
Loading summary
Carol Markowitz
This is an iHeart podcast.
Rafael Manguel
In business they say you can have better, cheaper or faster, but you only get to pick two. What if you could have all three at the same time? That's exactly what Cohere, Thomson Reuters and Specialized Bikes have since they upgraded to the next generation of the cloud. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure OCI is the blazing fast platform for your infrastructure, database, application development and AI needs where you can run any workload in a high availability, consistently high performance environment and spend less than you would with other clouds. How is it faster? OCI's block storage gives you more operations per second cheaper. OCI costs up to 50% less for computing, 70% less for storage and 80% less for networking better. In test after test, OCI customers report lower latency and and higher bandwidth versus other clouds. This is the cloud built for AI and all your biggest workloads right now with zero commitment. Try OCI for free. Head to oracle.com strategic that's oracle.com strategic.
Ryan
Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide and every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report, it is Ryan here and I have a question for you. What do you do when you win? Like, are you a fist pumper? A woo hooer? A hand clapper? A high fiver? If you want to hone in on those winning moves, check Check out Chumba Casino. Choose from hundreds of social casino style games for your chance to redeem serious cash prizes. There are new game releases weekly plus free daily bonuses.
Rafael Manguel
So don't wait.
Ryan
Start having the most Fun ever@shumbacasino.com no.
Rafael Manguel
Purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited.
Ryan
By law 21/ terms and conditions apply.
Rafael Manguel
Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart.
Ameca Insurance Representative
But then there are moments that remind.
Ryan
Us to be more human.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Thank you for calling Ameca Insurance.
Rafael Manguel
Hey, I was just in an accident.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of. At Ameca, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking.
Ryan
It's human.
Rafael Manguel
Ameca Empathy is our best policy.
Carol Markowitz
This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. With your guardrails in place with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance, and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk free@greenlight.com iheart hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz show on iheartradio. My guest today is Rafael Mangual. Rafael is a Nick o' Neill Fellow and head of research for the Manhattan Institute's Policing and Public Safety Initiative, a contributing editor of City Journal, and the author of the fantastic 2022 book Criminal Injustice. Hi, Rafael. So nice to have you on.
Ameca Insurance Representative
So great to be with you. Always been a big fan of your works.
Carol Markowitz
I've always been a big fan of your work as well. We run into each other at events, but I kind of feel like I don't know enough about how you got into this world and what made you become a crime fighter.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah, it's, you know, it's a question that I've gotten a few times. And, you know, it was a very circuitous route. I will say I'm not your sort of typical think tank scholar. You know, my father was a, was an NYPD detective. I think that had a lot to do with it. You know, growing up in 1980s and 90s New York City, crime was on everybody's minds. It was on every TV show. The, you know, WP borough, Brooklyn.
Carol Markowitz
Best one, Brooklyn boy.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah. So, you know, I didn't grow up in the worst part of Brooklyn. I mean, we lived on Ocean Parkway between Church and Katon, you know, so relatively nice area. But, you know, we were very close to some rough ones, especially back then.
Carol Markowitz
It was, you know, Ocean Parkway between Church and Katon. I hear you that it's not one of the worst parts of Brooklyn, but many of the listeners listening to this would be afraid on that block.
Ameca Insurance Representative
So, you know, it was so, you know, I remember, like, the WPIX movie on Saturdays was always like a Charles Bronson movie or something like that. Like, you know, crime was just sort of the theme of my childhood. So I think the combination of just living through that time where there were, you know, 20001500 murders a year in New York City, knowing that my dad was a cop, you know, so to me, he was Batman. Right. And having that experience when I got to college, I think is really kind of the cocktail that sort of set Me on the path that I've been on for the last 10 years. When I got to college, I was introduced to protest culture. I didn't really understand why kids who I regarded to be incredibly fortunate were angry at the world and felt like they had to hold a sign up and stage walkouts. And one of the topics that they were always protesting was the police, the criminal justice system writ large. And there's really one moment that kind of, I can sort of trace my, my conservative thought back to. And, and that was my sophomore year of college. I was in a sociology class and we had a guest speaker. He was an ex con and he was incarcerated under the Rockefeller drug laws in New York and came to give a talk about his experience. And it was really just a diatribe, right? It was like, the NYPD is racist. The criminal justice system is rigged and it's evil and it's terrible. And you know, I just remember looking around, there's like 250 people in a, you know, lecture hall. And I just remember looking around and thinking, seeing all these heads nodding and just. You don't actually believe him, do you? You know, I grew up with guys like that. It's like we all know he's, he's full of it. Right?
