Podcasts by Kite Line
Kite Line is a radio program devoted to prison issues around the Midwest and beyond. Behind the prison walls, a message is called a kite: whispered words, a note passed hand to hand, or a request submitted to the guards for medical care. Illicit or not, sending a kite means trusting that other people will bear it farther along till it reaches its destination. On the show, we hope to pass along words across the prison walls.
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December 8, 2023: Written from the Inside from 2023-12-08T14:07:14
In this episode, we have our monthly round up of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, we have a conversation with Sophia Johnson, also known as Candle, who is an anar...
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November 24, 2023: Block Cop City from 2023-11-24T22:09:10
Since 2021, a diverse movement in has challenged the construction of Cop City, which is slated to destroy Atlanta’s South River Forest. The forest is also known by its Muscogee name, Weelaun...
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October 13, 2023: Surveillance and Social Media from 2023-10-13T04:56:43
On today’s Kite Line, we are sharing more research conducted collectively by Micol Seigel’s Inside-Out class. Last spring, this course brought together students at Indiana University an...
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August 25, 2023: Transforming Trauma- Voices from Inside-Out from 2023-08-25T21:43:29
Content Warning: This episode contains references to sexual trauma and harm. We start off this episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle- followed ...
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Advocacy Into Action from 2023-07-28T18:46:10
And now we return to the second part of our conversation between Micol Seigel and Amanda Hall. Last week, Hall talked to us about how her firsthand experience of incarceration led her to her curren...
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July 7, 2023: Experience Into Advocacy from 2023-07-07T20:31:20
For this episode, we share the first part of a conversation between Micol Seigel and Amanda Hall. Hall talks to us about how her firsthand experience of incarceration led her to her current work in...
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June 2, 2023: The Atlanta Solidarity Fund from 2023-06-02T18:14:29
On the morning of May 31st, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Atlanta Police Department raided a house and arrested three staff members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The Atlanta Solidarity Fund...
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May 19, 2021: Prison by Any Other Name, Part One from 2023-05-19T14:45:55
This week on Kite Line we air a discussion from 2021, in which we speak with prison abolitionist journalists Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law. We share the first part of our discussion on their recen...
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April 21, 2023: Crisis and Neglect from 2023-04-21T18:50:58
The U.S. was shaken this week by the death of Lashawn Thompson in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail. He had been moved to the psychiatric ward after being jailed on a simple battery charge. Phys...
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April 14, 2023: A History of Sexual Policing from 2023-04-14T18:25:49
This week, we share the final part of a conversation about policing sex. Micol Seigel talks to Anne Gray Fischer about her book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregati...
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April 7, 2023: The Rising Chorus Against Cop City from 2023-04-07T17:54:43
First, we have our monthly round up of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, Angela Davis shares a statement in support of the Stop Cop City movement. And we finish sh...
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March 31, 2023: The Origins of Cop City, Part Three from 2023-03-31T19:22:37
This week we continue sharing a panel hosted by Haymarket Books on the abolitionist struggle to stop Cop City. In this section, we hear Hugh Farrell in conversation with Sarah Haley, a leading his...
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March 24, 2023: The Origins of Cop City, Part Two from 2023-03-24T16:59:30
This week, we continue sharing Haymarket Press’s panel, “the Abolitionist Struggle against Cop City.” In this segment, Stuart Schrader and Micah Herskind fill in the past 40 yea...
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March 17, 2023: The Origins of Cop City from 2023-03-17T18:43:38
This week we begin sharing a panel hosted by Haymarket Books on the abolitionist struggle to stop Cop City. In this section, we hear from Kwame Olufemi, of Community Movement Builders, and Sarah H...
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March 10, 2023: We Have to Stick Together from 2023-03-10T21:08:16
During a dramatic week of action in the Atlanta forest this past week, hundreds of forest defenders sabotaged a construction site for the unpopular “Cop City” development. Police respo...
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March 3, 2023: Knowledge is Power- The Stakes of“Cop City” from 2023-03-03T18:46:53
From March 4-11th, thousands of people will be converging in Atlanta’s Weelaunee Forest, as part of the abolitionist and environmentalist struggle to stop “Cop City,” a police training facility se...
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February 24, 2023: Rolling Back Repression in Atlanta from 2023-02-24T17:21:09
Earlier this week, Keith LaMar went on hunger strike at the Ohio State Penitentiary. He has faced escalating harassment from administrators and guards as his execution this fall looms and as solid...
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February 17, 2023: Policing Sex from 2023-02-17T17:53:58
This we continue our conversation between Micol Seigel and Anne Gray Fischer about her recent book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification, an acco...
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February 10, 2023: We Understand Each Other- Resistance at the Norhwest Detention Center from 2023-02-10T17:16:47
We start this week’s episode with our monthly round up of prison protests and disturbances, compiled by Perilous Chronicle. After that, we share an Interview with Maru Moro Villalpando of La Resist...
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February 3, 2022: Rikers is Deadlier Than Ever from 2023-02-03T18:12:53
Today’s episode highlights the campaign to close Rikers jail in New York and continues our conversation with Anne Gray Fischer about the intertwined stories of policing, the surveillance of women’s...
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January 27, 2023: The Problem is Policing Itself from 2023-01-27T17:55:12
This week, we reflect on the complex lethality of the white supremacist system in the United States, as it has dealt out death to Black people and others whose lives are devalued within this system...
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January 20, 2023: A Police Murder in the Atlanta Forest from 2023-01-20T17:57:57
Today, we share the tragic news that police killed Tortuguita, a forest defender in the South River Forest in Atlanta on the morning of Wednesday, January 19th. We have previously covered the movem...
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January 13, 2023: Sex Work at the Birth of the Ghetto from 2023-01-13T17:27:14
We are pleased to continue sharing a conversation between Micol Seigel and Anne Gray Fischer. Fischer’s powerful book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gent...
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January 6, 2023: Policing Womens’Bodies from 2023-01-06T22:21:34
We are pleased to share the first part of an interview between Anne Gray Fischer and Micol Siegel. Fischer’s powerful first book, The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from S...
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December 30, 2022: In Memory of Russell Maroon Shoatz from 2022-12-30T18:01:56
December 17th marked two years since the passing of Russell Maroon Shoatz. He was a founding member of the Black Unity Council, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a soldier in the Black...
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December 23, 2022: It was a Normal Day for Us, and He Just Disappeared from 2022-12-23T17:10:13
This week, we speak again with Isaiah Willoughby. Last time he was on the show, he reflected on being incarcerated due to the 2020 George Floyd Uprising. He was released from prison last March, but...
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December 16, 2022: Life After Lockup with Kunta Kenyatta from 2022-12-16T18:57:24
This week, we feature interviews on Life After Lockup from the Kunta Kenyatta Files. Kunta Kenyatta uses YouTube to speak to a range of people in Cleveland, Ohio, often featuring videos shot from ...
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December 9, 2022: Care Not Cages from 2022-12-09T16:27:10
We turn our focus this week to a local struggle. Here in Bloomington Indiana, Monroe County Government is quickly moving forward with a proposal for a new $60+ million dollar jail to replace and ex...
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December 2, 2022: Simply an Incarcerated Person Fighting to be Free from 2022-12-02T19:23:16
We start out with news about the recent execution of Kevin Johnson in Missouri, and a call to strike from Pennslyvania prisoners. Afterwards, we share an interview conducted by James Kilgore, who s...
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November 25, 2022: Last in Rights, First in Punishment from 2022-11-25T17:03:15
This week, we share the second installment of a talk by Dina Alves, an abolitionist researcher and scholar who is currently visiting the US from Brazil. Her talk is simultaneously translated from ...
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November 18, 2022: Blackness and Abolition in Brazil from 2022-11-18T19:50:55
This week, we share the first part of a talk by Dina Alves. Alves is a Brazilian lawyer with a doctorate in Anthropology, and has been an anchor in the feminist, antiracist legal scene in São Paulo...
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November 11, 2022: Perspectives on Prison with Sincere and Jok from 2022-11-11T23:12:53
In our previous episodes, Sincere paints a picture of life in a women’s prison. Today, they wrap up by talking about prison conditions- such as poor food, exploitative practices, and overly harsh p...
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November 4, 2022: Women and Incarceration, Part 2 from 2022-11-04T16:00:54
We start this episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances, compiled by Perilous Chronicle. You can find out more at perilouschronicle.com. This week, we share the second part of a conv...
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October 28, 2022: How it is with Us–Women and Incarceration from 2022-10-28T18:10:30
This week, we share part of a conversation between Focus Initiatives’ Jok Huerta and Sincere. Sincere, who spent 13 years in Indiana prisons, and now organizes in Indianapolis with other for...
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October 21, 2022: Updates on the Alabama Prison Strike from 2022-10-21T21:16:15
After the news, we hear from Daniel McGowan, former political prisoner and member of the Certain Days Collective. Daniel’s been on the show before, talking to us about the Certain Days calendar- wh...
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October 14, 2022: Let The Crops Rot in the Fields from 2022-10-14T16:19:03
We start off this week with a statement, released today, by Alabama Confined Citizens, speaking for people striking behind the walls of the Alabama prison system. We then speak with Elizabeth, who ...
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October 7, 2022: We’re Tired of People Dying- Updates on the Ongoing Alabama Prison Strike from 2022-10-07T16:52:29
We start off this episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle. As we have covered, Alabama prisoners have been striking since September 26th. Prisone...
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September 30, 2022: Swift Justice on Alabama’s Prison Strike from 2022-09-30T21:03:26
This past week, we spoke to Swift Justice, who is an incarcerated organizer in Alabama. Thousands of Alabama prisoners began a strike last week to protest poor prison conditions across the state, w...
