Policing and Prisons
Heather Ann Thompson writes about, and consults regularly on, the history as well as present day implications of prisons, punishment and policing in the United States.
Below are a selection of Thompson’s talks and events related to the subject of prisons, policing and other policy matters.
For media interviews and lectures related to Blood in the Water, click here.
Television:
Heather Ann Thompson. Center for American Progress. Toward a More Perfect Union: Bringing Criminal Justice Reform to our Communities. Briefing on Incarceration from National Academies Report. May 28, 2015.
Heather Ann Thompson. Congressional Staff Briefing, House Judiciary Committee. May 26, 2015. Broadcast on CSPAN.
Heather Ann Thompson. Interviewed on The Heat. CCTV: Baltimore Uprising and Crisis in America’s Inner Cities. May 2, 2015. Part Two and Part Three.
Heather Ann Thompson, Social Changes of the 1970s. CSPAN. January 2, 2015. (segments: 44:20-55:48, 1:13:40-1:14:38, 1:22:15-1:23:43, 1:30:20-1:31:50, 1:48:11-1:50:15, 1:50:50-1:51:54)
Heather Ann Thompson, Understanding the Ferguson Protests. CSPAN. January 3, 2015. (segments: 31:25-43:45, 1:22:00-1:24:00, 1:27:23-1:29:21, 2:04:23-2:05:23)
Heather Ann Thompson, Tension Between NYPD And De Blasio Mirrors Clashes From 1960s.HuffPost Live. December 29, 2014. (for entire interview click here)
Radio:
Heather Ann Thompson. Incarceration and Prisons. Smart Talk. January 2, 2018
Heather Ann Thompson. Prison Food as Punishment. BBC World News. February 27, 2016.
Heather Ann Thompson, “History of Mass Incarceration.” Wake up with Tayla Andre Show. October 7, 2015.
Heather Ann Thompson, The Crisis of Mass Incarceration in North Carolina. Frank Stassio’s The State of Things. WUNC. September 29, 2015
Heather Ann Thompson and Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Historians and the Carceral State. June, 2015
Heather Ann Thompson, Charleston and White Responsibility. Open Source Radio. June 25, 2015
Heather Ann Thompson, Mass Incarceration: Why Does it Matter? Drive By Jack. Radio. May 4, 2015.
Heather Ann Thompson, Can the US have “open prisons” like Finland? PRI World. April 15, 2015. (marker 5:12)
Heather Ann Thompson, “Americans in Jail.” Rear Vision. Australian Broadcasting Company. Sunday February 15, 2015.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Lessons from Attica and Mass Incarceration.” Law and Disorder Radio. January 28, 2015
Heather Ann Thompson, “Ferguson and the Death of Michael Brown.” Rear Vision.Australian Broadcasting Company. September 14, 2014
Heather Ann Thompson, “Ending Conjugal Visits in Mississippi: The Costs” NPR’s Tell Me More with host Michel Martin. January 27, 2014.
Heather Ann Thompson, “How Mass Incarceration Distorts our Democracy,” on The Agenda, Sirius Radio. October 11, 2013.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Detroit, Baltimore, and Oakland: The Fate of America’s Cities,” On the Marc Steiner Show. Baltimore, MD. (begin marker 30:00)
Heather Ann Thompson, “From Attica to Current Justice Policy.” Interviewed by Matt Rothschild on The Progressive Radio Network. Sirius Radio.
Heather Ann Thompson, The History and Legacy of Mass Incarceration. Interviewed on public radio WHYY, Radio Times, by Marty Moss-Coane.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Attica and Why Mass Incarceration Matters in America,” Interview on public radio WYSU, Youngstown, OH. Program: Lincoln Avenue.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Labor History, Incarceration, and Detroit.” The Craig Fahlel Show. Public Radio. WDET. Detroit, MI.
Heather Ann Thompson, “What Happened to Detroit: The Costs of Carceral Crisis,” Interview by Peter Werbe. WRIF. Program: Night Call. (go to marker: 1:40:00)
Heather Ann Thompson, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History“. Interviewed by Khalil Gibran Muhammad for the Journal of American History
Heather Ann Thompson, Interviewed on program: Prison Labor: Made in America. Free Speech Radio News.
Magazine:
Heather Ann Thompson, Interview. Why are Relations Between Black America and the Police so Poor?” BBC History Magazine. February, 2015
Blogs/Podcasts/Articles:
How Trump Ended Bipartisanship over Criminal Justice Reform. Newsweek. January 2, 2018.
On the Hard Path to Prison Reform: An Interview with Heather Ann Thompson. The Progressive.
Heather Ann Thompson, Why Mass Incarceration Matters to our Cities, Economy, and Democracy. The Ash Center. Harvard University. March 9, 2016
Interview with Heather Ann Thompson re writing history of mass incarceration and doing public work on this issue. NursingClio.org
Heather Ann Thompson, The Arc of History and SCOTUS. Life of the Law. June 26, 2015.
German Lopes, “Riots are Destructive, Dangerous, and Scary–but Can Lead to Serious Social Reforms.” Interview with historians Heather Ann Thompson and Thomas Sugrue. April 30, 2015.