Carol Markowitz
Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
No one's buying, but everyone was buying it.
Carol Markowitz
They were buying it, right. They weren't just nodding their heads to get the A or whatever they were.
Ameca Insurance Representative
It was like he was injecting drugs into their veins and giving them an excuse to fall back on if their dreams didn't pan out. And I just couldn't identify with that. But at the same time, and a lot of people don't know this about me, I was not a very good student. I did not end up in college because of my grades. In fact, I didn't even apply to college. I ended up in college because I played baseball. And that was it had no intention of going to college. When I was in high school, it was really, you know, a kind of happy accident that, that I'm doing what I do now. So because I didn't really study very much because I wasn't, you know, a bookish kind of kid, I didn't really have a vocabulary with which to push back.
Carol Markowitz
Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Years. And that was the first time that I, I felt a genuine sense of embarrassment that I couldn't engage intellectually who were my age. And I felt really insecure about that. And so I remember I went home and I went on Ask Jeeves, which was the search engine of choice.
Carol Markowitz
Yeah, The Google of pre Google.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And I just searched, like, books everyone should read, and, you know, just started researching articles, asking questions about policing. And that's how I discovered City Journal and the Manhattan Institute.
Carol Markowitz
Really? Wow.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah. By the time I was, like, 20 years old, I knew what I wanted to do, and then I just had to figure out how to do it. And so I'm a weird guy in that sense that I've, you know, wanted to work for a think tank since about the time I was still a teenager.
Carol Markowitz
Wow, that's amazing that you found City Journal. I mean, it's a very important organization, obviously. I love Manhattan Institute, one of my absolute favorites. And I love City Journal. All their stuff is so good. But I, I. And I was a conservative in college. I was a political person. But even I don't think I knew about City Journal. It's not like a giant. You know, I. I read like National Review. I read, like, Weekly Standard at the time, but I. That's really, really impressive. So what is your book about? What. What do you try to get into in. In your book?
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah. Criminal injustice was, you know, it kind of grew out of everything that had been happening in the post Ferguson era. Right. I mean, you know, I've been at the Manhattan Institute since 2015, and that was when, you know, things had really started to take a downturn. You know, the US Saw a homicide spike on a national level that year. We saw another one the following year in 2016. I had just moved back to New York from Chicago, which in 2016 saw a massive homicide spike. The last few weeks in Chicago, I was actually caught in the middle of a shooting while sitting in the car with my wife, then fiance. So, you know, all of this stuff was kind of swirling around in my mind, and that was why I was, you know, writing so passionately throughout those years about this issue. But then 2020 hit, and it was, like, collectively lost its mind on crime. You had people saying, you know, defund the police and actually trying to do it. You had these mass, you know, releases of jail inmates in prison. And I just remember thinking, like, how does anyone expect this to go any other way? And I realized that, you know, books had been written, you know, articles had been written, but it was like, there was a very obvious. It was very obvious to me that we had forgotten our history. Right. That the. The 1990s crime decline, which to me I still regard as sort of the greatest achievement in urban American history.
Carol Markowitz
Yeah.
Ameca Insurance Representative
How we achieved that was forgotten. People grew uncomfortable with the posture that you needed to take, to keep crime under control. And the reason that they were giving in terms of, you know, why we should dismantle the criminal justice system or defang it or take power away from it all came back to the race issue. And that really threw me for a loop and drove me kind of crazy because it was exactly the very people, the very communities that these, you know, sort of progressive activists said that they were representing that were suffering the brunt of the crime increases, result of their policies.
Carol Markowitz
So obvious. Yeah.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And so I just really wanted to bring that point home before we, you know, got past the tipping point. Although you could argue that we had already reached it by then. You know, unfortunately, books, as you know, don't come out with great speed.
Carol Markowitz
Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah. So you might finish a book, you know, in one year, but it might take another year and some change before it actually hits shelves, especially back in 2020, because there was all this stuff going on with lumber and paper and, you know.
Carol Markowitz
Oh, yeah, I remember that very well. Our book was delayed also because of the paper shortage. Yeah.
