleeds It Leads
Episode 2
Before the NYPD existed, New Yorkers strongly opposed the idea of an armed police force – until a powerful news publisher changed everything. After a grisly murder takes place, the city’s newspapers …
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
They Keep People Safe
Episode 1
Chenjerai takes us back to the summer of 1835, when Black New Yorkers are being kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. But their friends and families can’t call the cops, because it turns out …
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
Introducing: Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes listeners on a journey to uncove…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago