Why Are the Police So Bad at Solving Murders?

Two extraordinary trends are happening in the United States simultaneously. One is that alcohol consumption is declining precipitously. The share of Americans who drink has hit a record low since Gallup started tracking it in the 1930s. In 2004, fewer than 30 percent of Americans ...  Show more

There’s no doubt that reading is in decline. But what is that decline doing to the way we think? Derek talks with The Atlantic's Rose Horowitch about why Americans are reading fewer books than ever and struggling more with complex texts and what that means for education, work, po ...  Show more

FBI data shows police departments have been solving fewer violent crimes since 2020. Data analyst Jeff Asher explains where policing is failing, and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia talks about what cops say they need. This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Matt Co ...  Show more

This episode contains strong language and scenes of violence. 

Over the past five years, police officers in the United States have killed more than 400 unarmed drivers or passengers — a rate of more than one a week, a Times investigation has found.

Why are s ...

America's homicide rate rose by almost 30 percent in 2020. It was the biggest spike in 60 years, and the murder rate was even higher in 2021. In this repodcast, ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis explains what might be causing “The Great Regression." Today’s show was reported and produc ...  Show more

It’s time to tell the truth about policing and crime. Today, I contrast the extremely rare case of unarmed black people being shot by police to the epidemic of homicides in black communities. Homicides are the single biggest cause of death for black people under 35. And it’s gett ...  Show more