Rush to Kill

WFIU Podcasts

The U.S. government’s sole execution chamber is on the grounds of a prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Isolated from its general population, 44 condemned men are held in the Special Confinement Unit, or America’s death row. In 2020, the Trump administration launched a spree of executions, killing 13 condemned Americans in quick succession. A team of public radio journalists covered each execution in person.

7hr 19min

Thumbnail for "Update: Biden commutes 37 death sentences".

Now back in office, President Trump is seeking to restart executions at the high-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where all federal death sentences are carried out.

January 23, 202529min 9sec28 MB

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Coming up in this final episode, we'll see how the continued existence of the American death penalty is leaving its mark on our society.

December 8, 20231hr87.39 MB

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The Trump administration sends two intellectually disabled men to die, despite being declared unconstitutional from the U.S. Supreme Court.

November 23, 202354min 1sec77.83 MB

What happens when a prosecutor changes her mind and tries to save someone she helped condemn to death?

November 16, 202348min 49sec70.33 MB

In this episode, we’ll hear from experts convinced that justice officials considered race when they selected which people to kill — and when. Why that might be, and what it says about the federal death penalty’s ability to deliver justice, and mercy, without bias.

November 9, 202344min 19sec63.84 MB

Lethal injection is thought to be painless and thought to be quick, seemingly the most humane choice. But what if we've got it all wrong?

November 3, 202353min 14sec76.69 MB

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The U.S. Supreme Court prohibits executing people deemed mentally incompetent. But the Trump administration selected two people with severe mental illness for execution, including the only woman on federal death row.

October 27, 202359min 54sec86.27 MB

Thumbnail for "Episode 2: Inventing Closure".

This week, we’re looking back to the first executions ever carried out in Terre Haute. The death penalty promises closure, or justice, but does it deliver? And what changes when the victims of a crime number in the thousands?

October 19, 202338min 22sec55.29 MB

Thumbnail for "Episode 1: The Gold Standard".

In this debut episode: How U.S. justice officials convinced top judges to sign off on a plan to kill 14 condemned Americans in the middle of a pandemic.

October 13, 202345min 51sec66.07 MB

Thumbnail for "Introducing: Rush to Kill".

October 10, 20235min 3sec7.31 MB

Update: Biden commutes 37 death sentences

January 23, 202529min 9sec

On Dec. 23, in the final weeks of his presidency, Joe Biden commuted the federal death sentences of 37 prisoners to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All but three death row prisoners received commutations, including several who didn't ask for clemency.

Now back in office, President Trump is seeking to restart executions at the high-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where all federal death sentences are carried out. Trump says he also plans to pursue capital punishment in future criminal cases.

In this bonus episode, we'll hear from one of the prisoners whose sentence was commuted as well as a woman whose mother was among the victims of a racist attack at a church in South Carolina. Her killer remains on federal death row.

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Rush to Kill is available at wfiu.org/rushtokill.

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