On today's show...
Jim Reese is the author of the upcoming book "Coming to a Neighborhood Near You: The Repercussions of Crime and Punishment."
We spend the hour with the author exploring the impacts of violent crime, the genre of true crime and the criminal justice system.
Reese grew up in the shadow of a serial killer in his Omaha neighborhood. And as a high school student, he lost a classmate to intimate partner violence.
He went on to report on violent crime at his college, where he practiced "gonzo journalism" in the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson.
Then in his professional writing career, he saw the other side of criminal justice. He taught writing and poetry in prisons, often to the perpetrators of violent crime.
Jim Reese's latest book is part memoir and part deeply research exploration of crime and punishment.
Listen to the author reading the essay that inspired the book.
