In this powerful series finale, we track the evolution of Lezley’s grief to understand how she rebuilt her life piece by piece, navigating pain and hope while supporting her children. Fueled by love and resilience, Lezley’s journey leads to a fierce call to activism, driving her fight to reopen Mike’s case and demand the justice her family deserves. This final episode is a testament to healing, strength, and the unyielding power of a mother’s love. This series was created in partnership with Cam...
Jun 10, 2025•54 min•Season 4Ep. 3
August 9, 2014, changed the world. While the world mobilized, Lezley was navigating the deepest grief imaginable. What was it like to grieve in the public eye, while her son’s name became a rallying cry? How did she process the love, the anger, and the weight of a movement born from her loss? This series was created in partnership with Campaign Zero, a nonprofit organization that develops data-driven policy solutions to end police violence in America. Learn more about the series and the work of ...
Jun 03, 2025•44 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Before Michael Brown became a national symbol, he was simply Mike Mike – Lezley’s firstborn son. Her early years of motherhood in St. Louis were full of ups and downs: joy, struggle, sacrifices, and dreams. She navigated pregnancy with the help of her community, survived her darkest moments of early motherhood, raised Mike as a single mother, and went on to find love and help Mike graduate – only to have everything ripped away. This series was created in partnership with Campaign Zero, a nonprof...
May 27, 2025•46 min•Season 4Ep. 1
After the police shot and killed her firstborn son, Lezley McSpadden was left trying to hold things together while the world turned her family's private tragedy into a public battleground. This series reveals the untold story behind the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. It’s a family portrait filled with loss, grief, and one mother’s enduring strength. Episode 1 is out May 27, wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 20, 2025•2 min
Incarceration in the U.S. has profound flaws and consequences, but there are many people doing life-changing work to lessen its harm. In this special episode, Lemonada co-founder Stephanie Wittels Wachs sits down with two individuals whose organizations aim to increase access to housing for people who have been involved in the justice system. Stephanie speaks with Leslie Credle, founder and executive director of Justice 4 Housing in Boston, and Bernadette Butler, director of The Homecoming Pro...
Oct 03, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 4
There has been a lot of media coverage around recent spikes in violent crime. A LOT. Even though overall crime rates are at historic lows, many people are feeling unsafe and want solutions. Most people also want to tackle our country’s incarceration crisis while addressing public safety concerns. As it turns out, these things go hand in hand. Join us for this special live event between Lemonada Media and The Just Trust to hear from executive directors of three leading criminal justice reform adv...
Nov 27, 2022•57 min
In this episode, host Travon Free uncovers the racist roots of the debunked medical term “excited delirium.” A study from Maryland in 2017 found that excited delirium was referenced in 11 percent of cases where someone died in police custody. And when these cases go to court, the concept of excited delirium can be used to argue that the police did nothing wrong. How did TASER, a couple of doctors and a handful of so-called experts take a meaningless psychiatric term and get it picked up by polic...
Oct 25, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Can you hear the difference between a firework and a gunshot? ShotSpotter says it can. It's a private sector company that uses microphones to detect gunfire and alert police to the scene. The company says it’s a powerful tool to stop gun violence, but critics say it’s an excuse to overpolice some of our most vulnerable communities. How did this technology with questionable accuracy lead to million-dollar contracts with police departments across the country? Travon walks us through the case of Si...
Oct 25, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Rikers is a pretrial detention center and while people await their day in court, the conditions at the island are simply inhumane due to violence, overcrowding and inadequate medical care. Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027 but at the rate we're going, eighty more people might die on the island before the jail is shut down. How do we untangle this culture of perpetual violence at Rikers? And could an intervention called a federal receivership make conditions more humane for the people who live...
Oct 25, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 1
From executive producer, Jay Ellis, and Lemonada Media, season 3 of The Untold Story drops October 25. Host Travon Free talks to real people about the injustices happening in your own backyard. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 18, 2022•2 min
In all 50 states, people caught up in the criminal justice system can be charged fines and fees for everything from the cost of police transport during arrests, to the cost of room and board for their time behind bars. In this episode, Jay learns about the back story of how Pay to Stay policy was inspired by a killer clown. And he speaks to experts and journalists about how Pay to Stay policies lock people into a never-ending cycle of debt and involvement with the criminal justice system. See om...
