Arts & Ideas

Crime and punishment medieval to modern

6 snips
Feb 20, 2026
Jonathan Sumption, former Supreme Court judge and medieval historian; Stephen Shapiro, cultural historian versed in Foucault; Joanna Hardy-Susskind, criminal defence barrister and broadcaster; Scout Tzofiya Bolton, poet with lived prison experience; Stephanie Brown, criminologist researching medieval justice. They compare medieval community-based investigations with modern courts. They debate public spectacle versus surveillance, prison failures and alternatives, and how media shapes punishment.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Prison Is A Modern Invention

  • Imprisonment as punishment emerged in the 18th–19th centuries as a supposedly more humane alternative to death.
  • Lord Jonathan Sumption links modern penal architecture and codified sentencing to that period.
ANECDOTE

A Prisoner Misdiagnosed And Confused

  • Scout Tzofiya Bolton recounts entering prison during a psychotic episode after a misdiagnosed illness.
  • She describes being mystified by procedures and later finding unexpected community sympathy online.
INSIGHT

From Spectacle To Surveillance

  • Foucault argues public, brutal punishments asserted monarchic power, while prisons claim humane reform.
  • Stephen Shapiro highlights Foucault's point that prisons may produce criminals rather than reform them.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app