Hello, everyone and welcome to talk nerdy. Today is Monday, April 20th, 2026, and I'm the host of the show, Dr. Kara Santa Maria. And as always, before we dive into

this week's episode, I want to thank those of you who make Talk Nerdy possible. Remember,

we use Patreon for our kind of supportive structure. It's the NPR PBS model here in the

U.S. where I want the show to be free and it will always be free. And even

though I sell like some pre-roll kind of programmatic ads, it's that's a nothing burger. It really

doesn't pay the way that hosts red ads used to. So we really do rely on the support of folks

through Patreon. Individuals from all over pledge their support on an

episodic basis as little as, I don't know, 50 cents a dollar, and some much more. So I want to thank

those of you who pledge much, much more because you really are like the lifeblood of the show. You

keep it going and you make it so that I can do all my other jobs and still make the show because I've got to pay my incredible team to keep this going. So I want to start with Chuck Buell, David J.E. Smith, Daniel Lang, Mary Neva, Will Defrain, David Compton, Brian Holden, Gabo J.

O'Rica Hagman, Pascuali Jalati, and Joe Wilkinson, and of course, so many more. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. So what do I have for you this week? I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Jennifer Doliac. She is the

executive vice president of criminal justice at Arnold Ventures, which is a philanthropy focused on

evidence-based policy. And before moving into that space, she was an economics professor at both Texas A&M University and the University of Virginia.

She's written for a bunch of different outlets.

And, well, we'll talk about her academic training in a bit.

But she has a new book out.

It's called The Science of Second Chances, a Revolution in Criminal Justice.

So without any further ado, here she is Dr. Jennifer Doliac.

Well, Jen, thank you so much for joining us today.

Hi, thanks so much for having me.

I am excited to talk about your new book, The Science of Second Chances,

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