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September 23, 2022: The Integrity of Marius Mason from 2022-09-23T18:44:58
This week, we share the second part of a recorded discussion hosted by the Civil Liberties Defense Center. CLDC has been at the forefront of anti-repression legal work for decades now, working on ...
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September 16, 2022: Marius Mason- The Last Green Scare Prisoner from 2022-09-16T18:39:56
This week, we share a recorded discussion hosted by the Civil Liberties Defense Center. CLDC has been at the forefront of anti-repression legal work for decades now, working on many of the Green S...
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September 9, 2022: A Fire Ignited- Shawn Sutton on the George Floyd Uprising from 2022-09-09T04:40:55
Shawn Sutton is from Greenville, North Carolina, and she participated in the George Floyd Uprising when it spread there in late May 2020. Shawn was imprisoned due to her participation and has been...
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September 2, 2022: Ray Luc Levasseur on Parenting in Prison from 2022-09-02T16:02:37
Up first, we have our monthly round up of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle. In celebration of over 300 consecutive weekly episodes of Kite Line, we are revisiting some feature...
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August 26, 2022: Habeas Corpus as a Tool for Freedom from 2022-08-26T18:23:07
This week, Zolo Azania returns to Kite Line. He recently visited Indiana University’s campus, and gave a talk that we began airing last week. On that episode, he reflects on that visit and talks ab...
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August 19, 2022: Prison’s Vicious Cycle- Reflections From Zolo Azania from 2022-08-19T07:02:51
This week, Zolo Azania returns to the show. Azania was on the Kite Line back in 2019, shortly after he was released after surviving decades on Indiana’s death row. He speaks with Jok Huerta, who h...
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August 12, 2022: The Phone as a Weapon–Keith LaMar on His Hunger Strike from 2022-08-12T21:11:09
Keith LaMar, also known as Bomani Shakur, is a prisoner on Ohio’s Death Row. He is facing execution in autumn 2023 after being framed in prison due to his advocacy for other prisoners and hi...
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August 5, 2022: Summer of Kites 2022 from 2022-08-06T15:45:32
We launch into this episode with our monthly roundup of prison disturbances, as compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, we have audio from a prisoner, Paul Lee, reporting on a massive transfer...
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July 29, 2022: Prison’s Impact on Families from 2022-07-29T19:58:17
We are again sticking close to home this week. We share the second part of a panel on the effects of incarceration on families. Max E. Smith, Becky Harris, Stacy Flynn, and Ashley C. Ford speak on ...
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July 22, 2022: Incarceration’s Burden from 2022-07-22T21:59:04
We are sticking close to home this week. We share the first part of a panel on the effects of incarceration on families. Max E. Smith, Becky Harris, Stacy Flynn, and Ashley C. Ford speak on their e...
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July 15, 2022: Echoes of the 2018 Prison Strike from 2022-07-17T14:57:31
We recently marked our 300th consecutive episode, and in honor of that we have been airing our favorite selections from previous shows. As we approach the upcoming 4 year anniversary of the most re...
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July 8, 2022: The Old Atlanta Prison Farm from 2022-07-11T19:19:44
This week on Kite Line, we return to Atlanta’s proposed “Cop City”- a police training facility set to be built over a vast urban forest. People from across the city and the country have been organi...
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July 1, 2022: No Reforming Them- Jarrod Shanahan on Rikers Island from 2022-07-01T20:16:59
This week, we share the final part of a conversation about Rikers Island between Bella Bravo and Jarrod Shanahan. Shanahan is a writer, activist, and professor of Criminal Justice based in Chicago....
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June 24, 2022: Captives with Jarrod Shanahan, Part One from 2022-06-24T20:02:26
This week, Bella Bravo speaks with Jarrod Shanahan, a writer, activist, and professor of Criminal Justice based in Chicago. Shanahan has been on previous episodes, discussing mass incarceration and...
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June 17, 2022: A Great Moment to Push Further from 2022-06-17T16:30:23
Interview with Maru Moro Villalpando of La Resistencia, a project that organizes against the Northwest Detention Center. In this conversation, Maru passes a kite along on behalf of immigrants house...
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June 10, 2022: Holding on to Your Humanity from 2022-06-10T19:36:30
This week we return to our conversation between Baye Sylvester and Focus Initiatives’ Jok Huerta. Both formerly incarcerated in Indiana, they described the circumstances that brought them to prison...
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June 3rd, 2022: Immigration and E-carceration from 2022-06-05T00:24:19
For this week’s episode,Bella Bravo spoke with Johana Bhuiyan, a journalist and author of a powerful series of articles about immigrant surveillance. She covers the vast program called “inten...
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May 27, 2022: The Problem of Politicization from 2022-05-29T18:39:27
This week we return to our conversation between Baye Sylvester and Focus Initiatives’ Jok Huerta. Both formerly incarcerated in Indiana, they described the circumstances that brought them to prison...
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May 20, 2022: Atlanta’s“Cop City” from 2022-05-22T06:38:59
This week on Kite Line, we return to Atlanta’s proposed “Cop City”- a police training facility set to be built over a vast urban forest. People from across the city and the country hav...
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May 13, 2022: The USA vs. Jessica Reznicek from 2022-05-13T20:05:17
This week, we hear the first part of the recent webinar ‘USA vs. Jessica Reznicek: fighting the criminalization of Water Protectors’. The webinar description reads: “Since the No-DAPL movement, do...
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May 6, 2022: Not Trying to Hear No Again with Renford Farrier from 2022-05-07T10:53:23
In celebration of recently completing 300 consecutive episodes, we are airing some of our Kite Line crew’s favorite clips from our archive of hundreds of episodes. After we hear a round up of priso...
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April 29, 2022: Past and Present Struggles with Mark Cook and Renford Farrier from 2022-04-30T16:49:49
Last week, marked our 300th episode! Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing clips of our favorite moments from our archive of shows. The following story is from Mark Cook, one of our all-time ...
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April 22, 2022: Bargaining in Bad Faith from 2022-04-22T20:40:37
Welcome to the 300th episode of Kite Line. Over the upcoming weeks, we will be sharing some of our favorite moments from our archive of shows, but we encourage you to go to our website, kitelinerad...
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April 15, 2022: Eric King’s Trials from 2022-04-15T21:34:38
Eric King is an anarchist prisoner who was arrested in September 2014 after he carried out a solidarity action to support the Ferguson Uprising. We speak again today with his lawyer, Lauren Regan,...
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April 8, 2022: Wall of Silence from 2022-04-10T02:52:13
Eric King is an anarchist prisoner who was arrested in September 2014 after he carried out a solidarity action in support of the Ferguson Uprising. We speak today with his lawyer, Lauren Regan, ab...
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April 1, 2022: No Choice But Poisoned Water from 2022-04-02T05:43:15
For our show this week, Micol Seigel talks to Abby Cuniff. Cuniff is a reporter who recently published an article about arsenic contamination in Kern Valley State Prison in California. In this conv...
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March 25, 2022: Words from an Incarcerated BLM Demonstrator from 2022-03-27T16:33:53
This week, we share Isaiah Willoughby’s story. He’s been on the show before, talking about his incarceration due to actions on behalf on the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Today, he wal...
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March 18, 2022: Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity from 2022-03-19T03:46:53
This week, we speak with Dan from Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity. MAPS is an exemplary grassroots abolitionist group, which arose out of the 2016 National Prison Strike and, specificall...
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March 11, 2022: Prison Profiteering with Brian Dolinar from 2022-03-11T17:40:33
This week, we share a conversation with Brian Dolinar. He has been on the show before, speaking about Parole Illinois. In this episode, he talks about Guardian RFID, a company that produces handhel...
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March 4, 2022: Freedom for Leonard Peltier from 2022-03-04T22:18:06
We begin this episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances, generously compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, we share a piece by IU graduate student Kayan Tara about the death of ...
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February 25, 2022: The 1985 Pendleton Uprising from 2022-02-25T19:30:40
In this week’s episode, we air the final part of a conversation between Jok from Focus Initiatives and Rodney Jones, known as Big R. Big R was a witness to the beating that sparked the 1985 Pendlet...
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February 18, 2022: Uncovering White Supremacist Violence from 2022-02-19T16:11:40
In this week’s episode, we air the second part of a conversation between Jok Huerta from Focus Initiatives and Rodney Jones, known as Big R. Big R was a witness to the beating that sparked the the ...
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February 11, 2022: Life in a Maximum Restraint Unit from 2022-02-11T21:28:46
In this week’s episode, we air the first part of a conversation between Jok Huerta from Focus Initiatives and Rodney Jones, known as Big R. Both men share stories of their own incarceration, ...
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February 4, 2022: Certain Days from 2022-02-06T23:21:07
We open this episode with our monthly collection of prison disturbances, generously compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, we share a conversation between Daniel McGowan and Brian Whitener abo...
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January 28, 2022- When Homes Become Prisons from 2022-01-29T02:34:01
This week, we continue to air selections from a presentation moderated by Ruth Wilson Gilmore and featuring James Kilgore speaking on his new book Understanding E-Carceration. Speaking from his ow...
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January 21, 2022: How Prison Hides from 2022-01-21T21:11
This week, we share two features dealing with the cunning ways that the carceral system conceals itself and the harm it causes. The first is an account from Adrien Espinoza, who has been on the sh...
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January 14, 2022: Sick in the Indiana Women’s Prison from 2022-01-16T17:24:47
This week, we air an interview with WFYI reporters Lauren Bavis and Jake Harper in Indianapolis. They co-host the podcast called Sick, the second season of which focuses on health care issues in th...
