112. Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars

He has been a lawyer, an instructor at the F.B.I. Academy, the owner of a frozen-yogurt chain, and a winner of the TV show Survivor. Today, Kwon works at Google, but things haven’t always come easily for him. Steve Levitt talks to Kwon about his debilitating childhood anxieties, ... Show More

She is one of the best basketball players ever. She’s won multiple championships, including four Olympic gold medals and four W.N.B.A. titles — the most recent in 2020, just before turning 40. She also helped negotiate a landmark contract for the league’s players. Sue Bird tells ... Show More

For many economists — Steve Levitt included — there is perhaps no greater inspiration than Paul Romer, the now-Nobel laureate who at a young age redefined the discipline and has maintained a passion for introducing new ideas to staid debates. Levitt finds out what makes Romer a s ... Show More

Adrian Turner joined the prison service 1988 as a prison officer, working at Ashford Remand Centre. He subsequently worked at HMP Full Sutton, HMP Norwich, HMP Whitemoor, PSC Newbold Revel, HMP Lindholme, HMP Channings Wood, HMP Gloucester, HMP Eastwood Park, HMP Bristol, HMP Sud ... Show More

For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn’t end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who’ve lived it, left it and still have to grapple w ... Show More

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How both of today’s guests became involved in higher education in prison. Why this work is personal to them. Funding and representation issues in higher education in prison. The complexities of supporting studen ... Show More

<p>In a live appearance at UCLA’s Royce Hall, author, mentor and criminal justice activist Shaka Senghor uses his powerful story to share the surprising universal life lessons he learned in prison. At the age of 19, Shaka was sent to prison for second-degree murder. After being i ... Show More

Since the pandemic struck, millions around the world have endured lockdowns, with many finding it hard to tolerate long periods indoors. But what if lockdown meant years on end spent entirely alone, in a single room, sometimes no bigger than a large elevator? In many US states, j ... Show More

<p>In episode 2 of The Secret Life of Prisons, Phil and Paula hear what it's like to live in The Cell. Wrongly-imprisoned journalist Raphael Rowe and author and blogger David Breakspear share their stories of living in a cell. </p> <p>Carl Cattermole is an award-winning dramatist ... Show More

<p>Happy Christmas from The Secret Life of Prisons!</p> <p>On Wednesday 22 November 2023, Rory Stewart delivered the annual Longford Lecture at Church House in Westminster. And like every year, National Prison Radio was there to broadcast the lecture into prison cells across Engl ... Show More

Indeterminate sentences are devastating to mental health, but prisoners with mental illness are less likely to be released. The result is a vicious cycle whereby the most vulnerable inmates often have the least chance of getting out – as John’s case shows. By Sophie Atkinson. Hel ... Show More