Ep. 429 All Journalism Has a Point of View with Justine van der Leun

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by award-winning independent journalist and author Justine van der Leun to talk about her newest book, Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival. Based on seven years of reporting, research, and interviews with over 1000 incarcerated women, this book explores criminalized survival—a phenomenon in which people who defend themselves against abuse are subsequently prosecuted and even imprisoned—through the stories of three women who had to kill their attackers to survive. We talk about how Justine came to these types of stories, the details of the survey she conducted, and what she looked for in the women she spotlighted.

The Stacks Book Club pick for June is The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. We’ll be discussing the book with Mary H.K. Choi on Wednesday, June 24th.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/6/17/ep-429-justine-van-der-leun

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