Why are executions on the rise in the US?

Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

President Trump has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment, even before his foray into politics. Now in his second term, he’s instructed the Department of Justice to help states facilitate more executions, and death row executions have reached the highest number in over a decade. Does Trump see political value in capital punishment? What can we glean about our own values from the push for more executions?

America’s youngest voters are going through hard times, facing an uncertain job market and high costs of living. Throw in a lack of faith in democracy and you’ve got a generation of voters who are less engaged than any other age group. We’ll discuss the political trends defining Gen Z, and ask how political leaders can ignite their political spark.

Presidential pardon power has often been scrutinized - on the Left, Right & Center. One listener has an idea about how to fix it.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome.
0:01.9	This is The Michelle Hussein Show.
0:04.4	I'm Michelle Hussein.
0:05.8	I speak with people like Elon Musk.
0:08.2	I think I've done enough.
0:09.3	And Shonda Rhymes.
0:10.1	That's so cute.
0:11.1	This will be a place where every weekend you can count on one essential conversation
0:16.7	to help make sense of the world.
0:19.1	So please join me.
0:20.3	Listen and subscribe to the Michelle Hussein show from Bloomberg
0:24.5	Weekend, wherever you get your podcast.
0:27.2	It certainly asks interesting questions.
0:32.4	Welcome to left, right and center, everybody.
0:34.2	I am David Green.
0:35.1	So here's a question.
0:36.4	Should the federal government have a role in carrying out or lobbying for executions? Donald Trump believes yes. Executions are on the rise in the United States. In 2025, they're at their highest total in over a decade. Some of that, he's thanks to a push from the White House and the Department of Justice.
0:55.7	And an executive order signed by the president after his inauguration to help facilitate more
1:00.9	capital punishment across the country. I want to talk about the politics behind this push and
1:06.2	what it could mean. And I can't think of two better people to have this conversation with.
1:11.3	On the right,
1:16.2	we have Sarah Isgir. She's senior editor at the dispatch, host the advisory opinions podcast.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KCRW, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KCRW and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.