Ep. 439: The Human Tragedy and Exploitation of the "True Crime" Genre

John J. Lennon is a prison journalist who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in Sing Sing prison in New York. His work has been featured by such leading publications as New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and New York magazine. John's new book is The Tragedy of True Crime.

John shares his surreal experience of being on a book tour while inside prison and reflects on his own personal experiences with the "true crime" genre. He also warns about the seductive nature -- and problematic relationship these shows have with reality -- of The First 48, Law and Order, Cops, and others in the reality TV show - crime entertainment genre.

John explains how his new book goes beyond the sensationalistic headlines and explores the human side and complexity of four men who have been convicted of murder.

• Robert Chambers, the so-called "Preppy Killer" of 1980s tabloid fame
• Milton E. Jones, drawn from petty crime into tragedy as a teenager
• Michael Shane Hale, a gay man facing the death penalty after a crime of passion
• Lennon himself, who discovered his voice as a writer while serving time for murder

Chauncey DeVega shares what it is like in Chicago as Trump's DHS/ICE immigration dragnet "Operation Midway Blitz" and threats of a National Guard "invasion" have created a climate that feels ripped from a bad dystopian movie. To better understand who would want to take a job working for DHS/ICE as one of its enforcers, Chauncey shares a very important news story from the Intercept where they interview people at a job fair for that government agency.

And Chauncey DeVega goes to the local cineplex and reviews three new films: Tron: Ares, The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Paul Thomas Anderson's essential document and cultural artifact of this era One Battle After Another.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME?

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https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega

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