Get a taste of life on the inside: Recent Episodes
Radiotopia
Podcast Brunch Club is going to prison with our ears! November is election season in the US and rather than subject ourselves to more election nonsense, let's go in the opposite direction. Here's a little mathematical equation of how we came up with the theme of PRISON: elections = freedom; freedom ≠ x; x = prison.
Podcast Brunch Club (PBC) is a community of podcast listeners who get together in person and online to discuss a monthly set of thematic podcasts: like book club, but for podcasts! podcastbrunchclub.com
The story of a white-collar-criminal’s pregnant fiancée, trying to organize their prison wedding. Recommended by Adela.
The United States prison system has the largest prison population in the world and many of its inmates listen to their music on cassette tape. For this group, cassettes aren’t necessarily the cheapest or hippest way to listen to music; in some cases, it’s the only way. Recommended by Aesha from PBC-CHI.
Audio postcards to an inmate in the Red Onion State Prison from his family. Recommended by Adela.
For years, Paul Modrowski has been writing a blog from inside a maximum security prison. Only thing is, he was arrested when he was 18 and has never seen the internet. Recommended by @kjs_37, Ellen from PBC-CHI, and Erik from Hurt Your Brain.
A businessman goes to prison, and decides he is going to disrupt the biggest captive market in America. Recommended by Aesha from PBC-CHI.
Actress Cherry Jones (“Transparent,” “Doubt”) reads the essay “Kept Together by the Bars Between Us,” about a marriage that is buttressed by a husband’s prison sentence. Recommended by Erin from PBC-CHI.
We hate losing control. And no place on earth represents that sensation more viscerally than prison. Contrary to popular belief, though, not all prisons have been created equal. Recommended by Adela.
A story of public relations and lethal injection. Recommended by Sara from Audible Feast.
An intimate discussion with an inmate at Sing Sing prison about his crime, what he learned, his family, and his plans. Recommended by Erik from Hurt Your Brain and Aesha from PBC-CHI.
The conversion of the last standing leper (Hansen’s disease) colony in the continental U.S. into a minimum security prison in Louisiana. White collar criminals and patients live side-by-side. Recommended by Aesha from PBC-CHI.
In 2008, Pete Brook started the Prison Photography blog to explore images of prisoners and prisons. Then, in 2011, he traveled across the U.S. visiting prisons, interviewing criminologists, photographers, and inmates. In this interview, Pete tells us about his experiences and thoughts on the prison system in the U.S. Recommended by Galen from PBC-BOS.
In this exposé, a journalist goes undercover and gets a job as a guard inside a private federal prison. What is revealed is fascinating and terrifying. I had moments of pure empathetic anxiety. Shortly after the episode dropped, the Justice Department announced that they would no longer contract with private prisons. This episode was recommended by SO MANY people in the PBC community (thanks to Sara from Audible Feast, @kjs_37, @jd_sutter, Drew from PBC-CHI, and Kevin and Christa who work at Reveal.
Live storytelling at San Quentin prison. From the sound of it, if you have to be in prison, SQ is a great place to be with some creative programming and surprisingly thoughtful inmates. After hearing these touching stories, I decided to look up SQ prison and was surprised to find that there is a Yelp page for the prison! It has 48 reviews and comes in at 3 full stars. Not sure what to make of that considering I’ve stayed at hotels that have gotten fewer stars than that. Recommended by Aesha from PBC-CHI.