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January 7, 2022- We Understand How They’ll Play with Our Lives in Here from 2022-01-08T20:55:57
The explosive spread of the Omicron variant has brought our focus back to the COVID-vulnerability the prison system imposes on its captives. This week, we speak to two people — one outside an...
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December 31, 2021: Russell Maroon Shoatz, In His Own Words from 2021-12-31T19:59:36
This week, we honor the late Russell Maroon Shoatz. On December 17th, Russell Maroon Shoatz passed away. In 1970, Shoatz was convicted for the murder of a police officer in Pennsylvania and was sen...
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December 24, 2021: Revolutionaries in Isolation from 2021-12-25T16:59:30
This week, Mwalimu Shakur calls us from inside Corcoran prison in California to share his experiences in the Secure Housing Unit. He’s been on the show before, talking about the gladiator fights us...
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December 17, 2021: Carceral Nonprofits from 2021-12-17T22:39:52
We are sad to report that Russell Maroon Shoatz, who was recently granted compassionate release after his decades in prison, has passed away. This week, we return to the final part of our conversat...
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December 10, 2021: Twice-stolen Wealth from 2021-12-10T22:45:08
This week, we cover carceral non-profits in an interview with Drs. Zhandarka Kurti, a professor of criminology and Criminal Justice at Loyola University Chicago, and Jarrod Shanahan, professor of c...
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December 3, 2021: Brutal Jail Conditions in Maricopa County from 2021-12-05T06:03:44
We begin our episode with our monthly round up of prison disturbances contributed by Perilous Chronicle. We close out the episode with a call from Adrien Espinoza, who is currently housed in Marico...
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November 26, 2021: Prison’s Durable Harm from 2021-11-27T04:26:15
Our news today is focused on the long-term consequences of incarceration. Not only was one of the oldest juvies in the country finally shut down due to systemic abuse of young prisoners, but a num...
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November 19, 2021: Prison Phone Exploitation from 2021-11-20T00:20:02
This week we continue to talk to our guests about prison phone industry giant Global Tel Link and its attempt to whitewash its image by donating money to Sesame Street. Recent grassroots activism f...
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November 12, 2021: Prison Phone Justice from 2021-11-14T17:12:22
This week, our guest is Bianca Tylek, who fills us in about the prison phone industry. GTL and Securus among others profit off of prisoners and their families by charging them exorbitant fees for a...
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November 5, 2021- The Long Tail of Abuse in the NY Carceral System from 2021-11-07T22:44:12
This week, we finish our conversation with Kelly Grace Price about the campaign to close Rosie’s. Rosie’s refers to the Rose M. Singer Facility, an all-women’s jail on Rikers Island. On average, Ro...
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October 29, 2021: Close Rosie’s from 2021-10-30T21:14:14
This week, we hear from Kelly Grace Price, a co-creator of the Close Rosie’s campaign. Rosie’s refers to the Rose M. Singer Facility, an all-women’s jail on Rikers Island. On average, Rosie’s detai...
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October 22, 2021: Hard-earned Wisdom from 2021-10-24T04:10:05
We start off this week’s episode with an update on Marius Mason’s transfer to a men’s facility. Marius is an imprisoned environmentalist who, in addition to waging an Earth Liber...
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October 15, 2021: Jessica Reznicek–Dignity in Rebellion from 2021-10-16T05:39:16
This week, we hear from a friend and supporter of Jessica Reznicek, who was recently sentenced federal prison after she admitted to sabotaging the widely opposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 20...
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October 8, 2021: Minnesota’s Shadow Prison from 2021-10-09T18:41:13
Our main story this week is a contribution from our friends at Perilous Chronicle. Perilous is an independent digital research and media project focused on prisons, and moments of protest, unrest, ...
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October 1, 2021: Progressive Punishment from 2021-10-02T22:57:38
In 2008, Monroe County moved to build a new, expanded jail -framed as a “justice campus” using humanitarian rhetoric. In response, a diverse group of local residents founded an organization called...
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September 24, 2021: A Slightly Bigger Cage- Jail Expansion for Monroe County from 2021-09-25T19:17:52
In 2008, Monroe County moved to build a new, expanded jail -framed as a “justice campus” using humanitarian rhetoric. In response, a diverse group of local residents founded an organiz...
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September 17, 2021: A Perfect Storm–Conditions at Attica from 2021-09-18T00:35
This month, we are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, a high point of the cycle of prisoners’ struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. We share experiences from former Attica...
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September 10, 2021: The Attica Commune from 2021-09-12T19:02:17
Three years ago on Kite Line, we aired an episode about the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. This week, September 9th to September 13th, will mark fifty years between us and the event. We share this...
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September 3, 2021: We Are Human Beings- Words From an Attica Rebel from 2021-09-03T20:22:10
This month, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, a high point of the prisoners’ movement of the 1960s and 70s. On September 9th, 1971, prisoners revolted, build...
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August 27, 2021: The Punitive Image of the State from 2021-08-27T21:52:23
For our episode this week, we share the second of a two-part conversation between Nicole Fleetwood and Micol Seigel. Fleetwood’s recent book, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, is ...
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August 20, 2021: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration from 2021-08-21T13:14:45
We start out by sharing a statement from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak about the Shut ‘Em Down campaign, scheduled for August 21st and September 9th, historic days for Black struggle inside and aga...
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August 13, 2021: Summer of Kites 2021 from 2021-08-13T23:49:34
This week, we share urgent messages – kites – sent by a range of people caught up in the prison system. It’s important to listen for the voices of prisoners, whether it’s t...
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August 6, 2021: Passing Time from 2021-08-06T21:12:23
This week, we return to our conversation with David Campbell, a former antifacist political prisoner from New York. In this episode, Campbell continues to talk about his time on Rikers Island, this...
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July 30, 2021: Standing Together from 2021-07-30T22:17:35
This week, we are highlighting two experiences of outside solidarity with prisoners. First, we share audio from last week’s rally in Indianapolis for clemency, including a recorded statement...
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July 23, 2021: Prison by Any Other Name, Part Two from 2021-07-23T21:12:19
This week on Kite Line, we continue our conversation with prison abolitionist journalists Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law. We share the second half of our discussion on their recent book, Prison by ...
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July 16, 2021: Prison By Any Other Name, Part One from 2021-07-17T20:08:08
This week on Kite Line, we speak with prison abolitionist journalists Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law. We share the first part of our discussion on their recent book, Prison by Any Other Name: Harmf...
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July 9, 2021: On Strike from 2021-07-13T01:33:42
This week, amid a spate of prisoners’ strikes, we share our monthly round up of prison disturbances for June 2021, compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Prisoners are hunger striking across the co...
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July 1, 2021: Stick-up on Rikers Island from 2021-07-06T23:54:16
This week, we continue talking to David Campbell, former anti-fascist political prisoner who recently did a year on Rikers Island. In our last conversation with David, he discussed the circumstance...
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June 25, 2021: Cory Cardinal, Rest In Power from 2021-06-25T18:29:15
Our episode this week is a memorial to Cory Cardinal. Regular listeners will remember Cory as the organizer of the recent hunger strikes in Saskatoon Correctional and as a past contributor to Kite ...
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June 18, 2021: Hard-Earned Lessons from 2021-06-22T21:43:31
This week, Kite Line shares hard-earned lessons based on experiences of struggle on both sides of the prison walls. Perilous Chronicle’s Ryan Fatica returns with Lauren Regan from the Civil Libert...
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June 11, 2021: Marius Mason and Eric King from 2021-06-11T21:54:19
Our show this week returns to June 11th, the international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners. The focus of June 11th is overcoming the isolation that these long-term prisoners fa...
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June 4, 2021: Ongoing Threats to Eric King from 2021-06-06T00:27:09
We start off this week’s show with a roundup of prison disturbances compiled by Perilous Chronicle. Afterwards, we speak with Lauren Regan, the Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Defense Ce...
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May 28, 2021: Truth Never Dies from 2021-06-04T20:36:07
This week, we hear from Koby Bluitt, daughter of Leon Benson, a long time Indiana prisoner and organizer. She tells us about Leon, their relationship, and her current efforts to help him get free. ...
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May 21, 2021: Advice on Confinement and Release from 2021-05-31T18:10:14
This week, we share two stories from people reflecting on their time inside and on re-entry. Both have wise words about surviving incarceration, and the overall political context of prisons. First ...
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May 14, 2021: Parole Illinois, Part Two from 2021-05-14T19:23:17
Last week, we heard from Kim, Shari, Lauren, Pablo and Brian about Parole Illinois, a group fighting to reinstate, as they put it, “earned discretionary reentry”. This is the last of a two-part con...
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May 7, 2021: Parole Illinois, Part One from 2021-05-10T16:52:15
We start this episode with our monthly list of prison disturbances compiled by Perilous Chronicle, an journalistic collective that tracks prisoner protests across the US and Canada. Afterwards, we ...
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April 30, 2021: Studying Against Repression from 2021-05-01T21:43:16
On today’s episode, we share two perspectives on the role of study, as practiced in the face of repression and directly against repression. First, we complete our interview with Garrett Felber, wi...
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April 23, 2021: Study and Struggle from 2021-04-24T17:21:21
This week, we share the second part of a conversation between Garrett Felber and Micol Seigel. Felber has been on the show before, discussing the Nation of Islam and its relationship to the origins...
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April 16, 2021: The Dialectics of Discipline from 2021-04-19T00:45:43
This week, we share the first part of a conversation between Garrett Felber and Micol Seigel. Felber has been on the show before, discussing the Nation of Islam and its relationship to the origins ...
