Enemies, Then Friends || Barbara Bradley Hagerty on Ben Spencer, Justice, and Reconciliation
Barbara Bradley Hagerty has spent a career asking why people do the things they do. The hardest answer she found runs through a wrongful conviction, thirty-four years lost, and a friendship between two men who had every reason to stay enemies.
A New York Times bestselling author and contributing writer for The Atlantic, Barb covered criminal justice and religion at NPR for nearly twenty years. This conversation runs from a kindergarten report card that called her whole life, to a cycling accident that took away her fear of death, to Ben Spencer and Jay Young, the wrongly imprisoned man and the victim's son, who somehow became friends.
Calls to Action
✅ Leave a rating and review: lovethepodcast.com/politicsandreligion
✅ Subscribe on Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com
✅ Watch and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion
✅ Share this episode with someone who reads the news and someone who's given up on it
Key Takeaways
Enemies, then friends. Ben Spencer chose to forgive and pray for the victim's family, and Jay Young chose to believe Ben might be innocent and show up for him. What made it possible was simple and hard: each stood in the other's shoes, then listened.
Two sets of victims. Every exoneration wrecks two families, the prisoner who lost his years and the victim's family, often told for decades that the right man was locked up. Jay Young was twelve when his father was killed.
The system isn't broken. People are. The prosecutors who fought Ben's release didn't make the original mistake. They just couldn't bring themselves to admit one had been made.
Losing the fear of death. A car hit Barb at thirty-five miles an hour while she was cycling. She came out of it with the sense that life is precious and can't be about her anymore.
About Our Guest
Barbara Bradley Hagerty is a New York Times bestselling author and contributing writer for The Atlantic. She spent nearly twenty years at NPR covering criminal justice and religion, including as lead Justice Department correspondent during 9/11. Her books include Fingerprints of God, Life Reimagined, and Bringing Ben Home.
Links and Resources
Barbara Bradley Hagerty and Bringing Ben Home: barbarabradleyhagerty.com
"The Other Victims of a Wrongful Conviction" in The Atlantic: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/wrongful-conviction-family/687394
Connect with us
Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion
Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn: @coreysnathan
Partners
Proud to be part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts examining what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Stand in the other person's shoes, then listen to their story. Now go talk some politics and religion with gentleness and respect.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.