A Word: True Crime in Black and White

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Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.5 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 1989 murder of Carol Stuart in Boston became a national story, fueled by anxiety over urban crime. The city’s police broke down doors in the Black community, strip searched dozens of Black and brown men on the street, and arrested a Black suspect. Then Stuart’s husband was exposed as the killer. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Boston Globe associate editor Adrian Walker, who hosts the Murder in Boston podcast about the infamous case. They discuss the history of racial tension that led up to crime, and the lasting consequences for the families of the victim, the killer, and the wrongfully arrested Black suspect. Guest: Adrian Walker, host of the Murder in Boston podcast Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a word a podcast from Slate. I'm your host Jason Johnson. A vicious crime in
0:08.8	Boston leaves a white woman dead and her badly injured husband blames a mysterious black man.
0:15.6	Her husband is eventually exposed as the mastermind of the murder and the hopes, but not before
0:21.0	the city is torn apart.
0:22.4	And they just started strip searching.
0:24.0	Young black men on the street
0:26.0	like making them pull down their pants and people who in no way
0:29.0	reflected the description of the suspect.
0:31.0	It was really appalling of the suspect. It was really a problem of police conduct.
0:34.0	A murder in Boston and its aftermath coming up on a word with me Jason Johnson.
0:39.0	Stay with us. Welcome to a word a podcast about race and politics and everything else. I'm your host
0:53.7	Jason Johnson in 1989 Charles and Carol Stewart a white couple were shot in a
1:00.8	Boston neighborhood. The pregnant wife is killed. The husband is badly injured and
1:05.8	blames a black man for the murder. A gruesome picture of the couple is splash across newspapers
1:11.2	and Stewart's harrowing 911 call is played and
1:14.8	replayed in the media. Oh man.
1:18.0	Chuck, can you give me anything? Just out the window can you see anything.
1:25.4	Oh, I'm blanking out. You can't blank out on me. I need you man.
1:30.3	Jack.
1:32.0	Jack.
1:32.4	The city of Boston goes on high alert.
1:35.0	Police stop and frisk countless black and brown men,
	...

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