German Lopez, “New York City Police Officers are Protesting by Refusing to Work. It’s not the First Time.” Interview with Heather Ann Thompson. VOX. December 31, 2014.
Dara Lind, “The Ugly History of Racist Policing in America: Interview with Heather Ann Thompson” VOX. August 19, 2014.
Fred Rowland interviews Heather Ann Thompson on “Detroit Then and Now,” Hear Thompson’s thoughts on Detroit’s challenges today and where they came from.
Doing History in Public, Cambridge University:
History and United States prison policy: an interview with Dr Heather Ann Thompson (Part I)
History and United States prison policy: An interview with Dr Heather Ann Thompson (Part II)
Gertz, Emily. Why these prisoners are getting law degrees behind bars. TED. December 1, 2017.
Video:
Heather Ann Thompson. On Policing Crisis. Princeton University. December 9, 2016
Heather Ann Thompson. Mass Incarceration in Detroit. October, 2016
Heather Ann Thompson, Why Mass Incarceration Matters. 36th Annual Marion Wright Thompson Lecture. The Price Institute. Rutgers University, Newark. February 20, 2016
Heather Ann Thompson, Lessons from History in the Fight against Incarceration Today.National Network for Safe Communities. June 22, 2015. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson, Why Mass Incarceration Matters. Pendle Hill Quaker Retreat.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Fighting a War on Poverty and Waging a War on Crime: Rethinking the Welfare State/Carceral State Divide.” (36:50-48:55). The War on Poverty at 50. Symposium. University of Pennsylvania. September 20, 2014.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters to our Democracy.” (5:08-14:44). Interfaith Organizing Initiative, Summit on the Intersection of Criminalization and Race. May 8-9, 2014
Heather Ann Thompson, “Criminalizing Race, Racializing Criminals: Tayvon Martin, Tro Davis, and the Crisis of Mass Incarceration.” Dissent in America, Teach-In. Temple University, Philadelphia
Heather Ann Thompson, “Mass Incarceration and the Unmaking of Postwar America.” Auburn University. Auburn, Alabama
Heather Ann Thompson, “Distorting Democracy: Rethinking Politics and Power in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” February 21, 2013. The Havens Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Million Dollar Blocks in Detroit and the Auto Industry”. The Murphy Institute. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Education in Prison, the Incarceration ‘Employment Penalty,’ and a March on Washington.” The Murphy Institute. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Why the Carceral Crisis? Corporations, Immigrant Detention, Stop and Frisk, Prison Labor.” The Murphy Institute. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Prison Labor: Problem Not Work, the Problem is Exploitation.” The Murphy Institute. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson, “Why the Labor Movement Should Care about the Crisis of Mass Incarceration.” The Murphy Institute. New York, New York.
Heather Ann Thompson. Interviewed by History News Network. The War on Poverty and the War on Crime. The Organization of American Historians.
Heather Ann Thompson. Those Still Haunted by Attica. Interviewed by reporter Gary Craig. Democrat and Chronicle.
Heather Ann Thompson. Lessons from Attica. Interviewed by reporter Gary Craig. Democrat and Chronicle.
Thompson quoted (selected):
Newsweek: June 22, 2016
Brutal Murder Busts Up Aryan Brotherhood of Mississippi
CNN: June 24, 2016:
The Next LGBT Cause: Gun Control
The Metro Times: April 26, 2015
Thousands of Michigan kids suffer because of mass incarceration
Vice: March 24, 2016
How Cops Terrorize People Without Even Arresting Them
BBC: December 18, 2015
Is it Fair to Punish Prisoners with Food
MotherBoard: September 23, 2015
When Prison Food is Punishment
NYT: September 28, 2015
New York City Bar Association Urges Reduction of Mass Incarceration in Report
The Marshall Project: February 11, 2015
Happiness is a family sleepover.
The Chronicle of Higher Education: January 6, 2015
Ferguson Did Not Happen in a Vacuum
American Prospect: May 28, 2014
Modern-Day Slavery in America’s Prison Workforce
The Morning Call: April 29, 2014
Prisoner Suing for Conjugal Visits with his Wives
The Philadelphia Inquirer: April 27, 2014
The Struggle with Life in Philly after Serving Time in Prison
Time Magazine: January 13, 2014
Mississippi Ending Conjugal Visits for Prisoners
USA Today: February 9, 2013
Film Raises Questions about 1971 Attica Prison Riot
Detroit Metro Times: October 24, 2012
U.S. prison system dwarfs other nations’, but what does it really cost us?
Other lectures given:
September 28-29, 2012:
Association for African American History and Life, Pittsburgh, PA
October 10, 2102:
Political Theory Workshop, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
October 10, 2012:
Columbia University, New York, NY
October 17, 2012:
University of Michigan, Dearborn, MI
October 18, 2012:
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
October 24, 2012:
University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA
October 26-28, 2012:
Urban History Association, New York City, NY
November 1-4, 2012:
Southern Historical Association, Mobile, AL
November 8-9, 2012:
Yale University, New Haven, CT
November 15-17, 2012:
American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico
November 29, 2012:
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
December 6-7, 2012:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
January 3-6, 2013:
American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA
February 8, 2013:
Taubman College, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
February 9, 2013:
Human Rights Through Education (HRTE), Ann Arbor, MI.