Ameca Insurance Representative
It was why, like, my book was printed in one country and then shipped to another country to be bound and then shipped. So it was wild, you know, but. But that was really the driving force. I wanted to make the point that decarceration was a bad idea, that de policing was a bad idea. I wanted to attack the assumptions undergirding those bad ideas. And I really wanted to drill home the point that the communities that were most vulnerable to crime in the places that adopted the sort of progressive line on these issues, those were exactly the very communities that people were speaking about through organizations like Black Lives matter and the NAACP and, you know, the progressive prosecutor movement. It was like, no, actually, if you care about these communities, you have to address the one thing that is affecting them more than anyone else. Right. I mean, like, the black homicide rate by 2020 was like 10 times that white homicide rate for men. That's, you know, that's crazy. You would never accept that kind of disparity in any other negative outcome.
Carol Markowitz
Absolutely right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And so, I mean, just look at Covid. Right? I mean, like, there was the second we realized there was a racial disparity in how Covid affected certain groups of people. Right. We immediately started, you know, creating racial hierarchies for the dispensation of COVID vaccines and drugs. Right. And. And yet, when it comes to the problem of homicide, people lose their nerve. And I think that has to do with, you know, this idea that incarcerating people is bad. That Putting them in handcuffs, even by force is bad. And I think at the root of that is just a misunderstanding of how often those things happen. Right? I mean, you ask American like, yeah, they hear constantly, you know, mass incarceration, mass incarceration. They think that everybod bodies in prison in this country. And the reality is, is that, you know, the typical state prisoner in the US has about a dozen prior arrests and about half a dozen prior convictions. You know, this whole idea that we're denying people second chances and that we just need.
Carol Markowitz
Right, no, they get second, third, fourth chances in those places.
Ameca Insurance Representative
You know, it's crazy. You know, and on top of that, not only do they have those insane criminal histories, but the vast majority of them are there for violence, which is another thing that boggles people's mind. They think everybody's there for, you know, half a gram and they're only spending about 16 months behind bars before they're released when, you know, again, people have it in their head that, you know, everyone's doing 10, 20 years. So, you know, you combine that with the misapprehensions about, you know, policing and police use of force, and I just felt like there was a massive gap in public knowledge between, you know, what the public thought they knew in reality. But there was also a lot of passion behind their policy prescriptions and the support for it. And, you know, passion mixed with ignorance is a really cocktail. And so, you know, I don't pretend to be someone who can control the passions of the masses, but, you know, I wrote the book with the hope that I could at least fill some of those knowledge gaps and address some of the ignorance on that issue.
Carol Markowitz
We'll have more with Rafael Manguel. But first, folks, we are seeing something truly disturbing. Antisemitism is on the rise around the world and sadly, right here in America. Jewish schools being targeted, synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hoped we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me say this, silence is not an option. This is the moment to take a stand. That's why I want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, or ifcj. They are on the front lines providing real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. And they don't just respond to crisis. They work every day to prevent it. Your gift of only $45 will help support their life saving work by helping provide food, shelter, and much more. The Bible says I will bless those who bless you. Supporting IFCJ is a spiritual stand. It's showing up for God's people when it counts. So please call 888-488-IFCJ. That's 888-488-4325 or go to ifcj.org every dollar helps. Don't wait be the difference. Visit ifcj.org or call 888-488-ICCJ now.
Ryan
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium wireless everybody get 30, 30 better get 30 better.
Rafael Manguel
Get 202020 better get 2020 everybody get 15151515 just 15 bucks a month so.
Ryan
Give it a try.
Ameca Insurance Representative
@Mintmobile.Com switch upfront payment of 45 for.
Ryan
Three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35gb of network's busy taxes and fees extra see mintmobile.com you're.
Rafael Manguel
Great at protecting your own personal information. You probably even use things like two factor authentication, strong passwords and a vpn. But as much as you try to be in control of how your information is protected, there are lots of places that also have it and they might not be as careful as you are. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second for identity threats. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will help solve identity theft issues on your behalf, guaranteed or your money back. Plus, all LifeLock plans are backed by the million dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you up to the limits of your plan if you lose money due to identity theft. You might not be able to control how others handle your personal information, but you can help protect it with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code IHEART or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off terms apply. ATT has a new guarantee because most.
Ryan
Things in life are not guaranteed, like.
Rafael Manguel
Actually getting the rental car you requested.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Or your wedding turning out just like.
Rafael Manguel
You dreamed it would and someone making another pot of coffee in the break.
Ryan
Room after drinking the last drop of the last one. Yeah, don't get me started.
Rafael Manguel
Not guaranteed.
