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 experiences at the Indiana Women’s Prison, particularly issues of mental and physical health on the inside. Now, she speaks of the extensive…
Read MoreThis 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 practice of prison slave labor, came about. She also talks through some basics of how prison serves to isolate those on the inside,…
Read MoreThis 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, leading to a broader analysis of the failure of prison bureaucracies to meaningfully respond to real abuse. At the same time,…
Read MoreThis 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 to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to…
Read MoreWe cover a range of news in this week’s episode- from a brief history of Black August and the upcoming August 19th prison demonstrations, to current prison conditions in regards to education, visitation, and forced sterilization. We then read a letter from prisoner Keith Malik Washington about the continued suffering from extreme heat in Texas…
Read MoreWe start this episode with a message from Angaza, a prisoner in the IDOC system who describes recent unfair changes in prison correspondence and what people on both the inside and outside are trying to do about it. As of April first, the Indiana Department of Correction is no longer accepting any correspondence for inmates…
Read MoreThis week, we hear some prison-related news and then return to the topic of pregnancy in prison. We continue our discussion with Dr. Alicia Suarez, a sociologist who researches pregnancy and childbirth as it relates to incarcerated women. She continues the discussion from our Pregnancy in Prison episode, and walks us through the process of…
Read MoreOur episode focuses on the experience of being pregnant while in prison. First, we hear prison-related news. Then, we speak with Dr. Alicia Suarez, PhD, who teaches at DePauw University. Suarez researches pregnant prisoners at the Indiana Women’s Prison, and speaks with us about the daily life and issues facing these women. In our next…
Read MoreThis episode is the second installment exploring women within prisons. First, we get updates on struggles in Bulgaria and Turkey, hear about proposed changes to solitary confinement, and learn about the case of Red Fawn, a Colorado woman arrested at the Standing Rock occupation against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Micol Seigel interviews two women, Michelle…
Read MoreThis week is our first installment of a series covering the impact of prison on families. This episode focuses on Wendi Middleton, who works in the Indiana Women’s Prison with her organization Angel’s Wings, which provides a variety of services to incarcerated women, from newly pregnant mothers to women who became prisoners while being the…
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