Our Prison Desk provides critical analysis of prison systems. We concentrate on the stories and perspectives of educators, policy analysts, elected officials, community organizers, prisoners and their families. When funding is available, we provide training for independent journalists and individuals involved in community building activities.
Supported by independent funding sources, the Prison Desk is free to explore and expose government and corporate roles in the burgeoning prison industry. The Onmia Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation have provided partial funding. Please support the Prison Desk.
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Shows from the Prison Desk
A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad
After serving time, finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task. On this edition, Women building their own support network after being released from prison. We’ll hear "A[...]
COINTELPRO 101 (Part 1)
Over the next two weeks, we broadcast the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” about the secret FBI program which ran from 1956-1971, and disrupted many movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Today, we hear the first[...]
Our Bodies, Our Stories: Reproductive Health Behind Bars
Pregnant women in Americas prisons are being shackled to their beds; others are being sterilized. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safetys sake, but thousands of incarcerated people are fighting for control of their own reproductive health. [...]
2013: The Year the Prison System Changed?
Years of campaigning for basic human rights for people caught up in America's criminal justice system may finally be paying off.[...]
A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad
After serving time, finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task. On this edition, Women building their own support network after being released from prison. We’ll hear "A[...]
Survivors of Solitary Confinement
Tens of thousands are in solitary confinement in American prisons which according to the United Nations is torture. Producer Claire Schoen met nine former prisoners who describe in detail what it's like to be in solitary confinement.[...]
Our Bodies, Our Stories: Reproductive Health Behind Bars
Pregnant women in Americas prisons are being shackled to their beds; others are being sterilized. Correctional institutions claim the policies are for safetys sake, but thousands of incarcerated people are fighting for control of their own reproductive health. [...]
Breaking the Psychological Chains of Slavery
African-Americans have endured more than 246 years of slavery, 100 years of racism and segregation. The trauma from that experience continues to impact African-Americans and society today. Dr. Joy DeGruy presents a discussion on post traumatic slave syndrome.[...]
Life or Death: Ending the Death Penalty
Reporter Nancy Mullane speaks to some of those on California’s death row and we hear from two opponents of the death penalty about where the movement to end executions goes next.[...]
Michelle Alexander on the New Jim Crow
Professor Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness makes the case that the US criminal justice system policies can be traced directly back to slavery. The target then, and now, are[...]
The Penalty is Exile: How Immigration and Criminalization Collide
Under President Obama more than 1 million people have been deported from the United States. Immigration officials claim that many of those being deported are criminals. On this edition, producer Cory Fischer-Hoffman investigates the connection between immigration and the[...]
COINTELPRO 101 (Part 2) ENCORE
This week, we broadcast the second half of the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” about the secret FBI program which ran from 1956-1971, and disrupted many movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Today, we hear the[...]
COINTELPRO 101 (Part 1) ENCORE
Over the next two weeks, we broadcast the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” about the secret FBI program which ran from 1956-1971, and disrupted many movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S.. Today, we hear the first[...]
Undue Influence: the power of Police and Prison Guards' Unions
Police officers and prison guards hold tremendous political sway. Their advocacy for better pay, more power, and more jobs has been a major factor in the expansion of the prison industrial complex. Now that system is changing. Can law enforcement[...]
Ban the Box! The Campaign for Post-Prison Employment ENCORE
Its not even the crime that counts sometimes. Its that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at[...]
Prison Crisis: Local Solution?
The United States imprisons more people than any other country. In California a new policy called realignment aims to reduce the number of people in state prison. Could the incarceration nation finally be slowing down?[...]
Police Tape: From Rodney King to Aiyana Jones
It’s been 20 years since four white police officers were cleared of unlawfully beating Rodney King in Los Angeles. But we might never have heard of Rodney King had it not been for an amateur cameraman who caught the whole[...]
Justice For Sale: Glenn Greenwald on the Rule of Law
Author Glenn Greenwald talks about his book, With Liberty and Justice for Some. Americans claim to live under the rule of law; that no one is above our system of justice. But as we witness more exceptions to that rule,[...]