Ryan
In a world where Nothing is guaranteed, AT&T is bringing something new to the.
Rafael Manguel
Table, AT&T is introducing a guarantee with connectivity you depend on deals you want.
Ryan
And service you deserve, or they'll make it right.
Rafael Manguel
So if you want to know more about the AT&T guarantee, head to att.com.
Ryan
Guarantee AT&T connecting changes in everything.
Rafael Manguel
Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.comguarantee for details.
Ryan
You know, in the Book of Genesis, God makes a promise to your offspring. I promise this land. Now, that promise is the foundation of Israel, a land the Jewish people have returned to after centuries of exile and bondage and even the horrors of the Holocaust. But that promise is still under threat, especially after October 7th. Now, Israel's safety today depends on the very brave men and women of of the idf, the Israeli Defense Forces. Every citizen is required to serve. Your gift of $45 will help provide aid to soldiers and their families. By helping to provide food and other bare necessities for these families and emergency supplies for soldiers now, you can help secure their future. Honor those who are defending the holy land. Call now 888-488 IFCJ. That's 888488 IFCJ. Just go to their website. It's IFC and you can give Today. They are in desperate need of help.
Rafael Manguel
Trust isn't just earned, it's demanded. Whether you're a startup founder navigating your first audit or a seasoned security professional scaling your GRC program, proving your commitment to security has never been more critical or more complex. That's where Vanta comes in. Businesses use Vanta to establish trust by automating compliance needs over 35 frameworks like SOC2 and ISO 27001, centralized security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk.
Ryan
Vanta can help you start or scale.
Rafael Manguel
Your security program by connecting you with auditors and experts to conduct your audit and set up your security program quickly. Plus, with automation and AI throughout the platform, Vanta gives you time back so you can focus on building your company. Join over 9,000 global companies like Atlassian, Quora and Factory who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. For a limited time, our audience gets $1,000 off vanta@vanta.com special. That's V-A-N-T A.com special for $1,000 off.
Carol Markowitz
So three years later, in 2025, looking back at your book Criminal Injustice, do you feel like you've won some number of battles that you were fighting in that book?
Ameca Insurance Representative
I do, I do. I can't tell you how many. I mean, look, I got a bunch of calls and emails and outreach from the people you'd expect, right? Police organizations and prosecutor organizations and all that was great. Republicans in Congress began having me testify on a regular basis. All of that was good and important. But the thing that was most gratifying to me were the emails that I would get from somebody who was not politically aligned, you know, from, you know, the high school teacher who said, hey, you know, I saw this and we've been talking about, you know, BLM and all this stuff in our history class. And I'm going to, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to assign an excerpt from your book because it really moved me and it made me think twice about this. It was, you know, the opportunities to engage with people on the other side more directly. I got to debate people like Chase of Boudin and, you know, go out to Berkeley and debate police abolitionists and, you know, being in spaces where I, I was going to reach audiences that I didn't always get the opportunity to reach. And I felt like that book and the tour and its reception was part and maybe even helped create the kind of tide turn that I think we're seeing now. If you just look at the last election cycle, I mean, it was kind of a 180 on the crime issue compared to 2020.
Carol Markowitz
Nobody supported defunding the police. Nobody. They couldn't find anybody who ever supported that crazy idea.
Ameca Insurance Representative
That's exactly right. And you had Pamela Price, the progressive prosecutor in Oakland was recalled along with the anti police mayor in Oakland, Chantao. You had George Gascon, the radical prosecutor in Los Angeles, lose his reelection bid to Nate Hockman, who ran on a sort of generic tough on crime platform. California passed Proposition 36, rolling back Proposition 47, reinstituting penalties for theft in various drug offenses. You had states around the country, Arizona passed, you know, ballot initiative. One of them would give taxpayers a rebate if the government failed to clear homeless encampments. Colorado passing, you know, a truth in sentencing. I mean, it was like.
Carol Markowitz
And the rhetoric difference, I mean, the fact that Gavin Newsom is looking for the person who did this, you know.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Exactly.
Carol Markowitz
He can't find who supported these policies. Who was that crazy person?
