UNFINISHED: Deep South
A journey into the heart of America’s unfinished business.
Isadore Banks was one of the wealthiest men on the Arkansas Delta. For years he navigated the Jim Crow South, buying land, raising a family, building a fortune. Then, in 1954, he was lynched.
Banks was murdered just three weeks after the momentous Supreme Court decision that overturned segregation. The local sheriff insisted the killing wasn’t about race and refused to investigate the crime. Soon Banks’ hometown did all it could to forget him.
Sixty-five years later, Unfinished: Deep South investigates Banks’ murder, joining his family in their attempt to restore his legacy and solve the crime before the story goes cold forever. By illuminating one man’s life, this 10-part series explores the system of white supremacy that was and remains so deeply embedded in the American landscape, tracing its sinew through forgotten court records, fading FBI files, and the testimony of elderly witnesses.
“Truth crushed to earth will rise again. The Deep South podcast is a timely reminder of how the dark past still has repercussions today.”
THE DEEP SOUTH TEAM
Deep South is a collaboration between Market Road Films and Stitcher.
Created and reported by Taylor Hom and Neil Shea
Editors: Peter Clowney, Gianna Palmer, and Tracey Samuelson
Executive Producers: Lynn Nottage, Tony Gerber, Peter Clowney, and Chris Bannon
Senior Producers: Laura Colleluori and Stephanie Kariuki