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April 9, 2021: Even When You’re Right, You’re Wrong from 2021-04-09T21:05:14
In this episode, we share information about the recent disturbances in St. Louis. Afterwards, we have the second part of a conversation with Balagoon, an Indiana political prisoner who has been loc...
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April 2, 2021: Harsh Debts from 2021-04-04T02:19:51
Up first, we have a comprehensive overview of prisoner protests compiled by Perilous Chronicle, who are collecting information about the many prison uprisings and disturbances now occurring regular...
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March 26, 2021: The Struggle for the Eurma C Hayes, Part Two from 2021-03-27T00:13:09
Our show this week returns with the second part of a conversation between Kite Line’s Micol Seigel and three members of the Carbondale, Illinois community: Chastity, Kim, and Nick. They speak abou...
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March 19, 2021: The Struggle for the Eurma C Hayes Center, Part One from 2021-03-21T16:56:23
For our show this week, we have the first part of a conversation between Kite Line’s Micol Seigel and three members of the Carbondale, Illinois community: Chastity, Kim, and Nick. They speak about...
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March 12, 2021: First Steps from 2021-03-15T22:33:41
This week, we are trying something new so that we can cover the full range of increased prisoner struggles. We will be teaming up with Perilous Chronicle at the beginning of each month to give you ...
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March 5, 2021: Paranoia is Two Steps Behind, Awareness is Two Steps Ahead from 2021-03-07T04:25:10
This week, we return to an important conversation about grand juries and state repression. Recently, Steve Martinez, an Indigenous and Chicano Water Protector who opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline...
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February 26, 2021: Surviving Repression from the Bay View to Standing Rock from 2021-02-28T00:03:43
This week, we brought together three segments that focus on ways the system attempts to repress participants in collective struggles and those who fight for a better world. In a segment that origin...
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February 19, 2021: Corcoran Does What They Wanna Do from 2021-02-19T23:22:52
Mwalimu Shakur, who spoke in last week’s episode about COVID-19 protocols in his facility, returns this week to share more reflections. He shares first-hand experiences of gladiator fights and orga...
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February 12, 2021: State Crime from 2021-02-14T02:47:27
This week, we followup on the COVID-19 conditions at Corcoran Prison in California and share news from the uprising in the St. Louis Jail. Afterwards, we finish a conversation between Dr. Jeffrey I...
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February 5, 2021: Convict Criminology from 2021-02-05T22:23:47
On January 30th, guards attacked Robert Earl Council, and beat him until he was unconscious. Council, also known as Kinetik Justice, is a longtime imprisoned organizer and cofounder of the Free Al...
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January 29, 2021: #CagingCOVID from 2021-01-29T23:58:56
This week, we share audio in support of Dan Baker and Loren Reed, and from Panagioti Tsolkas, who tells us about the important #CagingCOVID campaign and their upcoming February 1st day of action. A...
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January 22, 2021: Bare Essentials- Health Advocacy for Prisoners from 2021-01-23T03:02:51
On Kite Line this week, we share two interviews with advocates working on the physical well-being of those locked inside. The first conversation we hear is with Olivia, who is part of a grou...
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January 15, 2021: In the Fray from 2021-01-18T20:27:16
This week on Kite Line, we have a wide variety of ongoing prison news- ranging from the recent executions of prisoners in Terre Haute to a prison disturbance in St. Louis. Afterwards, we share a co...
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January 8, 2021: Built on a House of Cards–Environmental Justice and Incarceration from 2021-01-08T21:52:53
This week, we share an urgent statement from the Free Alabama Movement about their ongoing hunger strike and economic blackout. Afterwards, we speak with David Pellow, Fabiana Lake, and Camber Wils...
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January 1, 2021: New Year’s Kites from 2021-01-02T19:37:06
Happy New Year! This week, we broadcast kites from Strawberry Hampton in Illinois and Daniel Dawson in Saskatchewan, who both called in this week to update us on their conditions. Strawberry Hampto...
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December 25, 2020: A System That is Quite Frankly Unjust- Compassionate Release, Part Two from 2020-12-24T21:13:27
Today, we broadcast Part 2 of our series on Compassionate Release. Compassionate Release is the principle that sentences should be adjusted given “particularly extraordinary or compelling circumsta...
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December 18, 2020: Compassionate Release, Part One from 2020-12-19T21:45:29
We begin this week with a follow-up conversation with Cory Cardinal, who has spoken with us on our past two episodes regarding a hunger strike at the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre in Sas...
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December 11, 2020: Like a Horror Movie- COVID’s Spread in the Prisons from 2020-12-11T22:04:39
This week, we hear from two people who explain the rapidly deteriorating COVID-19 situation in facilities in both Saskatchewan and Indiana. As we reported last week, prisoners at the Saskatoon Prov...
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December 4, 2020: Caged During COVID from 2020-12-06T00:49:08
This week, we share two interviews with prisoners confronting rampant COVID-19 infections in their facilities. Cory Cardinal, imprisoned at the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre in Saskatche...
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November 27, 2020: Careless With People’s Lives- Violence&Neglect in Florida from 2020-11-28T20:06:50
For our episode this week, we share more from Florida Prisoner Solidarity. Recently, they told us about the drastic retaliatory measures prisoners were being subjected to in the Florida Department ...
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November 20, 2020: Punished for Self-Preservation from 2020-11-21T00:59:38
This week, share an update sent to us from Michelle Freeman about her husband, Vernell. Michelle’s impassioned plea on behalf of her partner is both urgent and inspiring, and we will continue to ai...
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November 13, 2020: The Diffuse Prison from 2020-11-14T17:54:31
This week, we return to stories of electronic monitoring also known as e-carceration. Micol Seigel talks to Cody, who says he spent about half his life locked up. He’s 26 now, and spent time in Pen...
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November 6, 2020: The Value of a Degree from 2020-11-09T03:15:31
After news, we share a conversation between Christina and Leslie about their experiences obtaining an education while in prison. Both women reflect on the barriers to getting a degree on the inside...
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October 30, 2020: Dual Power Vs. State Violence from 2020-11-01T18:41:34
This week, we are airing two kites- the first from a woman advocating for her brother, Billie Allen, who is on death row here in Indiana, despite his fight to prove his innocence. We will talk to Y...
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October 23, 2020: Juvie from 2020-10-26T02:00:23
This week, we are talking about youth in detention. We are laying the groundwork to continue to talk to current prisoners who were placed in facilities while young, including people who are still l...
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October 16, 2020: Isolation as Retaliation from 2020-10-18T18:20:52
This week on Kite Line, we share a call from a prisoner located in Seattle, who exposes his facility’s careless treatment of prisoners in the face of COVID-19, and how medical isolation and p...
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October 9, 2020: Are Incarcerated People Disposable? from 2020-10-13T18:17:45
We begin this week with a short piece by WFHB reporter Aaron Comforty, who reports on an alleged instance of attempted suicide in the local jail, and one mother’s attempts to find out the sta...
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October 2, 2020: Keith Malik Washington is Free from 2020-10-02T23:07:33
After this week’s news and updates, Kite Line sits down with Keith Malik Washington, who was released from prison last month. We’ve shared many of Washington’s essays and audio dispatches ove...
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September 25, 2020: A Loved One’s Plea for Vernell Freeman from 2020-09-26T18:01:51
This week, we hear from Michelle Freeman, who describes the horrifying conditions in which her husband, Vernell Freeman, is being held in Miami Correctional Facility, here in Indiana. Speaking on b...
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September 18, 2020: Attica as a Moment of Abolitionist Imagination from 2020-09-18T21:32:07
Last week marked the 49th anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion. In this episode of Kite Line, we finish our conversation with Dr. Orisanmi Burton. A professor at American University, Dr. Burt...
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September 11, 2020: A Positive Demand for Another World- Reflections on the Attica Prison Uprising from 2020-09-11T22:10:33
This week marks the 49th anniversary of the Attica Uprising, when 1300 prisoners in New York state overcame physical, social, and political barriers to accomplish their revolt. We spoke with Orisan...
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September 4, 2020:“If They Kill Me in the Hole, I’ll Go Out Satisfied”–ICE Detainees Protest Conditions at Winn from 2020-09-04T20:23:27
This week, we share important news from around the Midwest and more updates from the struggles in Louisiana’s immigrant detention centers. Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson is facing threat...
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August 28, 2020: Eye of the Storm- Hunger Strikers in Louisiana’s ICE Detention from 2020-08-28T22:16:07
ICE detainees are a week into a hunger strike at Pine Prairie, Louisiana. This week, we broadcast audio of a call between an anonymous Pine Prairie ICE detainee, and a member of Perilous Chronicle...
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August 21, 2020: George Jackson and the Legacy of Revolt from 2020-08-21T17:41:42
Today, August 21st, is the 49th anniversary of George Jackson’s murder by San Quentin guards. Jackson was a leading theorist and militant in the prisoners’ movement which had emerged o...
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August 14, 2020: The Crisis Behind a Hot American Summer from 2020-08-14T20:59:29
This week, Bella Bravo speaks to Zhandarka Kurti and Jarrod Shanahan. Kurti is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tennesee in Knoxville, and also works with Face to Face Knox,...
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August 7, 2020: The Same Amount of Work for an 8th of the Credit- Academic Bias Against Prisoners from 2020-08-07T20:22:55
This week marks our 4-year anniversary, and we would like to thank all those who have contributed their stories, labor, and expertise to Kite Line, making it possible to air news and experiences of...
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July 31, 2020: Our Cries Are Falling on Deaf Ears- Prisoners in Florida Speak Out from 2020-07-31T22:09:40
This week, we share the voices of three prisoners in Florida. Choosing to speak anonymously due to repression, they told us about horrible conditions inside the Florida prison system. They explain ...