Ameca Insurance Representative
Exactly. Yeah, well, I think I feel like everyone just kind of took a pill at the same time. Not a bad trip. That's what it felt like watching from the outside in. But, you know, but I do think that there's definitely been a vibe shift. And I think, I think part of what's created that is that, you know, people like myself, my colleagues at the Manhattan Institute, we've been able to bring a lot more attention to, you know, the problems with the progressive policy prescriptions on crime. I mean, you know, and it's not that hard to do in part because like when you have a really bad criminal offense, it's almost inevitably the case that the person who did it has, you know, 10, 15, 20, 30 prior arrests, highlighting that. And, and you, you know, you make it clear that those aren't one offs, that these are part, that that's part of a systematic problem. You know, regular people will always ask the question, you know, when they see a story about a guy who committed a double homicide and had 30 prior arrests, the first question that any regular person will ask is, why was he out? Yeah.
Carol Markowitz
Why was he on our street? Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And that's a question that they've always asked. The problem was that they thought for a long time that people like that were always locked up. They thought that the guy with the long rap sheet, that that was a one off our work really helped push the idea that no, actually they are the rule, not the exception. And I'm hopeful that it will help, you know, bring us back to the center on this issue and that that vibe shift will last for a good long time.
Carol Markowitz
We're going to take a quick break and be right back on the Carol Markowitz Show.
Ryan
You know, in the book of Genesis, God makes a promise to your offspring. I promise this land. Now, that promise is the foundation of Israel. A land the Jewish people have returned to after centuries of exile and bondage and even the horrors of the Holocaust. But that promise is still under threat, especially after October 7th. Now, Israel's safety today depends on the very brave men and women of the idf, the Israeli Defense Forces. Every citizen is required to serve. Your gift of $45 will help provide aid to soldiers and their families by helping to provide food and other bare necessities for these families and emergency supplies for soldiers. Now you can help secure their future. Honor those who are defending the holy land. Call now 8884488 IFCJ. That's 888488 IFCJ. Or just go to their website, it's ifcj.org and you can give. Today, they are in desperate need of help.
Carol Markowitz
When you're in hr, it can feel like nothing is easy. From payroll to pto, from onboarding to.
Rafael Manguel
Benefits and everything in between. It's a constant juggle of tasks, systems and spreadsheets. But your HR software, that's the easy part. Meet BambooHR Trusted by over 34,000 companies, it handles all your HR tasks, payroll, benefits and time tracking so your team and your company can grow as fast as well. Bamboo and BambooHR software is actually easy to use. One simple system that pulls all your people data together in one place. So you can ditch scattered systems and wasted hours on tasks that should only take minutes. Because because when HR is easier, you can focus on what matters most. Your people. HR is hard. Bamboohr is easy. Ready to simplify all your HR tasks for a limited time? Get a $100 Visa gift card when you complete a free demo@bamboohr.com giftcard again, that's bamboohr.com giftcard terms and conditions apply.
Ameca Insurance Representative
At Ameca Insurance we know it's more.
Rafael Manguel
Than just a house. It's your home. The place that's filled with memories.
Ameca Insurance Representative
The early days of figuring it out to the later years of still figuring.
Ryan
It out.
Ameca Insurance Representative
For the place you've put down roots. Trust Ameca Home Insurance.
Rafael Manguel
Ameca Empathy is our best policy.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Ah, come on.
Ryan
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Still using yesterday's tech Upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 car ultra light, ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Ryan
Whoa, this thing moves.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Ryan
So you want to start a business? You might think you need a team of people and fancy tech skills, but listen to me when I say you don't. You just need GoDaddy arrow. I'm Walton Goggins, an actor and I like the sound of starting my own business. Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses. But I couldn't do this my own. GoDaddy Arrow uses AI to create everything you need to grow a business. It'll make you a unique logo, it'll create a custom website, it'll write social posts for you, and even set you up with a social media calendar. How cool is that? Well, listen to this. For a limited time you can get Arrow all access for just a dollar a week for 12 weeks. We're talking all the AI power of GoDaddy arrow plus a domain E commerce store, payments, professional email, a unified inbox. All for less money than I spend on deep tanning lotion while sunbathing off the Amalfi coast. You know what that sounds like?
Rafael Manguel
Like a plan.
Ryan
Get started@godaddy.com terms apply.
Carol Markowitz
What do you worry about?
Ameca Insurance Representative
I worry about my kids, actually, you know, that is.
Rafael Manguel
Yeah.
Ameca Insurance Representative
It took about 2Ns for that answer to pop into my head. When you ask that. It's one thing they don't tell you about being a parent, which is amazing. I love every bit of it, but I worry about my kids more than I thought I would. I didn't realize how much you stress over all the possible outcomes with every activity. It's like, okay, he's got swimming lessons. Like you immediately start thinking, oh my goodness, what if he drowns?