Mar 01, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Host Jay Ellis is a fan of crime scene investigation TV shows - he’s even acted in them! But in this episode, he learns that all the fancy forensic science the heroes of those shows use to solve crimes are not as good as they seem on TV. Jay speaks to experts about how forensic practices were developed and why they aren’t the reliable science they seem to be. He takes listeners on a field trip to the one forensic lab in the country that’s getting it right and speaks with a woman who spent 13 yea...
Feb 22, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Host Jay Ellis has dealt with shoplifters first-hand, back when he was a teenaged retail manager at a high-end shoe store. But he never learned about the other side of the story - what motivates people to shoplift and what happens to them if they’re caught. In this episode, Jay learns that people can become convicted felons for stealing as little as $200 in value in some states, because of Felony Theft Thresholds written into state law. Jay hears from people who have first-hand, personal experie...
Feb 15, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In season one of The Untold Story, host Jay Ellis (Insecure, Top Gun: Maverick, Mrs. America) took us on a journey to understand policing and its pitfalls. Now, he's back to tell you about some of the things that can happen after you get arrested. You might be aware that America's criminal justice system incarcerates more individuals than any other country. But did you know that you can have your life ruined for stealing something as small as a pair of jeans? Or that the forensic evidence used a...
Feb 07, 2022•1 min
Jay Ellis is back, exploring no-knock raids through the eyes of a family who, unlike Breonna Taylor, survived a terrifying evening of mistaken identity. Joined by experts, Jay explores a system that allows for warrants, raids, and civil-asset forfeiture. Netta and DeRay also join to share a blueprint for how Breonna’s life could have been spared. Learn more at endallnoknocks.org and nixthe6.org Thank you to the Cash App for sponsoring our show. Download the Cash App in the App Store or Google Pl...
Nov 24, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 5
It’s our solutions episode! Jay arrives at six things that have got to be eliminated in order to usher in substantial improvements to public safety and policing in America and he talks with Netta Elzie (activist, organizer and co-founder of Campaign Zero) about how she transformed her own grief, frustration and anger into steady irrefutable progress. Step one: dive in. Learn more at nixthe6.org Thank you to the Cash App for sponsoring our show. Download the Cash App in the App Store or Google Pl...
Aug 17, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 4
From the 48-Hour Rule to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bills of Rights, Jay talks with social scientists and legal experts about a criminal justice system that offers special protections to the police that are neither offered to civilians nor backed by hard science. Learn more at nixthe6.org Thank you to the Cash App for sponsoring our show. Download the Cash App in the App Store or Google Play store today. For additional resources, information, and a transcript of this episode, visit https://ww...
Aug 12, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Fueled with new information about the power of police union contracts, host Jay Ellis is determined to figure out if real change is even possible. So he heads to Austin, Texas where community organizers Sukyi McMahon and Chas Moore changed the course of history...in a city council chamber. Learn more at nixthe6.org Thank you to the Cash App for sponsoring our show. Download the Cash App in the App Store or Google Play store today. For additional resources, information, and a transcript of this e...
Aug 04, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Police unions in America are powerful organizations that protect vulnerable, hard working Americans… except when they don’t. Host Jay Ellis shares his personal motivations for untangling the twisted web of public safety in America. Then, Jay calls up Campaign Zero’s DeRay Mckesson and Samuel Sinyangwe to learn more about police unions’ stranglehold on justice and security in America. Learn more at nixthe6.org Thank you to the Cash App for sponsoring our show. Download the Cash App in the App Sto...
Jul 28, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Join host and actor Jay Ellis (Insecure, Top Gun: Maverick, Mrs. America) as he seeks to explore the untold story of policing. Jay’s mission: demystify police union contracts, separate truth from fiction, and deliver some concrete steps that can end violent police misconduct across the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 27, 2020•1 min
