For decades, public support for the death penalty in the United States has been declining. But in recent years, the number of executions has risen sharply—and a majority of Americans still say they support capital punishment.

What’s needed, argues Atlantic staff writer Elizabeth Bruenig, is not just a deeper understanding of forgiveness, but the actual practice of mercy. Bruenig has written extensively on the death penalty in a series of articles and essays.

On this episode, she reflects on how witnessing executions—some botched, all harrowing—has shaped her thinking about capital punishment.

For further reading: 

• Elizabeth Bruenig’s July cover story for The Atlantic 
• David Bentley Hart on Christianity and the death penalty
• The Editors on Pope Francis’s declaration on capital punishment