Episode 4: Mass Incarceration, Race, and COVID-19, with Arvind Krishnamurthy

Today we’re focused on Chapter 4 of The Pandemic Divide: COVID-19, Race, and Mass Incarceration, written by our guest today, Arvind Krishnamurthy. We discuss the differences between jails and prisons, the alarming statistics on COVID among the incarcerated population (including employees), the difficulty of finding accurate data, why politicians are reluctant to do anything to help, and if there's hope in improving these conditions.

Toward the end of the episode, you'll hear Dr. Lauren Brinkley Rubinstein, Craig Waleed and Forrest Biehne from the COVID Prison Project presenting at our recent Pandemic Divide Conference.

Arvind Krishnamurthy is a Ph.D candidate in Political Science at Duke. Prior to Duke, he graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2017 with a B.A in Political Science. His research focuses on the relationship between democratic institutions and the criminal justice system in America. His dissertation examines how democratizing policing changes the behavior of police officers and attitudes of the mass public.

Voices in Equity is the official podcast of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. The Cook Center is named after Samuel DuBois Cook, the first tenured Black professor at Duke University who exemplified the pursuit of social justice and equality. With

research focuses including social mobility, education, health, wealth, and policy, the Cook Center aims to develop a deep understanding of the causes and consequences of inequality, and develop remedies for these disparities and their adverse effects. The aim of this podcast is to expand upon the work of the Cook Center through continuing crucial conversations that further our research and programming.

On our first podcast series, we’re focusing on The Pandemic Divide: How COVID Increased Inequality in America. It’s a collaborative book from faculty - many here at Duke - who are committed to shining a light on inequities and truly making a difference.

Voices in Equity is hosted by Madeleine Braksick and is produced by Earfluence.

We invite you to check out the new Cook Center website at socialequity.duke.edu to learn more about the Cook center’s research, programming, multimedia, and educational activities.