The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an extra toll on prison populations. Prisoners in Wisconsin were infected at a rate five times higher than the general population, and inmates were not given priority during vaccination rollout. This is just one of the injustices of the United States’ mass incarceration program. Another is that prisoners can’t vote—yet […]
Coerced Labor in America Today
The pandemic and attendant economic crisis have laid bare the enormous power imbalances in contemporary American work life. Today, we speak with sociologist Erin Hatton about her new book Coerced, in which she looks at four distinct groups of workers—from prisoners and welfare workers to graduate students and college athletes—who are not often recognized as […]
Facing the Pandemic in Prison
Throughout the pandemic, prisons have been one of the hardest-hit spaces for inmates and staff alike, with high rates of infection and minimal to no proper protective equipment or access to adequate hygiene. Back in April, Cook County Jail in Chicago suffered the worst COVID-19 outbreak the country had seen. For today’s episode, Wednesday host […]
Counted But Not Represented: Prison Gerrymandering in Wisconsin
With the 2020 census shortly underway, we spend today’s episode exploring an overlooked aspect of representation and democracy: prison gerrymandering. Our first guest is independent journalist Natasha Haverty, who recently reported on prison gerrymandering in Wisconsin for a segment on Reveal. She and Carousel discuss the prison population in Wisconsin, how the census is used […]