Carol Markowitz
Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
You know it. So, so yeah, I worry about my kids. That is, that is the thing that consumes me. You know, it's not debilitating, obviously.
Carol Markowitz
Right, right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
You know, but, but yeah, it's. Whatever decisions I'm making throughout the day, I'm almost always trying to think about how is it going to affect my kids, how is it going to help my kids. Worrying about their safety, worrying about their future and the opportunities that they're going to have and getting them into summer enrichment programs, just making sure that they have a better life than I had. That's the barometer that I keep holding myself to. And that's actually one of the things that's made parenting easier. Right. Because it's like I don't agonize over decisions as much as I might otherwise because it really just comes down to is this better for them than not? You know, and that's usually a pretty easy decision to make. So, so yeah, my kids.
Carol Markowitz
What advice would you give your 16 year old self? Like what does Raphael at 16 need to know that he didn't?
Ameca Insurance Representative
Raphael at 16 needed to know a lot. Raphael at 16 was not on the best path. Like I said, I was not good student, wasn't. Didn't really know what my future was going to be. Sort of rough plan back then was, you know, graduate high school if I could and you know, join the military and then figure out some kind of, you know, blue collar job, become a firefighter or cop or something like that. And you know, there's nothing wrong with that, but I just didn't really feel like I had direction. So I would say it wasn't, I wasn't smart. Right. Like I, I was clearly, yeah, smart, which is part of the problem. Huge ego. And so I think the piece of advice I would give is, is take school more seriously. I, I closed a lot of doors that I could have opened instead, and my life could have gone very differently. I mean, look, things turned out really well, right? I figured it out. Obviously, I'm very happy with. With where I am, but it took me a lot longer to get here, in part because I never developed the habits, the attitudes, the discipline.
Carol Markowitz
It's hard when you're smart. That's really. I tell this to my kids all the time because it's easy to skate a lot of the time when you're smart and you don't learn how to work hard. Especially my middle son. I tell him all the time that I know lots of smart people, lots of really smart people who didn't get anywhere in life because they didn't work and they didn't learn how to work. And unless you do that, it doesn't matter how smart you are.
Ameca Insurance Representative
That's exactly right. And skating was, you know, something I took pride in.
Carol Markowitz
Same, same straight B student my whole life with no effort.
Ameca Insurance Representative
I wish I was a straight B student. I remember failing all four quarters of biology in high school.
Carol Markowitz
Wow.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And the teacher smugly, you know, telling me something along the lines of, you know, I'll see you in summer school. But I knew that if you got an 85 or better on the Regents, that they couldn't send you to summer school.
Carol Markowitz
Oh, you're like, I got you.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And so I just crammed for two weeks, and I got, like, an 87 or something like that. And finding her the first day of school the next year, and I was like, hey, Howard, summer school. So that was, you know, I just had a bad attitude.
Carol Markowitz
Kill my kids.
Rafael Manguel
Yeah.
Ameca Insurance Representative
I would get kicked out of class all the time. I would cut school all the time. I just, you know, I. I didn't take advantage of the opportunities that were. That were out there. And I've always felt guilty about that, in part because my parents work really hard to move us from Brooklyn to Long Island.
Carol Markowitz
Right.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And so, you know, I always felt a little guilty about that.
Carol Markowitz
End here with your best tip for my listeners on how they can improve their lives.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Yeah. This is one of these questions where you're tempted to kind of put on your Internet guru hat. Do it.
Carol Markowitz
Put on that Internet Internet guru hat.
Ameca Insurance Representative
You know, I don't know. I was trying to think about what I would say. You know, there are two things that I always tell people. So I'm going to cop out, and I'm going to give you two instead of one.
Carol Markowitz
All right, let's go two.
Ameca Insurance Representative
One is, you know, I don't think people Realize how much downtime they have that could be more productive. And that's really changed. So you know, your commute home, your gym time, your shower time, throw on a podcast. Like the new media landscape is awesome and there's so much informative stuff out there. There are books that you can listen to, audiobooks. There's so much of your downtime that you could be learning something while doing the thing that you're doing. Whether it's like doing dishes or cleaning the house or you know, going for a walk or a jo back. Like take advantage, double that time up and listen to something educational.
Carol Markowitz
That is pretty guru.
