America's criminal justice system - and police norms in particular - are under the public microscope. Ernie Stevens and Joe Smarro are cops from San Antonio’s police department who have played a pivotal role in seeding a more humane culture there, with ripple effects emanating out into the broader community. In this episode, they share all that they’ve learned and would like to see as the country wrestles with “Defund the police."

Changing Police Culture from the Inside Out

Sometimes it’s the people we assume are the most broken that have the most to teach. The Other Side Academy is a life-training school for people with long criminal and addiction histories. Students commit to a minimum of a two-year residency — many as an alternative to incarceration — and from there undergo one of the most rigorous regimens of moral recalibration out there. The community's secret to thriving? 200% accountability. As we all wrestle these days with heightened questions of authority and trust, power and truth, justice, and reform, this school of former felons have something to say.

Reformed Rascals, and a Lesson for the Rest of Us

Bridge-building and breaking down barriers can sound innocuous enough, even praiseworthy, but what’s the underside of the embroidered tapestry? Dwan Dandridge and Chris Lambert have been doing this work in Detroit for some years now, and aren’t afraid of the mess.&nbsp;

Anne Snyder