NPR’s Focus: We Keep Us Safe digs into an unsolved 2020 Seattle teen shooting

NPR’s investigative journalism finesse shines in another podcast series that delivers top-of-the-line audio documentaries about the events and people that matter. Its latest season, Focus: We Keep Us Safe, premiered in September and zooms in on the 2020 murder of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. Produced by public radio station KUOW, the season is part of the Focus series aimed at pushing against prevailing narratives in the US Pacific Northwest and American society more broadly.

What to expect: The eight-part series is hosted by KUOW’s Will James and The Seattle Times’ Sydney Brownstone. James previously hosted the series’ first and Peabody-nominated season Lost Patients. Antonio Mays Jr.’s killing remains to this day an unsolved case, and the scope of the series reflects that complexity. Across its episodes, it explores Mays’ background through interviews with his father, detailed context during the shooting, eyewitness interviews, police records, the days leading up to the incident and its aftermath, and never-before-seen evidence from that night. Each episode runs from 30 to 50 minutes and leaves few aspects of the case unexplored.

More on the case: Mays originally resided in Los Angeles and, inspired by the racial justice movement erupting across the country after George Floyd’s murder, took off to Seattle in June 2020 to join the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, a tent encampment and autonomous protest zone, aka CHOP. Mays was fatally shot inside the zone while driving a stolen white Jeep, which some protesters claimed was self-defense. Questions remain about why Mays was there, who fired first, and why protesters have been reluctant to identify those involved. The suspects remain unidentified, but there’s a lot more that gets unpacked on the show.

What we liked: On top of a compelling subject matter, both politically and emotionally, the series delivers an immersive listening experience that draws audiences into the mystery surrounding Mays’ death. It weaves together audio from recorded videos and livestreams, and snippets of voices and interviews, to build a fuller, richer picture of the incident. The hosts’ firsthand experience of the protests adds another layer of depth and credibility to the reporting. While the first couple of episodes take a little time to get going, the pacing and storytelling remain compelling throughout, making the next episode an almost irresistible click.

The verdict: We Keep Us Safe is another unsurprising standout podcast from the NPR network, doing justice to a single story and showcasing the power of journalistic rigor and a strong investigative narrative. If you’re interested in the US political landscape, can’t resist a good mystery, or want a story rich in political nuance and human complexity, don’t hesitate to dive into this eight-part series.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can tune in to the season on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.