February 13-14, 2013:
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
February 18-24, 2013:
Havens Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WS
February 28, 2013:
James E. Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA
March 7-9, 2013:
Southern Labor Studies, New Orleans, LA
March 25, 2013:
Duke University, Durham, NC
The CLASS Center (Class, Labor, and Social Sustainability, Durham, NC
April 4-5, 2013:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
April 19, 2013:
Murphy Center, CUNY, New York, NY
April 12-14, 2013:
Organization of American Historians, San Francisco, CA
April 30, 2013:
St. Paul Public Library, Saint Paul, MN
May 10, 2013:
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
May 20-July 5, 2013
Rome, Italy
July 21-24, 2013
Los Angeles, CA
September 9-11, 2013:
Los Angeles, CA
September 22-23, 2013:
Auburn University , Auburn, AL.
October 17-19, 2013:
Gettysburg, PA
November 12, 2013:
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
November 14, 2013:
University of East Anglia, Norwich, England.
November 19, 2013:
Oxford University, Oxford, England.
November 22-23, 2013:
Washington, DC
January 7, 2014:
Eastern State Penitentiary
January 23, 2014:
Mullenburg College
February 9, 2014:
Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia
February 14, 2014:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Milwaukee, WS
February 24, 2014:
Connecticut College
March 1, 2014:
UCLA School of Law
March 13-14, 2014:
University of Maryland, College Park
March 19, 2014:
Yale University
March 20, 2014:
College of Saint Rose
March 29, 2014
University of Pennsylvania
April 2, 2014:
Rutgers University
April 8, 2014:
Yale University
April 24, 2014:
Towson University
May 8-9, 2014:
Chicago, Illinois
May 29-20, 2014
University of Michigan, Summit on Detroit
June 20, 2014
University of Pennsylvania, Summer Institute on Inequality
July 26-29, 2014:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
September 4, 2014:
John Jay College, NYC
September 12, 2014:
Capitol Hill, DC.
September 16, 2014:
Lycoming College
September 19, 2014:
University of Pennsylvania, War on Poverty Symposium
September 26, 2014:
Memphis, Tennessee
October 12, 2014:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
October 15, 2014:
San Francisco, California
October 23-24, 2014:
Washington University, St. Louis
November 6, 2014:
Toronto, Canada
November 7, 2014:
Harvard University
November 8, 2014:
Cornell University
November 12, 2014:
Atlanta, GA
November 18, 2014:
LaSalle University
November 19-20, 2014:
San Francisco, CA
January 2-5, 2014:
New York City
January 8, 2014:
Vancouver, Canada
January 23, 2015:
Jacksonville, Florida
February 9, 2015:
University of Michigan
February 27-March 4, 2015:
Manoa, Hawaii
March 6, 2015:
Harvard University
March 10, 2015:
Brown University
March 20, 2015:
University of Toronto
April 8-9, 2015
Ft. Worth, Texas
April 10, 2015:
Plano, Texas
April 16-19, 2015:
St. Louis, Missouri
May 10-14, 2015:
Zurich, Switzerland
May 14-17, 2015:
Cambridge University, Cambridge UK
May 26, 2015:
Congressional Briefing, House Judiciary Committee
May 27, 2015:
Center for American Progress
June 8, 2015:
Tuebingen, Germany
June 11-14, 2015:
Charleston, South Carolina
June 22-23, 2015:
National Network for Safe Communities, NYC
July 21, 2015:
Furman University, Greenville, NC
August 26, 2015:
Charlottesville, Virginia
September 24-26, 2015:
ASALH, Atlanta, Georgia
October 1, 2015:
Chapel Hill, NC.
October 9, 2015
Washington, DC. Congressional Briefing
October 22, 2015:
North American Labor History Conference, Detroit
October 27-28, 2015:
Stony Brook University, NY
November 2, 2015:
Toronto, CA
November 11-15, 2015:
Little Rock, Arkansas
January 14, 2016:
Osher Center. Ann Arbor, MI
February 10, 2016:
Arlington, Texas
February 11, 2016:
Dallas, Texas
February 20, 2016:
Newark, New Jersey
February 26-27, 2016:
Zurich, Switzerland
March 2, 2016:
Paris, France
March 9, 2016:
Harvard University
March 22, 2016:
Florida Atlantic University. Boca Raton, Florida
April 7, 2016:
Providence, Rhode Island
April 14, 2016:
Central Washington University. Ellensburg, Washington
April 21, 2015:
New York University. NYC.
April 25, 2015:
Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore MD
June 3, 2015:
Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA
June 23, 2016:
San Diego, California
September 9-10, 2016:
New York City
September 13, 2016:
Politics and Prose, Washington, DC.
September 23, 2016:
UCLA. Los Angeles
October 6, 2016:
Tamiment Library, NYC
October 13, 2016:
Chicago, Illinois
November 3, 2016:
St. Petersburg, Florida
November 17, 2016:
Denver, Colorado