The Problem with Punishment is a podcast about how our cultural obsession with punishment has led to painful failures to address some of the most pressing issues we face. And even worse when punishment fails, the pain of that doesn’t fall equally across communities. But some New Yorkers have felt that pain and decided that we can do better. We’ll meet innovators, risk-takers – people who are committed to being problem-solvers and have figured out strategies that work better than punishment, and are doing them in the real world.
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The Problem with Punishment is a podcast about how our cultural obsession with punishment has led to painful failures to address some of the most pressing issues we face. And even worse when punishment fails, the pain of that doesn’t fall equally across communities. But some New Yorkers have felt that pain and decided that we can do better. We’ll meet innovators, risk-takers – people who are committed to being problem-solvers and have figured out strategies that work better than punishment, and are doing them in the real world.
We recorded and edited this episode in spring and summer 2025, during a horrifying effort to punish immigrants. There are ICE raids in Home Depot parking lots. Masked ICE agents are grabbing people who are attending their immigration hearings. Anti-immigrant rhetoric, which has been growing over decades, is reaching a brutal new turning point. We find ourselves asking, what more can we do to keep our communities and neighbors safe? And why are we still trying to punish our way there?
In this episode, we speak with Donald Anthonyson, a New Yorker who has spent decades advocating for immigrant rights. We also speak with Yasmine Farhang of the Immigrant Defense Project, Joshua Epstein at Queens Defenders and Rosa Cohen-Cruz from Bronx Defenders. They share insight into the particulars of immigration law right here in New York. How does it impacts each of us? And what we can all do in this moment to protect each other? Full transcript and links at https://www.beyondpunishment.org/problem-with-punishment/ep9-immigration
The Problem with Punishment
The Problem with Punishment is a podcast about how our cultural obsession with punishment has led to painful failures to address some of the most pressing issues we face. And even worse when punishment fails, the pain of that doesn’t fall equally across communities. But some New Yorkers have felt that pain and decided that we can do better. We’ll meet innovators, risk-takers – people who are committed to being problem-solvers and have figured out strategies that work better than punishment, and are doing them in the real world.
