Skip to content
The death row assembly line episode artwork

Oct 9, 2026 58 min

The death row assembly line

from The Gray Area with Sean Illing Hosted by Vox

Is there a humane way for the state to kill someone? Guest host Miles Bryan sits down with New York Times Magazine writer and ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff to pull back the curtain on critical flaws in America's approach to the death penalty. From the tragedy of wrongful convictions to the profound impact capital punishment has on victims' families, can the death penalty ever truly be justified? Drawing on decades of reporting and a new book, Catch the Devil⁠, Colloff examines the reality of executions in states like Florida, the prevalence of unreliable jailhouse informants, and why a system built on human judgment can never be infallible.Guest Host: Miles Bryan, Vox Senior Producer and Reporter Guest: Pamela Colloff, author of Catch the Devil We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The death row assembly line

0:00 58:34

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Gray Area with Sean Illing?

This episode is 58 minutes long.

When was this The Gray Area with Sean Illing episode published?

This episode was published on October 9, 2026.

Can I download this The Gray Area with Sean Illing episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.