The real cost of reparations for slavery

Kathleen Schuster

09/06/2023September 6, 2023

On this week’s show, we’ll visit Grenada, where some of the descendants of slave owners are trying to make amends for past wrongs. We’ll also hear from the author of a recent report on the complexities of calculating reparations payments. Plus, a look at how women in Pakistan are taking the comedy scene by storm.

This week, we’re devoting the first half of the program to the topic of reparations. The debate from the US has spilled over into other countries, including the Caribbean nation of Grenada, where the majority of the population are descended from Africans brought to the island as slaves.

Reporter Daniel Zylberstaijn-Lewandowski visited the island and some of the descendants of slaveowners in the UK who are trying to make amends for the past.

We’ll also hear from Rohan Janakiraman, a senior research analyst at the Brattle Group and one of the authors of a recent report on the cost of reparations. He’ll break down the numbers for us and explain why reparation payments are about much more than compensating lost wages.

In the second half of the show, a light-hearted look at a group of women taking Pakistan’s comedy scene by storm.