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Oct 12, 2026 25 min

America’s death penalty problem

from Today, Explained Hosted by Vox

Support for the death penalty has dropped dramatically in the US, but in some places there's still a "death penalty assembly line" as this episode of The Gray Area explores. This episode was produced by Thor Neureiter and Beth Morrissey, with help from Miranda Kennedy and Amina Al-Sadi, engineered by Shannon Mahoney and David Tatasciore, fact checked by Melissa Hirsch, and hosted by Miles Bryan. Walls Unit in Huntsville prison is where lethal injections are carried out on inmates. Photo by Jerry Cabluck/Sygma via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast⁠.⁠

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This episode was published on October 12, 2026.

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