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July 24, 2020: For the Sake of Knowledge Alone from 2020-07-24T22:15:44
We return this week to the second part of the conversation between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid. Schmid is an award-winning, formerly incarcerated scholar who went to extraordinary lengths t...
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July 17, 2020: What’s Going on is Nothing New- Prisoners on State Violence and the Rebellion from 2020-07-18T03:54:33
We will continue the final installment of the interview between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid next week, as they talk about barriers to education while incarcerated. This week, though, we rec...
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July 10, 2020: When Success is an Anomaly from 2020-07-10T17:53:52
This week, we broadcast an interview digging into the problem of barriers to higher education during incarceration. This interview is between Kristina Byers and Anastazia Schmid, both former inmat...
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July 3, 2020: From Watts to Minneapolis, The Arc of Anti-Police Protest from 2020-07-04T00:38:57
In this episode, we have two updates from prisoners in California on their conditions amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Afterwards, we speak with Max Felker-Kantor, historian and professor at Ball State ...
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June 26, 2020: The High Stakes of Institutional Racism During COVID-19 from 2020-06-26T20:13:07
This week, we share a phone conversation between Kijana Tashiri Askari and C, one of their outside supporters. Askari is incarcerated in the California Medical Facility- a male-only state carceral ...
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June 19, 2020: Nothing Can Be Changed Until it is Faced from 2020-06-19T21:39:57
The whole country is in upheaval as a vast Movement for Black Lives continues to challenge white supremacy and the institutions of policing and prison. As monuments fall and precincts are seized in...
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June 12, 2020: Beyond Reform from 2020-06-12T22:15:12
In the wake of uprisings across the world in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, this week’s episode shares thoughts on these revolts and their demands,...
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June 5, 2020: Re-Entry into an Uprising from 2020-06-05T18:02:08
On this episode, we have a letter from a prisoner at Pendleton Correctional Facility about his experiences with COVID-19 there. We share a short PSA about street safety during protests, and a messa...
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May 29, 2020: The COVID Prison Project from 2020-05-30T00:27:50
This week, we broadcast updates on a riot in Macon State Prison, and two calls from mothers of prisoners at Westville Correctional Facility. After a rebellion by prisoners on April 22, over a dozen...
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May 22, 2020: You Haven’t Demonstrated Enough For This Opportunity from 2020-05-24T03:27:50
Welcome to the 200th episode of Kite Line. This week, we revisit the important intersection of incarceration and higher education. Barriers to higher education are a key way the incarcerated and th...
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May 15, 2020: Barriers to Higher Education from 2020-05-15T20:07:29
This core of this week’s Kite Line is a conversation between Anastazia Schmid and Jennifer Fleming about trying to get an education before, during, and after incarceration. You’ve likely heard Anas...
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May 8, 2020: COVID-19 Kites from 2020-05-08T23:05:43
The country might be locked down, but struggles inside prisons and out continue to develop chaotically and unexpectedly intersect with the COVID-19 crisis. Prisoners in Stateville in Illinois repo...
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May 1, 2020: System of Lies from 2020-05-01T22:58:44
This week, we continue our coverage of the coronavirus within the prison system with three messages from the inside. First, we have some audio sent to us from Oakland IWOC, who recorded a statement...
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April 24, 2020: The Deepening Crisis from 2020-04-24T23:21:48
Across the country, politicians and businessmen are calling for the economy to reopen, regardless of the consequences. At the exact same time, the corona virus is spreading nearly uncontrolled ins...
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April 17, 2020: Breaking the Rules to Survive from 2020-04-17T21:18:45
For this week’s episode, we continue airing messages about the coronavirus from prisoners around the country. You can call in on behalf of a loved one, or they can call in to record a message at (7...
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April 10, 2020: Free Them Now- Protests and Planning in the Face of COVID-19 from 2020-04-10T22:40:49
This week, we continue our coverage of the pandemic’s impact on prisoners across the country. A COVID-19 uprising broke out in Washington state this week. On April 8, 100 prisoners refused ...
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April 3, 2020: The Guys in Here are Terrified: More Updates on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Prison from 2020-04-05T04:10:25
Prisoners across the US, and the world, face terrifying prospects as COVID-19 spreads almost uncontrolled inside the prison walls. It’s now or never as they and their loved ones struggle for ...
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March 27, 2020: Coronavirus Dispatches From the Prisons from 2020-03-27T21:19:25
This week, we continue to air urgent messages from people on the impact of the coronavirus on prisoners around the world and closer to home. We start off with a call from a prisoner at Waupun Corre...
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March 20, 2020: COVID-19 Updates From the Inside from 2020-03-20T21:24:50
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to change life on the outside for people all over the world, the prison population stands to suffer immensely in these times. Last week, we spoke to someone in...
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March 13, 2020: Red Zone- Prison Revolts Across Italy in the Wake of COVID-19 from 2020-03-13T20:44:10
The entire country of Italy is now a “red zone,” not quite quarantined, but facing serious restrictions to movement and public gathering due to the coronavirus. Prisoners were told that they would ...
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March 6, 2020: Setting Us Up For Failure- Stories of Electronic Monitoring from 2020-03-06T20:25:53
This week, we return to the Breakaway Recovery House to share a conversation between Micol Seigel and four of the women who lived there: Hillary, Janet, Britney, and Kelsey. All four women intervie...
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February 28, 2020: Juvenile Waived Into Adulthood from 2020-02-28T21:58:25
The Indiana legislature is currently debating SB 449, which would expand the range of situations that would send children to adult court and adult prison. As of 2017-2018, 69% of the cases where c...
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February 21, 2020: The End of Policing from 2020-02-21T21:34:18
This week, we focus on the history of police in the United States, and the concept of community policing. Alex Vitale, author of the new book, “The End of Policing” shares his research about the or...
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February 14, 2020: The Penal System is Bleeding Out from 2020-02-14T18:23:17
In this week’s episode, we start off with a call for action from Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. JLS is calling for a new set of actions from August 21- September 9, 2020. After we hear from them, w...
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February 7, 2020: Kites from Khalfani Malik Khaldun and Muti Ajamu-Osagboro from 2020-02-07T21:04:55
This week focuses on call-ins from two prisoners: Khalfani Malik Khaldun in Indiana, and Muti Ajamu-Osagboro in Pennsylvania. First, we hear from Muti. Muti Ajamu-Osagboro is a prisoner currently i...
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January 31, 2020: Combat and Incarceration, Part Three from 2020-01-31T19:45:20
This week’s episode ends our series of conversations with Valrice “Whop” Cooper. Whop is the legendary cornerman who learned his craft training prisoners in the Louisiana DOC’s boxing program...
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January 24, 2020: Combat and Incarceration, Part Two from 2020-01-24T19:55:45
This week continues our set of conversations with Valrice “Whop” Cooper, the legendary cornerman who learned his craft training prisoners in the Louisiana DOC’s boxing program. For this...
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January 17, 2020: Combat and Incarceration, Part One from 2020-01-17T18:41:25
This week starts our series of conversations with Valrice “Whop” Cooper, the legendary cornerman who learned his craft training prisoners in the Louisiana DOC’s boxing program. For this...
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January 10, 2020: Weed and Seed from 2020-01-10T18:31:43
The Federal government rolled out the weed and seed program in the early 1990s in response to a new wave of urban uprisings. It placed social services under police control, so that cops could first...
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January 3, 2020: #MeToo in Prison from 2020-01-03T21:52:44
Our episode this week finishes the conversation between Rojas, Meg, and Cyrus. Last week, they spoke about the conditions of transgender and gender non-conforming prisoners in the prison system. Th...
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December 27, 2019: Resilient Inside and Out- A Conversation with Gender Non-Conforming Prison Organizers from 2019-12-27T21:41:26
Our episode this week is a conversation between Rojas and Cyrus, two advocates with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. CCWP is an organization that exists, in their words, to “monitor a...
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December 20, 2019: Counterinsurgency on the Inside from 2019-12-20T20:13:23
On our show this week, we hear from Dennis Boatright, a co-organizer with MAPS- Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Support. Boatright presents ‘From Convict to Inmate’, tracing the counter insurgent a...
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December 13, 2019: Recidivism in the First Person from 2019-12-13T21:21:41
For the first part of this week’s episode- we hear from Onishona. In this interview, she tells us about her experiences with recidivism and problems with re-entry. She also talks about the role boo...
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December 6, 2019: Winning Back Your Voice from 2019-12-06T20:57:15
This week, we speak with two writers, Laura Lasuertmer and Wendy Lee Spacek. Spacek and Lasuertmer run a writing workshop in the local jail. They tell us about the writing program, what led them to...
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November 29, 2019: Breakaway Recovery House from 2019-12-01T03:37:10
This week, we visit the women of the Breakaway Recovery House. Located in New Albany, Indiana, this halfway house is the residence for 14 formerly incarcerated women. In last week’s discussion of e...
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November 22, 2019: The Human Cost of E-Carceration from 2019-11-22T20:33:04
This week, we share a recent round table on e-carceration here in Bloomington. This event was part of a series across southern Indiana, as community members hurt by e-carceration and their families...
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November 15, 2019: More Kites from the Inside from 2019-11-15T22:15:17
This week, we share two messages sent to us from the inside. We hear from Shaka Shakur about the issues he has been facing since being transferred to Virginia from Indiana. Afterwards, we play a st...
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November 8, 2019: Inside/Outside Prisoner Solidarity with Willis X from 2019-11-08T17:25:54
After hearing statements of solidarity with striking South Carolina prisoners, we share stories and reflections from Willis X, a former prisoner of 23 years, who became an advocate for others still...