Ameca Insurance Representative
And then the other thing is, is go to the gym. You know, I've had a weird relationship with the gym. I was an athlete in high school and college, but after college there were periods of years where I didn't do anything athletic. And you know, especially during COVID and you know, with the book coming out, there was like a four year period where I just, I, I was completely out of shape and I felt awful all the time and I was constantly stressed out and I forgot how much being in shape can help just, you know, with your ability to deal with stress, with how you feel, with your confidence level. You know, it's like you have an opportunity to do something a few days a week and you'll consistently see progress if you do it. It's just this like little reminder that that work is gonna pay off no matter what. And it's a getaway for me. It's been a really good stress management tool and it has the bonus of keeping you healthy.
Carol Markowitz
Yeah, I've heard of the gym. I just never quite get there. Maybe I will after this show.
Ameca Insurance Representative
It's easy to drive past it. It's easy to miss it. I certainly did for a long time.
Carol Markowitz
Thank you so much. He's Rafael Manguel. Check out his book Criminal Injustice. Thank you so much, Rafael.
Ameca Insurance Representative
Thank you. Really appreciate it.
Ryan
Want to feel more creative but don't have the right laptop? Lenovo.com can help. Look through our legendary lineup of AI powered PCs and devices and find the one that fits your passion. Our PCs, powered by Intel Core Ultra processors as well as cutting edge AI tools, allow students to focus, learn and create with ease. That's the power of Linton Lenovo with Intel inside. Plus college students and teachers can get 5% off their order shop now on Lenovo.com the future's waiting and it needs you. So you want to start a business? You might think you need a team of people and fancy tech skills. But listen to me when I say you don't. You just need GoDaddy arrow. I'm Walton Goggins, an actor and I like the sound of starting my own business. Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses. But I couldn't do this my own. GoDaddy Arrow uses AI to create everything you need to grow a business. It'll make you a unique logo, it'll create a custom website, it'll write social posts for you, and even set you up with a social media calendar. How cool is that? Well listen to this. For a limited time you can get Arrow all access for just a dollar a week for 12 weeks. We're talking all the AI power of GoDaddy arrow plus a domain E commerce store, payments, professional email, a unified inbox. All for less money than I spend on deep tanning lotion while sunbathing off the Almafi coast. You know what? That sounds like a plan. Get started@godaddy.com terms apply.
Rafael Manguel
Get this adults with financial literacy skills.
Ryan
Have 82% more wealth than those who don't.
Carol Markowitz
From swimming lessons to piano classes, Us.
Rafael Manguel
Parents invest in so many things to.
Ryan
Enrich our kids lives, but are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight you can teach your kids.
Rafael Manguel
Financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing.
Ryan
And this investment costs less than that. After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free trial@greenlight.com iheart greenlight.com iheart you're great.
Rafael Manguel
At protecting your own personal information. You probably even use things like two factor authentication, strong passwords and a vpn. But as much as you try to be in control of how your information is protected, there are lots of places that also have it and they might not be as careful as you are. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second for identity threats. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will help solve identity theft issues on your behalf, guaranteed or your money back. Plus all LifeLock plans are backed by the million dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you up to the limits of your plan. If you lose money due to identity theft. You might not be able to control how others handle your personal information, but you can help protect it. With Lifelock, save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code iheart or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off. Terms apply with the Verizon Visa card.
Ryan
You can win by getting 4% in rewards on the items you pick up all the time, including grocery store purchases, gas, dining out and even products from Verizon. As a cardholder, you can use those earned rewards toward your Verizon bill or toward a new smartwatch with the Verizon Visa card. Buying what you need gets you rewards you actually want. Apply now@verizon.com Verizon Visacard application required. Subject to credit approval. Must be a Verizon Mobile account owner or manager or files account owner. See verizon.com Verizon Visa card for terms and restrictions. The Verizon Visa Signature card is issued by Synergy bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. This is an iHeart podcast.
Podcast Title: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: The Karol Markowicz Show: The Journey of a Crime Fighter with Rafael Mangual
Host: Carol Markowitz
Guest: Rafael Mangual
Release Date: June 18, 2025
In this compelling episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, host Carol Markowitz sits down with Rafael Mangual, a prominent figure in criminology and public safety. Mangual, a Nick O'Neill Fellow and head of research for the Manhattan Institute's Policing and Public Safety Initiative, delves into his journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a respected author and advocate for effective criminal justice policies.
