Ep. 183 Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson — The Stacks Book Club (Derecka Purnell)

September 29, 2021September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Today on The Stacks we discuss the book that inspired this podcast, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson. We’re joined by Derecka Purnell (activist and author of the forthcoming Becoming Abolitionists) to delve into this Pulitzer Prize winning book; the coverup, the legacy, and the ways we rely on a superficial notion of justice.
There are minor spoilers on this episode.

Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out our book club pick for October!

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Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson
Becoming Abolitionists by Derecka Purnell
Frank “Big Black” Smith
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Black Radical Tradition by Ben Mabie, Erin Grey, and Asad Haider
“The controversial 1994 crime law that Joe Biden helped write, explained” (German Lopez, Vox.com)
“Auburn Prisoners Hold 50 Hostages Eight Hours” (Martin Arnold Special to The New York Times)
George Jackson

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.

The Stacks participates in affiliate programs. We receive a small commission when products are purchased through links on this website, and this comes at no cost to you. This in no way effects opinions on books and products reviewed here. For more information click here.

Ep. 180 Fifty Years After Attica with Heather Ann Thompson

September 8, 2021September 6, 2022 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Today we are joined by Pulitzer Prize winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, Heather Ann Thompson. We discuss her process in researching and writing this epic civil rights story, and the legacy of the uprising 50 years later.

The Stacks Book Club selection for September is Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson. We will discuss the book with Derecka Purnell on Wednesday September 29th.

LISTEN NOW

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher

Everything we talk about on today’s episode can be found below in the show notes. You can also find everything we talked about on Amazon.

Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson
“Heather Ann Thompson, “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy” (Pantheon, 2016)” (NBN)
Russell Oswald
Nelson Rockefeller
Whose Detroit? by Heather Ann Thompson
“Movie in the Works on Attica Prison Riots Legal Fight” (Dave McNary, Yahoo Finance)
“Ernest Goodman, 90, Civil Rights Lawyer” (The New York Times)
Scottsboro Boys
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Blood in my Eye by George L. Jackson
Attica (Stanley Nelson, 2021)
Zellnor Myrie
The Pulitzer Prize
Guggenheim Fellowships
Mister Rogers Neighborhood (PBS)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
Bullet and Burn by Heather Ann Thompson
“Discovery of Bones From MOVE Bombing Jolts Philadelphia Once Again” (Michael Levenson, The New York Times)
Blood in the Water on Goodreads
America on Fire by Elizabeth Hinton
The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson
Elizabeth Fink
Tom Wicker

To support The Stacks and find out more from this week’s sponsors, click here.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page. If you prefer to support the show with a one time contribution go to paypal.me/thestackspod.

The Stacks Book Club — September 2021

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve been a fan of The Stacks for a while you may know that there was one book that sparked my desire to start the show. I talk about the book all the time, but have never featured it on the show. The timing never seemed right, I never felt like I had the guest to take on such a transformational book. However, September 2021 marks the 50 year anniversary of the uprising at Attica Prison, and so this month, I am proud to say, we are finally reading Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson for The Stacks Book Club.

In her Pulitzer Prize winning book Blood in the Water, Thompson takes the reader through the history of an event that has shaped the criminal legal system over the last 50 years. The book explains the conditions that led to the unrest in the prison, the five days of negotiations, the violent retaking of the prison, and the years of litigation that followed. The book is a master class in research and storytelling. Blood in the Water gives voice to the people who fought for over 45 years for the truth of Attica to be exposed.

We will be discussing Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson on Wednesday, September 29th. You can find out who our guest will be for that discussion by listening to the podcast on September 1st. If you’d like even more discussion around the book consider joining The Stacks Pack on Patreon and participating in The Stacks’ monthly virtual book club.

Order your copy of our August book on Bookshop.org or Amazon.

To contribute to The Stacks, join The Stacks Pack, and get exclusive perks, check out our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/thestacks). We are beyond grateful for anything you’re able to give to support the production of The Stacks.