Kite Line is a radio program and podcast that focuses on issues in the prison system and beyond.
On the inside, a message is called a kite: whispered words, a note passed hand to hand, or a request submitted to guards for medical care.
Illicit or not, sending a kite means trusting that other people will pass it farther along, until it reaches its destination.
We make this show to pass along words, across the prison walls.
366 | Shoving From All Sides
In this episode we air a recording from the final talk of the Pittsburgh Anti-Repression Convergence, which served as a space for activists, political prisoner supporters, and former political prisoners to strategize against repression in the context of social movements, with an eye towards total liberation for the earth and all of it’s inhabitants. We’ll...
365 | Resisting the Rise of State Violence
This week, we are sharing a piece created for Montreal community radio station CKUT, on the show Other Worlds on Earth. The piece provides an excellent analysis of the case against Krystal and Peppy, two organizers in Pittsburgh targeted by the FBI and who are alleged to have acted in solidarity with trans people. After...
364 | Organizing on Both Sides of the Walls with Leon Benson
After our news, we are sharing the final installment of our conversation with Leon Benson, who was recently exonerated and released after decades in the Indiana prison system. Leon is an inspiring organizer who fought for freedom for other prisoners, organized self-education circles inside, and has, since release, jumped into important community empowerment projects. We...
363 | Are We Here for the Camp or for Divestment?
This week, we spoke with an NYU professor about the Gaza encampment movement there. Through this conversation, the global stakes of place-based struggles come to the foreground, as we wrestle with balancing local demands for divestment versus the way the camps themselves are resonating in Gaza; Palestinians seem most excited by the fact that a...
362 | The Dunn Meadow Liberated Zone
Eight days ago, students and others established a tent camp – a Liberated Zone – at IU’s Dunn Meadow, as part of a national rising tide of protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. Within hours, Indiana State Police arrived from Indianapolis and attacked the students, injuring dozens and arresting 34 students and faculty. The protesters...
361 | Studies in Dignity
This week, we focus on two people who are studies in dignity in the face of state repression. Jack Mazurek was arrested in Atlanta yesterday and charged with arson. These allegations stemmed from an attack last July on police motorcycles, which was rooted in the movement against Cop City. He is standing strong despite the...
360 | Leon Benson is Free
For our first episode of the new year, we wanted to begin sharing an interview with Leon Benson. In this conversation, he covers his release from prison, reflections on the treatment he received from the authorities, and his work on the outside. This is a special privilege for Kite Line, since we have aired Benson’s...
- 91.3 FM South-Central Indiana
- 98.1 FM Bloomington
- 100.7 FM Nashville/Brown County
- 106.3 FM Ellettsville
- Carbondale, Illinois (On WDBX)
- Louisville, Kentucky (On Forward Radio)
- New Orleans, Louisiana (On WHIV)
- Richmond, Indiana (On WECI)
- Minneapolis, Minnesota (On KRSM)
- Columbus, Ohio (On WCRS)
367 | Loretta Pierre and the Fight for Parole
The Mississippi Five are the last remaining women sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after ten years, before Mississippi virtually abolished parole in 1995. Although they have been parole-eligible for three decades, the state has routinely denied their release without reasonable justification. They have been imprisoned for over 175 years and denied parole...