Rafael Mangual opens up about his formative years, highlighting the profound influence of his father, an NYPD detective. Growing up in Brooklyn during the 1980s and 1990s—a time when New York City grappled with high crime rates—Mangual was deeply affected by the omnipresent theme of crime in his environment.
Rafael Mangual (04:19): "My father was a cop, you know, so to me, he was Batman."
Despite living in a relatively safe area of Brooklyn, Mangual recounts memories of proximity to more troubled neighborhoods and the constant presence of crime in media and daily life. These experiences ignited his passion for understanding and combating criminal behavior from an early age.
Mangual's path to criminology was unconventional. Initially, he wasn't academically inclined and did not intend to pursue higher education. His enrollment in college was a result of his participation in baseball, not academic ambition.
Rafael Mangual (07:20): "I didn't take advantage of the opportunities that were out there."
A pivotal moment occurred during his sophomore year in a sociology class, where a guest speaker—an ex-convict incarcerated under the Rockefeller drug laws—delivered a vehement critique of the NYPD and the broader criminal justice system. Mangual observed a disconnect between the speaker's rhetoric and the reality he had grown up with, fostering skepticism and shaping his conservative viewpoints.
Rafael Mangual (06:27): "You don't actually believe him, do you? We all know he's full of it."
This experience propelled Mangual to independently research policing and criminal justice, leading him to discover influential publications like City Journal and the Manhattan Institute. By his early twenties, he was firmly set on a path to contribute to criminology through research and policy advocacy.
Mangual's 2022 book, Criminal Injustice, emerged from the heightened societal focus on crime following the Ferguson protests and the subsequent national homicide spikes. His firsthand experience, including witnessing a shooting in Chicago, fueled his determination to address what he perceived as widespread misconceptions about crime and policing.
Rafael Mangual (08:38): "I wanted to attack the assumptions undergirding those bad ideas."
The book argues against policies like defunding the police and decarceration, asserting that such measures disproportionately harm the very communities they intend to help. Mangual emphasizes the historical context of the 1990s crime decline, which he regards as a significant achievement now overshadowed by progressive policy shifts.
Rafael Mangual (10:37): "If you care about these communities, you have to address the one thing that is affecting them more than anyone else."
Three years post-publication, Mangual reflects on the tangible impacts of his work. He notes a surge in support from law enforcement organizations, Republicans in Congress, and even unexpected allies such as educators who have incorporated his book into curricula to foster critical discussions about policing and public safety.
Rafael Mangual (20:20): "The books and the outreach have helped create the kind of tide turn that I think we're seeing now."
The political landscape has shifted, with significant electoral defeats for progressive prosecutors and reforms. States like California, Arizona, and Colorado have rolled back earlier progressive policies, reinstating tougher stances on crime and supporting law enforcement initiatives.
Rafael Mangual (22:02): "Pamela Price, the progressive prosecutor in Oakland, was recalled along with the anti-police mayor."
Mangual attributes this shift to increased public awareness and understanding of criminal justice issues, driven in part by his and his colleagues' efforts to highlight the consequences of progressive policies on crime rates.
Throughout the interview, Mangual shares personal anecdotes that illustrate his dedication to public safety and his journey of self-improvement. He candidly discusses his struggles with academic focus during his youth, the lessons learned from past mistakes, and the discipline required to succeed in his field.
Rafael Mangual (30:30): "The piece of advice I would give is, take school more seriously. I closed a lot of doors that I could have opened instead."
Mangual also offers practical advice for listeners, emphasizing the importance of maximizing downtime for personal growth and maintaining physical health as tools for managing stress and enhancing productivity.
Rafael Mangual (33:39): "Take advantage of your downtime and listen to something educational."
Rafael Mangual's journey from a Brooklyn upbringing amidst rising crime rates to becoming a leading voice in criminology underscores the profound impact of personal experiences on professional trajectories. His work, particularly Criminal Injustice, has significantly influenced public discourse and policy on criminal justice, highlighting the critical balance between progressive reforms and effective law enforcement. Through his research, writing, and advocacy, Mangual continues to strive for a safer and more just society, making this episode a must-listen for those interested in the intricacies of crime fighting and public safety.
Notable Quotes:
This structured summary provides a comprehensive overview of the episode, highlighting Rafael Mangual's background, motivations, key arguments in his work, and the societal impact of his efforts. By incorporating direct quotes with timestamps, listeners can easily reference pivotal moments in the conversation.