Ban the Box! The Campaign for Post-Prison Employment
Its not even the crime that counts sometimes. Its that little box on an application that asks you to reveal if you have a criminal history. Checking that box can mean the difference between failure and success. We look at[...]
Massachusetts Leads the Way in CORI Reform
In the United States, an estimated 65 million people have had a brush with the law that resulted in a criminal record. And every year, about 650 thousand of them are released from prisons and jails—reemerging into society with one[...]
The Light Inside: Giving Birth Behind Bars
A look at pregnancy, and motherhood, inside US jails and prisons. What does the huge number of incarcerated women in prison foretell for the next generation of America’s kids?[...]
Gang Injunctions: Problem or Solution?
Gang injunctions are a controversial crime fighting tool that some people say should be illegal, and others say is a necessary last resort for communities plagued by violence. On this edition, we go from the birthplace of gang injunctions in[...]
Words As The Way To Freedom: Jimmy Santiago Baca
He went from illiterate street kid, to world renowned poet. But it was in prison that Jimmy Santiago Baca connected with his Native American and Chicano heritage, and began learning the lessons of his people’s past. On this edition,[...]
Presumed Guilty: American Muslims and Arabs (9-11 Encore Edition)
American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, and many feel demonized and say they are living in fear of arrest. On this edition, we'll hear stories about the past 10 years of anti-Arab profiling and prosecution. We also look[...]
The Light Inside: Giving Birth Behind Bars
A look at pregnancy, and motherhood, inside US jails and prisons. What does the huge number of incarcerated women in prison foretell for the next generation of America’s kids?[...]
Presumed Guilty: American Muslims and Arabs
American Arabs and Muslims are under the microscope, and many feel demonized and say they are living in fear of arrest. On this edition, we'll hear stories about the past 10 years of anti-Arab profiling and prosecution. We also look[...]
Michelle Alexander on the New Jim Crow
Professor Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness makes the case that the US criminal justice system policies can be traced directly back to slavery. The target then, and now, are[...]
How Homelessness Became A Crime
So-called quality of life policing may temporarily decrease crime, but it has harsh consequences for innocent people caught up in the frenzy of arrests. If its illegal to be on a citys sidewalks, parks and plazas, where else can[...]
California's Prop 19: The End of the War on Marijuana?
Californians went to the polls this past November to vote on whether to legalize marijuana. On this edition, we look at the damage wrought by the failed war on marijuana, with a focus on the millions caught in the criminal[...]
Immigrant Families Behind Bars (encore)
In a special collaboration with Feet in Two Worlds, we hear about an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Arizona. Also, grassroots efforts help change policies at a detention center in Texas.[...]
Immigrant Families Behind Bars
In a special collaboration with Feet in Two Worlds, we hear about an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Arizona. Also, grassroots efforts help change policies at a detention center in Texas.[...]
Survivors of Solitary Confinement
Tens of thousands are in solitary confinement in American prisons which according to the United Nations is torture. Producer Claire Schoen met nine former prisoners who describe in detail what it's like to be in solitary confinement.[...]
Prison Town, USA
In our special collaboration with public television's P.O.V., Directors Katie Galloway and Po Kutchins take us to "prison town, usa" where they explore how the industry affects correctional officers, their families, and whole community.[...]
A Crisis of Care: A System on Life Support
In the last of our three-part series, A Crisis of Care: A System on Life Support, we'll hear from experts offering an insiders view on the continuing health care crisis in California's prisons.[...]
A Crisis of Care: Gina's Story (Part 2)
On the second of our three-part series, 'A Crisis of Care,' a look inside California's prison health care system, we continue 'Gina's Story.'[...]
A Crisis of Care: Gina's Story (Part 1)
This is the first of a three-part series, 'A Crisis of Care,' a look inside the prison health care system in the state of California, where we learn about 'Gina's Story' within the prison system.[...]
Beyond Bars: Community Resistance to Prison Expansion (encore edition)
On this edition, Dr. Gilmore, a key figure in the grassroots movement fighting prison expansion in California, extracts lessons from more than two decades of on-the-ground community organizing against what has been termed the "biggest prison building project in the[...]
