To understand issues like mass incarceration and racist policing, you have to go back in history—farther back than Reagan’s war on drugs or even Johnson’s proposed war on crime. That’s the argument of Simon Balto, our guest today and the author of Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power. He spends […]
The History of Mass Incarceration with Kelly Lytle Hernández
Nearly 2.3 million adults are currently incarcerated in the United States, which represents the highest incarceration rate in the world. How did this come to be? What led to the construction of the carceral state? On today’s episode, we learn about the history of mass incarceration in Los Angeles and beyond with UCLA history professor Kelly […]
Brother Eugene and Sister Melissa Talk Incarceration and Unity
Brother Eugene and compatriot Melissa offer a program of discussion and music that speaks of peace, love, and unity and brings an awareness of uplifting people of all walks of life, including those people who are currently incarcerated and those people who are formerly incarcerated.
Critical Updates on the National Prison Strike
On August 21, 2018, the U.S. saw the beginning of an ongoing nationwide prison strike demanding improved conditions for inmates, sentencing reform, and voting rights. On today’s episode, sub host Gil Halsted takes a close look at the strike with guests Amani Sawari, spokesperson for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, and Ben Turk of the Milwaukee Incarcerated […]
The Rights of the Incarcerated/ The Evil of Banality
Substitute host Gil Halsted speaks with Jerome Dillard, a lead organizer of Ex-Prisoners Organizing, about advocating for the rights of the incarcerated and the formerly-incarcerated ; and later speaks with Dr. Elizabeth Minnich about her recent book about genocide and how it happens, The Evil of Banality.
“Dying to Live” Hunger Strike
On June 5, inmates at several Wisconsin correctional facilities began refusing food and water as part of “Dying to Live” hunger strike. The inmates demanded an end to the practice of what the Department of Corrections calls “administrative confinement” a euphemism for solitary confinement imposed on inmates for breaking the internal rules of the prison. […]