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November 1, 2019: Families Speak Out Against the Gladiator Fights, Part Two from 2019-11-01T17:47:33
As we covered last week, prisoners in California have been subjected to a new and disturbing round of gladiator fights – conflicts between prisoners instigated by guards for their own amuseme...
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October 25, 2019: Families Speak Out Against the Gladiator Fights, Part One from 2019-10-25T19:27:24
Prisoners in California have been subjected to a new and disturbing round of gladiator fights – conflicts between prisoners instigated by guards for their own amusement or to break down solid...
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October 18, 2019: Updates From the Inside from 2019-10-18T17:47:52
For this episode, we share calls from folks on the inside. First, we have the statement from the striking prisoners at the Clallum Bay Correctional Facility in Washington State. After their stateme...
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October 11, 2019: Writing Our Histories- A Conversation with Anastazia Schmid, Part Three from 2019-10-11T20:19:12
This week, we finish our conversation with Anastazia Schmid. This time around, she talks about labels- and the media’s role in the stigmatization of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. S...
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October 4, 2019: Apparatuses of Control, from Prison to Gynecology- A Conversation with Anastazia Schmid, Part Two from 2019-10-04T18:33:14
We return this week to our conversation with Anastazia Schmid. Speaking to her just weeks after her release, she talks about stigma and control- both for women and for the incarcerated. After spend...
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September 27, 2019: Truth and Trauma- A Conversation with Anastazia Schmid, Part One from 2019-09-27T20:15:07
This week, we share the first part of an interview with Anastazia Schmid. Schmid has appeared on Kite Line before, analyzing women’s health care in the prison system. Now, she joins us on the other...
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September 20, 2019: Bridging the Gap- H.H. on Inside/Outside Coordination from 2019-09-20T19:55:39
This week, we hear a talk by H.H., who spoke recently at the Bend the Bars conference in Lansing, Michigan. H.H. shares his story, including the inside scoop on the Kinross prison uprising on 2016 ...
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September 13, 2019: Children in Immigrant Detention from 2019-09-13T17:53:19
First, we hear some prison news and reflect on the anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion. Then, we hear more from last month’s Bend the Bars conference, which was held in Lansing, Michigan. In...
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September 6, 2019: The Business of Incarceration- A Conversation with Craig Gilmore from 2019-09-06T18:03:08
This week, we speak on the phone with writer and prison abolitionist Craig Gilmore, who begins by discussing his recent piece in Commune Magazine. The article, “The Business of Incarceration” is a ...
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August 30, 2019: Three Years of Prison Insurgency from 2019-08-30T19:40:14
It’s been one year since the August 2018 National Prison Strike. This week, we feature a talk from Ben Turk and Amani Sawari- both of whom were important outside supporters of last year’s national ...
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August 23, 2019: A History of Cook County Jail from 2019-08-23T19:37:10
For this week’s episode, we share a conversation between Melanie D. Newport and Anne Gray Fisher. They talk about the history of Cook County Jail- the largest facility in the country. Melanie...
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August 16, 2019: Not Better Than Jail from 2019-08-16T18:24:42
This week, we share a panel that took place last week in Indianapolis. As we heard last episode, Indiana Against E-Carceration has been organizing to educate the public about the issues surrounding...
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August 9, 2019: Resistance to E-Carceration from 2019-08-09T18:36:46
This week, we share a statement from former political prisoner Ray Luc Levassuer about the recent death of his comrade, Tom Manning. Then, we speak with Micol Seigel about e-carceration, otherwise ...
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August 2, 2019: Retaliation 101 from 2019-08-02T16:40:13
This week, we hear from two people- Faith, who talks to us about the practice of inmate lending- and Jason Renard Walker, who speaks on the retaliation he is facing inside. We spoke to Faith at the...
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July 26, 2019: Ona Move- Reflections From a MOVE Family from 2019-07-26T19:32
This week, we hear reflections from members of the MOVE Organization. Speaking at the 2019 Fight Toxic Prisons convergence, they give their thoughts on the past and current struggles of MOVE family...
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July 19, 2019: Fight Toxic Prisons 2019 from 2019-07-19T17:01:08
This week we share two presentations from the recent Fight Toxic Prisons convergence. Held this past month in Gainesville, Florida, Fight Toxic Prisons is in its fourth year of an annual conference...
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July 12, 2019: Prison in the Climate Crisis from 2019-07-12T19:40:02
This week, we share an interview with Julie, a researcher who studies the effects of climate change on prisoners. The conversation was held at last month’s Fight Toxic Prisons conference, an...
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July 5, 2019: Close Dekalb County Jail from 2019-07-05T19:10:49
This week, we spoke with participants in the struggle to close Dekalb County jail in Atlanta, Georgia. They walked us through the launch of the movement there, when prisoners smuggled out photos of...
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June 28, 2019: The Case and Current Life of Leonard Peltier from 2019-06-28T21:56:17
Over the past year, the political prisoner support movement has won an exciting number of releases, with long-term political prisoners from MOVE and the Black Panthers finally gaining their freedom...
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June 21, 2019: Participating in Strikes on the Inside and Out from 2019-06-21T17:29:20
Kevin Steel speaks to us about being sentenced to twelve years in prison at the age of 17. Speaking to us from the 4th annual Fight Toxic Prisons conference- which you can hear at points in the ba...
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June 14, 2019: Summer of Kites 2019 from 2019-06-14T18:43:08
This week, we have several kites, or messages, from people inside and outside of the prison walls. First, we have a statement that was recorded for us on behalf of Keith Malik Washington, who is ho...
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June 7, 2019: Be Like Water- J11 Reflections on Marius Mason’s Journey Through Federal Prison from 2019-06-07T17:34:56
This week, we speak to two long-term supporters of Marius Mason, a long-term anarchist prisoner. He is currently held in a federal women’s facility in Danbury, Connecticut, despite years of struggl...
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May 31, 2019: Youth and Gender on the Inside, Part One from 2019-05-31T21:04:13
This week, we cover some sensitive topics on the show. We speak with Fable, who tells her story of incarceration when she was barely 18 years old. Fable shares her complicated experiences with ment...
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May 24, 2019: Migrant Bodies, Uncaring Medicine- The Lethal Politics of Detention from 2019-05-24T22:56:42
On May 20th, Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez became the fifth child to die in border patrol custody since December. He was 16, and had been held for a week in a border patrol outpost that lacked ...
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Kite Line- May 17, 2019: Prisoners Write, Prisoners Speak from 2019-05-17T23:08:43
This week, we air part of a conversation with Brandon Ackerson, a 36-year-old survivor of an 18 year prison sentence in the Indiana prison system. Newly released, he talks about using the skills he...
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May 10, 2019: Appealing the Death Penalty- A Conversation with Zolo Azania, Part Two from 2019-05-10T16:04:39
This week, we return to our conversation with Zolo Agona Azania, who was recently released after surviving decades on Indiana’s death row. In the second part of the conversation, he talks about re...
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May 3, 2019: The Arc of Prison Struggles in Indiana- A Conversation with Zolo Azania, Part One from 2019-05-03T17:43:53
We recently sat down with Zolo Agona Azania, who was recently released after surviving decades on Indiana’s death row. In this first section of the interview, he covers his early experiences...
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April 26, 2019: Impacts of the Prisoners’Movement, Part Three from 2019-04-26T21:20:06
This week, we finish our conversation between Toussaint Losier and Micol Seigel. This is part three of a series in which we hear Losier, author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement, speak to ...
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April 19, 2019: Impacts of the Prisoners’Movement, Part Two from 2019-04-19T18:25:42
This week continues the conversation between Toussaint Losier and Micol Seigel. This is part two of a series in which we hear Losier, author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement, speak to Sei...
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April 12, 2019: Impacts of the Prisoners’Movement, Part One from 2019-04-12T18:42:29
This week, we have a conversation between Toussaint Losier and Micol Seigel. This is part one of a series in which we hear Losier, author of Rethinking the American Prison Movement, speak to Seigel...
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April 5, 2019: Communication is a Human Right- More Reflections from Mark Cook from 2019-04-05T19:50:42
This week, Kite Line welcomes the continued contributions of Mark Cook, who we recorded in conversation with Alejo Stark. Mark is a former prison rebel, dating back to ambitious organizing on the ...
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March 29, 2019: If You Care, Grow Your Hair- Prison Rebellion Strategies from the 1960s from 2019-03-29T19:15:26
This week, Kite Line welcomes the contributions of Mark Cook for a second time. Mark is a former prison rebel, dating back to ambitious organizing on the inside in the 1960s. Following his...
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March 22, 2019: Policing Los Angeles, Part Two from 2019-03-22T19:46:59
Last week, we heard the first part of a lecture by Max Felker-Kantor on policing in Los Angeles, from the Watts Rebellion in the 60s to the brutal police beating of Rodney King in the 90s. This wee...
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March 15, 2019: Policing Los Angeles, Part One from 2019-03-15T20:49:51
This week, we air the first of two episodes tracking the rise of police racism and militarization in Los Angeles, from the Watts Uprising of 1965 to the 1992 L.A. Riots after Rodney King’s beating....
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March 8, 2019: Voices From the Grassroots from 2019-03-08T20:49:44
This week, we interview a participant in Perilous, a new prison history project. Perilous launched its website earlier this year, with a goal of compiling all the grassroots, collective mobilizatio...
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March 1, 2019: Gladiator Fights in the California Prison System from 2019-03-01T18:56:03
In the past months, the California prison system, or CDRC, has been convulsed by hunger strikes and a series of so-called “gladiator” or “dog fights,” in which guards pit prisoners agai...
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February 22, 2019: Prison Poetics from 2019-02-22T21:34:36
First, we have updates on the Vaughn 17 and hunger strikes and noise demonstrations from immigrant detention centers around the country. After the news, we share a conversation with Phillip Roberts...
