Louisville filmmaker Evan Mascagni and author Joe Keith Bickett sit down with Kyle Meredith to dig into the wild, complicated true story behind the Cornbread Mafia — the so-called “unorganized” group of Kentucky farm boys who became one of the biggest marijuana operations in the country. Bickett, who served more than 20 years in prison and later wrote three memoirs reclaiming the narrative, talks about the myths, the media frenzy, and the draconian sentences handed down during the height of the War on Drugs — including how nonviolent marijuana charges landed him and others decades behind bars. Mascagni, whose new documentary on the Cornbread Mafia premieres at SXSW, explains why the story feels especially urgent now in an era of legalization, and how the film balances outlaw legend with real human cost. It’s a conversation about injustice, reinvention, Southern storytelling, and what happens when the “Godfather of Grass” era collides with modern cannabis culture.
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