Rap on Trial

What does it do to a person to feel overlooked? This week, psychologist Gordon Flett examines how the absence of “mattering” can fuel loneliness, depression, and even violence. He outlines how feeling valued serves as a psychological buffer, and how simple gestures can rebuild a ...  Show more

From the time we're schoolchildren, we're ranked and sorted based on how smart we are. But what if our assumptions about intelligence limit our potential? This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 conversation with cognitive scientist Scott Barry Kaufman, who proposes a more expansiv ...  Show more

"A bullet in your brain." What right does the justice system have to decide whether a rapper's words are imagination or intent to kill? In this continuation of Mac Phipps' story, police pressure witnesses, while prosecutors use the artist's own lyrics to build a murder case again ...  Show more

Grammy award-winning rapper Young Thug is currently on trial for gang-related charges in Atlanta, US. Prosecutors claim that the rap label he founded, Young Stoner Life (YSL) Records, is a front for an organised crime syndicate responsible for ‘75-80% of violent crime’ in the cit ...  Show more

Last week, two of Atlanta's biggest rappers Young Thug and Gunna were arrested under the RICO Act. The DA charged their crew YSL as a gang and the indictment read more like a lyrical analysis than a police report. If this sounds familiar, it's because these same tactics were used ...  Show more

On this episode, Dr. Lee Pierce (she/they)--Asst. Prof. of Communication at SUNY Geneseo--interviews Bryan McCann (he/his)--Associate Professor of Communication at Louisiana State University--on a dope new work of cultural criticism The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Ga ...  Show more