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February 15, 2019: Turn Up the Heat- MDC Protests in New York from 2019-02-15T17:18:34
This week is an interview with Samantha Johnson, from No New Jails in Brooklyn, New York. As we reported recently, the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn recently was the target of large sca...
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February 8, 2019: Life on Pause from 2019-02-08T05:45:46
This week, we share two different reflections on time inside, focusing on how prison interrupts life, education, and development. The first is the conclusion of Chantal’s account of her weeks...
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February 1, 2019: Medical Neglect and Resistance- Arrested With A Yellow Vest, Part 3 from 2019-02-01T18:36:46
This week, we hear more from Chantal, who tells us about her time detained in France in December. We also cover breaking news on hunger strikes in immigrant detention centers across the US, as well...
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January 25, 2019: Arrested With a Yellow Vest, Part Two from 2019-01-25T20:25:13
This week,we hear a statement regarding a hunger strike that took place in France this month. On January 8th, detainees at the same immigration retention center that Chantal, the subject of this we...
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January 18, 2019: Arrested With a Yellow Vest, Part One from 2019-01-18T17:57:39
In this episode, we read a statement by Keith Lamar, also known as Bomani Shakur, who just had his execution date set. In his statement, Keith wrangles with the violent death the state of Ohio is ...
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January 11, 2019- Paths Out of Prison: E-Carceration or Liberation from 2019-01-11T20:05:43
Since the Ferguson uprising in 2014, the Black Lives Matter movement has shone a light on a range of American institutions, revealing their white supremacist origins and functions. In addition to ...
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January 4, 2019: Healthcare Across Borders- A Conversation From a Women’s Prison in Brazil from 2019-01-04T18:20:26
We are completing our series on Brazilian prisons by airing an interview between Beny and Rosângela, who wanted to discuss her experiences with health care there. Her account of deprivation of ca...
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December 28, 2018: Systemic Inequality from Brazil to Barretal from 2018-12-28T19:56:07
This week, we share an update from the U.S./Mexico border, as well as two more illuminating conversations from inside the Brazilian prison system. First, we hear from Luce, who has just returned to...
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December 21, 2018: Life After Prison in Brazil from 2018-12-21T21:13:31
This week, we have the first of several interviews that were conducted this fall in São Paulo, Brazil. Kite Line contributor Micol Seigel was there to teach a course on American prison history at t...
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December 14, 2018: Staying in Touch- a Conversation with Leon Benson from 2018-12-14T12:58:16
This week, we speak more with Leon Benson, who calls us from inside the Pendleton Correctional Facility here in Indiana. Benson shared his story with us in the past several Kite Line episodes, and ...
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December 7, 2018: Otay Mesa Detention Resistance from 2018-12-07T21:51:47
A new movement of refugees fleeing violence and starvation in Central America began to reach Tijuana last month, in the hopes of applying for asylum in the United States. Comprised of multiple, se...
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November 30, 2018: Leon Benson in His Own Words, Part Two from 2018-11-30T19:42:58
This week, we are continuing our talk with Leon Benson, who speaks to us from inside Pendleton Correctional Facility here in Indiana. He’s been inside since 1998, for a murder conviction and he has...
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November 23, 2018: Leon Benson in His Own Words, Part One from 2018-11-23T19:42:51
This week, we hear from Leon Benson, who calls us from inside an Indiana prison. You might remember some of Leon’s story from a Kite Line episode we aired in December of last year, called “You Can’...
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November 16, 2018: A Life in Resistance- A Conversation with Kathleen Rumpf from 2018-11-16T21:15:17
This week, we listen to Kathleen Rumpf share her stories of her time inside FMC Carswell, a United States federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas for female inmates with special medical and mental heal...
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November 9, 2018: Naming Disability from 2018-11-09T16:24:45
Today, we are sharing the next part of an interview with Talila Lewis and Dustin Gibson, two organizers and researchers addressing the intersection of disability and incarceration. You heard their...
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November 2, 2018: Being Heard- Prison and the Deaf Community from 2018-11-02T18:49:35
Today, we are sharing an interview with Talila Lewis and Dustin Gibson, two organizers and researchers addressing the intersection of disability and incarceration. After TL describes the high stak...
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October 26, 2018: The Long History of Black Resistance and Mass Incarceration from 2018-10-26T18:49:36
In this interview, Elizabeth Hinton sketches the relationship between the civil rights movement, urban uprisings and the beginning of the “War on Crime,” with a focus on the Harlem Riot...
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October 19, 2018: Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated, Part Three from 2018-10-19T20:41:28
This week, we share the final story from the Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated panel that took place during the Fight Toxic Prisons conference in Pittsburgh. After we hear updates on Kevin Rashid...
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October 12, 2018: Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated, Part Two- Angola Prison’s Racist History from 2018-10-12T18:05:41
This week, we hear from Curtis Ray Davis II, who talks about the racist history of Angola Prison- the Louisiana State Penitentiary. After we read a statement from hunger striking prisoners in Orang...
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October 5, 2018: Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated, Part One from 2018-10-05T19:12:51
This week, we hear the stories of three men who share their experiences from years being on the inside. Khalid Raheem discusses his experiences with the Black Panther Party, solitary confinement, a...
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September 28, 2018: The Prisoners’Movement in the Heartland from 2018-09-28T19:46:38
This week’s episode covers the situation in the Midwest. We hear from Ben and Aaron, who work on supporting prisoners in Ohio and Indiana, respectively. Ben informs about Ohio prisoners who are sti...
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September 21, 2018: We Know What We Need to Do- Words in the Face of Repression from 2018-09-21T20:34:33
Across the country, thousands of prisoners are facing consequences for their participation in the national prison strike. Some are being denied contact with the outside world, others have lost acc...
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September 14, 2018: Reasons to Fight- Life Inside South Carolina Prisons from 2018-09-14T20:33:24
This week, we are sharing the words from a prisoner who contacted us from inside the South Carolina prison system. In addition to his thoughts on the recent National Prison Strike, of which news st...
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September 7, 2018: The Attica Liberation Faction from 2018-09-07T20:20:45
This week we are honoring the anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. The current National Prison Strike began on August 21st, the anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination, and is s...
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August 31, 2018: Strike Solidarity From Inside South Carolina’s Prisons from 2018-08-31T18:12:47
The National Prison Strike is on its second week. Shutdowns have been confirmed in five Florida prisons, with new strike activity in Georgia, California, and Maryland. Although information is slow ...
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August 24, 2018: The Real Dragon- George Jackson’s Legacy and the National Prison Strike from 2018-08-24T16:28
This week, we’re sharing selections from an historic interview with George Jackson, whose assassination on August 21, 1971, at the hands of San Quentin prison guards, remains a reference point for ...
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August 17, 2018: What Prisoners Want- Recent Movements and Current Demands from 2018-08-17T18:18:58
Next week, on August 21, is the start of the 2018 National Prison Strike. Anticipated to be the largest in U.S. History, this strike comes after many years of various strikes, work stoppages, boyco...
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August 10, 2018: Strike Season Part Two- First Sparks from 2018-08-10T19:27:35
As the 2018 National Prison Strike quickly approaches, we have news of hunger and work strikes already underway. We have updates on the successful, 108 day hunger strike of Mapuche Shaman Celestino...
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August 3, 2018: Strike Season from 2018-08-03T18:29:59
As we approach the August 21st launch of the national prison strike, Kite Line is focusing on the historic and recent precedents for the current prisoners’ movement. This strike, called by J...
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July 27, 2018: Communities Within and Beyond the Prison Walls from 2018-07-27T17:54:35
In last week’s episode, we introduced Johdy Polk, who spoke to us about her time behind the prison walls, and urged audiences to see the other ways that people are confined by society. Now, we con...
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July 20, 2018: Tear Down the Inner Prisons from 2018-07-20T17:27:24
This week, Johdy Polk, from Gainesville, Florida, describes her time inside a women’s prison, while sharing cutting observations on growing up as a black woman in a white supremacist society....
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July 13, 2018: Anti-Detention Occupations from Australia to America, Part Two from 2018-07-13T18:10:30
Last week, Aren Aizura guided us through the history of colonialism in Australia, including racist measures to control non-white immigration, and later, in the 1980s, the implementation of mandator...
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July 6, 2018: Anti-Detention Occupations from Australia to America from 2018-07-07T18:48:10
In light of the ongoing struggles across the country against deportations, family separations, and ICE detention centers, we are sharing an interview we did last year about struggles in Australia a...
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June 29, 2018: They’re Not Detention Centers, They’re Prisons from 2018-06-29T11:43:08
For this episode, we are returning to the conditions in immigrant detention centers. Alejandra spoke at the Fight Toxic Prisons conference in Pittsburgh, which was held earlier this month. Growing ...
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June 22, 2018: The Stakes of #SurroundICE from 2018-06-22T15:55:22
This week, we will focus on a specific story about an immigrant detention case in Pittsburgh- and hear firsthand from family impacted by these harsh repercussions for undocumented immigrants. Marti...
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June 15, 2018: Families Fighting the Prisons from 2018-06-15T20:56:38
First, we hear part of a panel from the recent Fight Toxic Prisons conference, which was held last week in Pittsburgh. Saleem Holbrook shares his experiences after doing nearly three decades inside...
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June 8, 2018: Summer of Kites from 2018-06-08T20:32:45
This week’s episode is packed with news of struggles and repression. We start with coverage of Indiana prisons and two prisoners who need outside support right now. More information on these reques...
