Prison News 11/9/26
34 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a prison break in Tennessee and a personal letter about stagnant prison labor wages in Rhode Island
About the show
A podcast about prisons. Hosted by Profs Eric Bronson and Beck Strah. Brought to you by Roger Williams University School of Justice Studies
Newest episodes
Doctober: Titicut Follies (1967)
1 hr 6 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the documentary Titicut Follies (1967)
Prison News 10/26/26
38 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss a new prison-based reality show, Diddy’s prison transfer, and some Beckommendations and Brit’s Picks!
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All episodes
Prison News 11/9/26
34 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a prison break in Tennessee and a personal letter about stagnant prison labor wages in Rhode Island
Doctober: Titicut Follies (1967)
1 hr 6 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the documentary Titicut Follies (1967)
Prison News 10/26/26
38 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss a new prison-based reality show, Diddy’s prison transfer, and some Beckommendations and Brit’s Picks!
Doctober: Untouchable (2016)
54 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss the documentary Untouchable (2016)
Prison News 10/12/26
39 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss Bi-weekly, a record payout for wrongful death in New York, the ongoing Christa Pike situation, Beckommendations and Brit’s Picks!
Timothy Leary goes to Prison
55 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss Timothy Leary, from his days as a Harvard Psychologist to a drug reformation advocate to a prisoner, also, Producer Brit discusses The Snowman (2017)
Prison News 9/28/26
34 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss the upcoming parole hearing of the Manendez brothers and Republican candidates using prison labor in Oklahoma to politically campaign.
Prison Pen Pals (feat. Madi Stevens)
1 hr 8 min
Professors Beck Strah, Eric Bronson, and their former student Madi Stevens discuss 9/11, prison pen pals, prison hobbycrafts, predatory prison e-mail services, untoward pen pal behavior, and Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997)
Prison News 9/14/26
35 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss the death of an inmate in the hands of the Clackamas County Jail, and unbearable heat conditions in Alabama Prisons, and Joe Arpio
Drugs Studies and MKUltra in Prisons
58 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss the history of psychedelic studies behind bars, Whitey Bulger, the CIA’s use of psychedelics on prisoners for their MKUltra studies, and The Client (1994)
Prison News 8/31/26
31 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss prison abuses in Ohio, Buc-ee’s litigious culture and the pushback, sexual abuse in California prisons, and private prison companies pulling in record profits.
Dr. Timothy Leary and the Concord Prison Experiment
1 hr 14 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Dr. Timothy Leary, his history and beliefs as a clinical psychologist, MCI Concord partnering with Harvard, Dr. Leary’s experiments with psilopcybin, his accounts of his experiments, subject accounts, and long-term observances. Producer Brit reviews Primal Fear (1996).
Prison News 8/17/26
34 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss Murder 2 convicts in Pennsylvania getting a new lease on life, felony murder, the prison-industrial link to diarrhea lettuce, some Brit’s Picks, and Beckommendations.
The Illinois Prison Sweepstakes
1 hr 0 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss a 7-Layer Dessert Dip, family podcasts, Flora, Illinois’s bid to get a prison in their town, Brown County’s bid for a prison and prison experience night, an early viral rap song, and The Last Seduction (1994) Chief Ed Guyott and the Long Arm of the Law Band - All We Want'sa Prison - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVrckq-D-c Barbed Wire Choir - Is We Is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5-d2WOgpfQ
Prison News 8/3/26
30 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the best cereals, protests over prison conditions in Wisconsin, felon disenfranchisement, an innocent man serving a record-setting prison tenure, and Israel using crocodiles as prison guards
Interview with Dr. Jacqueline Helfgott
1 hr 11 min
Professor Beck Strah interviews criminology professor and author Dr. Jacqueline Helfgott about art in prison, restorative justice programs, working with incarcerated populations, psychopathy, and Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)
Prison News 7/20/26 (feat. Spenser Hodge)
41 min
Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser discuss several federal prison closures, an update on the Prairieland case, plus Brit's Picks, Beckommendations, and Spenser's Gifts.
Wesley Snipes goes to Prison (feat. Spenser Hodge)
1 hr 3 min
Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser discuss Wesley Snipes' crimes, idiosyncrasies, trial, and imprisonment.
Prison News 7/6/26
30 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss prison mail digitization services and new laws in Florida allowing the death penalty for child abuse.
Interview with Vik Chopra (from Concrete Mama Podcast)
1 hr 5 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson talk to Vik Chopra from the Concrete Mama Podcast and Unincarcerated Productions, with topics ranging from Vik's incarceration, building a media platform, peer support in prison, prison subcultures, restorative justice, and Vik's abs. follow Vik's work on Instagram @unincarceratedproductions or listen to Concrete Mama wherever you get podcasts
Prison News 6/22/26
31 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a stay of execution in Alabama, and an epidemic of suicide within solitary confinement at Mississippi state prisons.