Women Rising XV: World Health Activists
Prudence Mabele is a South African activist in the battle to contain HIV. Mary Pipher is an American psychologist and author confronting the American Psychological Association about its cooperation with the U.S. government in the use of torture.[...]
Beyond Bars: Community Resistance to Prison Expansion
In the U.S., more than more than 2 million people live behind prison bars. Dr. Ruth Gilmore, a professor of geography at the University of Southern California and a long-time prison activist, extracts lessons from more than two decades of[...]
Lockdown on Life: Stories from Women Behind Bars
On this edition, we take you to two U.S. prisons behind the bars and into the lives of incarcerated women.[...]
The Attica Rebellion
September 9-13th, 2006 marks the 35th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion, a massive prison rebellion, massacre and cover-up in New York. On this edition, we present a documentary produced by the Freedom Archives.[...]
The Long Walk to Abolish the Death Penalty
On this edition, Making Contact's Sarah Olson takes us on this 25-mile journey on a cool, sunny day on February 20th. It's a walk of protest, peace, and compassion.[...]
The Juvenile Injustice System (encore edition)
On this edition, we'll hear about scandal-ridden California youth authority, abuses inside one Brazil juvenile detention center, as well as alternative approaches helping troubled kids. [...]
The Juvenile Injustice System
On this edition, we'll hear about the scandal-ridden California Youth Authority, abuses inside one of Brazil's juvenile detention centers, as well as alternative approaches to helping troubled kids.[...]
Plan Colombia: Drug War Without End
Independent producer Reese Erlich visits rural farmers and urban shanty towns in Colombia, and talks with high ranking Colombian politicians to learn about Plan Colombia, an effort to reduce cocaine production.[...]
Documenting Torture: Holding the United States Accountable
On this edition, we trace the seeds of the prison scandal to 9/11 and previous to that time, hear from survivors of torture, human rights advocates, and a soldier, and revisit the official government reaction.[...]
Entry Denied: Former Prisoners Re-entering Society
On this Prison Desk edition of Making Contact, we'll look at the barriers former prisoners face, and community efforts to support people re-entering society.[...]
Journey to Justice: Carlos Mauricio's Story
Carlos Mauricio was one of the few political prisoners who survived the most brutal period of military repression in El Salvador. On this edition, correspondent Jon Watanabe chronicles Carlos' remarkable journey in search of justice and, ultimately, healing for himself[...]
Concrete Coffins: The Juvenile Death Penalty
On this edition of Making Contact, the National Radio Project's Prison Desk takes a look at the juvenile death penalty in the United States.[...]
Breaking the Cycle: Juvenile Crime and Positive Solutions
On this edition of Making Contact, we report on community responses to youth crime in the California city of Oakland, which has one of the highest per capita homicide rates in the country; many victims are young African-American men. We[...]
Capital Punishment and Closure
On this Prison Desk edition of Making Contact, we take a look at the death penalty, wrongful executions, and some alternatives to death row.[...]
The War on Drugs Revisited
On this Special Prison Desk edition of Making Contact, we take a look at the impacts of the so-called war on drugs.[...]
Prisoners of Conscience: Civil Disobedience and the S.O.A.
On this program we take a look at the School of the Americas, and a broad-based movement of human rights activists and religious groups that's organizing to shut down the institute.[...]
Above the Law? The U.S. and the International Criminal Court
On this program, we take a look at U.S. government opposition to the ICC. And, the National Radio Project's Women's Desk examines what the establishment of the court could mean for victims of sexual violence in wartime.[...]
Concrete Cages and Cash: The U.S. Prison Industry
On this program, the National Radio Project's Prison Desk takes a look at the economics of U.S. prisons, and at how politicians and corporations are making choices that may severely impact the future.[...]
The Usual Suspects? Racial Profiling in the U.S.
On this program we speak to African-American organizers, police officers and religious leaders who are working to put a stop to this practice in their communities. We also take a look at another form of racial profiling: retail discrimination.[...]