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June 1, 2018: Carceral Capitalism, Part 3- The Prison Abolitionist Imagination from 2018-06-01T15:42:37
This week, we are returning to the topic of Carceral Capitalism. We interviewed the poet and author Jackie Wang in episodes 89 and 90 of Kite Line. You can access those on our website, kitelineradi...
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May 25, 2018: The Causes and Costs of Sex Offense Laws from 2018-05-25T16:58:18
In this episode, we hear from Timothy Stewart-Winter, an Associate Professor at Rutgers University with a background studying sexuality and incarceration. Stewart-Winter wrote the book “Queer Clout...
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May 18, 2018: The Sex Offender Stigma from 2018-05-18T16:06:59
This week, we share the first part of a conversation we had with “Joe”. After doing ten years in prison for a sex offense conviction, Joe is now outside and navigating the difficult tightrope that ...
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May 11, 2018: Michelle Jones on the Collateral Consequences of Incarceration from 2018-05-11T22:47:52
This week, we share a moving keynote speech recently given at the University of Michigan by Michelle Jones. Jones has been featured on multiple episodes of Kite Line, who shared some of her experie...
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May 4, 2018: Are Prisons Obsolete? Part Two from 2018-05-11T22:42:13
Last week, we began hearing the voices of prisoners on the topic of Angela Davis’s book, Are Prisons Obsolete? Up first, we have Anastazia Schmid’s response to the book, followed by Angaza Iman Bah...
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April 27th, 2018: Are Prisons Obsolete? Part One from 2018-05-11T22:35:42
This week, we start in on the topic of Are Prisons Obsolete Over the next couple of Kite Line episodes, we will be sharing the words and writings of prisoners- many of whom have been featured on pr...
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April 13, 2018: Carceral Capitalism, Part One from 2018-04-22T15:32:14
For this week’s episode we share the first part of a conversation between Micol Seigel and Jackie Wang. Wang is the author of the recent book, Carceral Capitalism. Today, she shares what led her to...
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April 20, 2018: Carceral Capitalism Continued and Operation Push Updates from 2018-04-22T15:29:32
This week, we start by finishing the discussion between Micol Seigel and Jackie Wang. You can hear more of their conversation on carceral capitalism in last week’s episode. After that segment, we s...
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April 6, 2018: Speaking From Experience from 2018-04-06T16:28:44
We begin this week with a letter from a prisoner at Pendleton Correctional Facility. He writes about the educational programs available in the prison. He works through some of the problems prisoner...
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March 30, 2018: Coming of Age While Inside from 2018-04-02T14:19:11
This week we share the first of two episodes on Jay Smith’s story, also known as Abu Faheem Shabaz, who was recently released from the Indiana Department of Corrections after spending years inside....
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March 23, 2018: Carceral Repression Vs. Community Resilience from 2018-03-23T17:12:40
This week, we are airing selections from a panel discussion that took place earlier this month here in Bloomington. Andrea Ritchie and Victoria Law, both of whom were featured on Kite Line earlier ...
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March 16, 2018: Women’s Resistance Behind Bars from 2018-03-16T20:50:42
This week, we speak with Victoria Law- a freelance journalist, mother of a New York City high school student, author of the book Resistance Behind Bars, the co-author of the forthcoming book Your H...
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March 9, 2018: State Violence Against Women of Color from 2018-03-09T19:43:37
This week, we share a conversation we had with Andrea Ritchie, an attorney and activist whose work focuses on police violence against the queer community and women of color. She speaks about curren...
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March 2, 2018- Reflections in Defiance: Kites From Florida, Indiana, and Greece from 2018-03-03T04:17:08
This week is focused on words from prisoners sent or smuggled from inside. From the jail in Evansville, Indiana, to letters from participants in Operation PUSH- the still-ongoing prison strike acro...
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February 23, 2018: Conscious in Confinement from 2018-02-23T21:43:18
In this episode, we share a phone call and three short essays from Timothy Smith. Smith spoke to us from inside Cook County Jail, the most recent place he has been held over ten years in custody. T...
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February 16, 2018: The Long History of Black Radicalism on the Inside, Part Two from 2018-02-16T21:48:34
This week, we return to the history of black radicalism within the prison system. You can hear more from Dr. Micol Seigel and Dr. Garrett Felber about this in last week’s episode. Early in this epi...
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February 9, 2018: The Long History of Black Radicalism on the Inside, Part One from 2018-02-10T03:22:56
This week, we are changing our format slightly. After hearing a letter from a prisoner involved in Operation PUSH, we are broadcasting an interview between Dr. Micol Seigel and Dr. Garrett Felber ...
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February 2, 2018- The Past Isn’t Passed: Cycles of Violence and Exploitation from 2018-02-02T19:48:24
This episode, we start out with a statement from Anastazia Schmid, a prisoner in the Indiana Women’s Prison. She walks us through a brief history of how prisons, and specifically the modern practic...
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January 26, 2018: More Insights from the Local Jail from 2018-01-26T21:26:50
In this episode, we start with updates from Operation PUSH. After that, we continue hearing from Craig, who spent significant time in the Monroe County jail. You can hear the first part of Craig’s ...
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January 19, 2018: Inside the Local Jail from 2018-01-19T18:04:25
First off, we include an update from outside supporters of Operation PUSH, the strike in Florida prisons that is now in its fifth day. We will continue to give updates on the situation in Florida’s...
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January 12, 2018: Shine A Light- Tensions Spreading in the Prisons from 2018-01-12T20:46:18
This week, we feature two snapshots from fast-developing situations inside the prison system. First, we share an anonymized statement from a prisoner participating in final preparations for Operati...
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January 5, 2018: Operation PUSH from 2018-01-05T19:58
In this week’s episode, we speak with Karen Smith in Florida, who gives us insights into Operation PUSH. Kicking off in just 10 days, Operation PUSH is a prisoner-organized work stoppage inside Flo...
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December 29, 2017: You Can’t Force the State to Abide by the Law from 2017-12-29T20:05:04
In this week’s episode, we hear from Valerie Buford, the sister of Leon Benson, a prisoner here in Indiana. Valerie talks about the circumstances that lead to Leon being imprisoned on a murder char...
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December 22, 2017: Rightlessness from 2017-12-22T19:24:16
This week we speak with Naomi Paik about her 2016 book, Rightlessness. Her work addresses the most pressing contemporary issues, drawing together the brutal state of exception imposed on Haitian an...
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December 15, 2017: PREA, Part Two from 2017-12-15T21:18:55
This week features our second segment on PREA- the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Last week, we heard from Irene, who is being held in the Indiana Women’s Prison. She described her run-ins with PREA,...
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December 8, 2017: PREA, Part One from 2017-12-08T20:01:27
This episode is the start of our conversation about PREA, the Prison Rape Elimination Act. PREA was passed in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties in Congress. The purpose of the act was t...
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December 1, 2017: Feminist Organizing in Prison from 2017-12-01T17:39:53
This week, we share part of a talk from two women organizing with prisoners. They speak candidly about the basics of supporting prisoners, and include some of the dynamics they noticed while workin...
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November 24, 2017: Transitions to the Outside from 2017-11-24T22:51:32
In this episode we give follow-up information about the hunger strike at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Then, we finish a conversation with Salomon X, a former prisoner in southern Illino...
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November 17, 2017: Two Weeks Into the Hunger Strike at Wabash Valley from 2017-11-17T17:59:43
In Wabash Valley, Shaka Shakur is maintaining his hunger strike, demanding an end to guard abuses and the isolation of active prisoners in camera cells. We spoke with his wife, Akili Shakur, who pr...
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November 10, 2017: 23 Hours In&One Hour Out- The View From Menard from 2017-11-10T21:46:50
This week, we share the words and experiences of Salomon X, a former prisoner in Illinois. In the first of two episodes with Salomon, he describes poor conditions and exploitation in the Menard pri...
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November 3, 2017: Appalachian Prison Resistance from 2017-11-03T21:21:25
This week, we speak with Lill, a resident of Whitesburg, Kentucky. Whitesburg is located in Letcher County the proposed home to a new federal prison to be built on a mountaintop removal site. We ha...
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October 27, 2017: Fighting the Mail Ban from 2017-10-28T13:22:24
Last April, the Indiana Department of Corrections banned all correspondence to it’s 25,000 prisoners, except that which is handwritten on lined white paper. The official explanation is that t...
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October 20, 2017: The Rise of Mass Incarceration, Part Two from 2017-10-20T17:36:38
Our news this week focuses on the prisoners who are fighting California’s wildfires for as little as a dollar an hour while actually fighting fires. In total, about thirty-eight hundred male and fe...
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October 13, 2017: The Rise of Mass Incarceration, Part One from 2017-10-13T15:32:18
This week we share the first part of a lecture by Elizabeth Hinton delivered at IU on October 12. In her talk, she traces the creation and rise of mass incarceration as a strategy of America’...
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October 6, 2017: Prison and the Press, Part One from 2017-10-06T20:22:40
This week is the first episode of several about the intersection between the media and prison struggles. In January of 2015, journalist Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his ro...
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September 29, 2017: Prison Imperialism from 2017-09-29T20:11:39
The phenomenon of mass incarceration has made the United States the world leader in carceral punishment. With only four percent of the world’s population, the United States accounts for 20% o...
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September 22, 2017: Fighting Words from 2017-09-22T22:01:37
This week, we have two contributions –one closer to home and one many more miles away- but both aim to describe an unfair relationship of power each contributor’s community faces. We first hear an ...
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September 15, 2017: Prison Lives Matter from 2017-09-15T22:51:34
This episode is an interview with Kwame Shakur, who is currently incarcerated at the Pendleton Correctional Institution. On August 11th , Indiana prison activists held a demonstration at the state ...
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