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 anarchist writer who currently serving a sentence in Oregon. In this conversation, she talks about writing in prison, and her ongoing struggle to…
Read MoreThis 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 recent book, Prison by Any Other Name: Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms. The book is an in-depth look at the various “alternatives…
Read MoreThis 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 account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of police power. [ Here are our previous episodes ] with Anne…
Read MoreWe 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 Segregation to Gentrification, was published earlier in 2022, and is an account of gender and sexuality’s crucial role in the history and exercise of…
Read MoreDecember 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 Liberation Army. After twice escaping from prison, and twice being recaptured, Shoatz was held in solitary confinement for more…
Read MoreThis 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. He has previously appeared on Kite Line to discuss mass incarceration and the George Floyd rebellion. We are speaking again today about his…
Read MoreThis 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 the George Floyd rebellion. We are speaking today about his new book Captives: How Rikers Island Took New York City Hostage. Captives recounts the last seventy years of…
Read MoreFor 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 conversation, they talk about the prevalence of arsenic in California’s Central Valley – including in its prisons. She also describes the impact of…
Read MoreThis 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 used by guards to punish and control the imprisoned population. Housed in Corcoran for decades, he describes how he kept going under such…
Read MoreWe 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 conversation about carceral non-profits with Zhandarka Kurti and Jarrod Shanahan. Kurti is a professor of criminology and Criminal Justice at Loyola University…
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