Prison Chowdown: The Fife & Drum
1 hr 19 min
The boys take a trip to The Fife & Drum restaurant, a one-of-a-kind culinary program at Northeastern Correctional Center in Concord, MA. Also, Producer Brit reviews Mercy (2026).
Prison News 6/8/26
28 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss lenient sentences for inmate sexual assault in New Mexico, a promising new college program in California, and toilet flush limiters in prisons.
Movie May-nute: Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
1 hr 8 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017).
Prison News 5/25/26
35 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss the Louisiana Prison System and Gov. Jeff Landry “tough on crime” policies, as well as a call to remove Michigan’s Prison Director due to some deaths at a women’s facility.
Movie May-nute: Animal Factory (2000)
1 hr 13 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory (2000)
Prison News 5/11/26
32 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a Louisiana Sheriff accused of malfeasance, Bronson’s recent student trip to the Angola Prison rodeo, Angola’s unfortunate conversion to migrant detention, and a mother’s attempt to break her son from prison.
Jared Fogel Goes to Jail (feat. Spenser Hodge)
1 hr 14 min
Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser Hodge discuss former Subway mascot Jared Fogel, his rise, his media coverage, his cultural impact, his crimes, and of course: his imprisonment. Producer Brit also reviews Crime 101 (2026). Follow Spenser on IG: @numetalkvlt
Prison News 4/27/26 (feat. Spenser Hodge)
40 min
Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser Hodge weigh in on a pizza smuggling ring, two deaths at the Dayton Correctional Facility, a Texas court of appeals overturning a death row sentence, Brit’s Picks, Beccomendations, and Spenser’s Gifts. Follow Spenser on IG: @numetalkvlt
Federal Prison Camp Bryan (and Ghislaine Maxwell)
56 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, the conditions, amenities, training/vocational programs, Ghislaine Maxwell’s incarceration, special privileges, universal prisoner amelioration, and The Last Days of American Crime (2020).
Prison News 4/13/26
27 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss an expansion of education in Michigan Prisons, an update on the theoretical reopening of Alcatraz as a prison, and a Chilean Prison Rugby Team.
Club Fed
53 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss first albums, and Club Fed, including conditions, amenities, the population, prison camps, stratified prison placement, prison consultants, religious accommodations, food, and Carlito’s Way (1993).
Prison News 3/30/26
31 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a drone smuggling operation in New York, Marcy Playground, a Gun McGuyver in Washington State, poachers, Afroman’s victory in court, a Kansan man arrested for throwing meth over a prison wall, and a correction officer with an itchy pepper spray trigger finger.
Prison Ships (Pt. 2)
53 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss a fantasy bookball league, Jim Breuer and airport food, New York City prison ships, the politics of prison ships, stinky carceral tactics, celebrity decommissioned ferries, prison ship medical issues, and Song Sung Blue (2025).
Prison News 3/16/26
32 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss poor prison healthcare in Arizona, chronic overcrowding in a Washington child prison school, and a January 6th rioter going back to prison.
Prison Ships (Pt. 1)
46 min
Professors Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss prison ships, the carceral state of the United Federation of Planets, the brig, prison hulks, the history of maritime incarceration in Britain, the early history of prison boats in the US, cruise ship act 2 Cool, and Predators (2025). Brought to you by Roger Williams University School of Justice Studies
Prison News 3/2/26
35 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss an end to gender affirming care in federal prisons, and a Missouri bill to standardize minimum prison terms.
The Alabama Solution (2025)
57 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the critically-acclaimed HBO Documentary The Alabama Solution (2025)
Prison News 2/16/26
36 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss a maternity program in South Dakota, poor conditions in Mississippi prisons, a bill targeting the mental health of corrections officers, the sentencing of Trump’s would-be assassin, and some Brit’s Picks and Beckommendations.
Manipulation (Pt. 3)
55 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss The Super Bowl, manipulation awareness, inmate manipulation strategies, the us vs. them mentality, the rumor mill, manipulator blackmail, gaslighting, and Night of the Comet (1984).
Prison News 2/2/26
28 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a handmade musical prison performance, Thomas Silverstein, an update on Elizabeth Holmes, and issues in programming at New York State Prison.
Manipulation (Pt. 2)
50 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss being tall, how inmates select their victims of manipulation, secrets between COs and inmates, A Christmas Karen (2022), and stunt spectaculars.
Prison News 1/19/26
33 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss a brawl in a Georgia prison, a North Carolina man buying a prison for the forces of good, a Nevada warden getting fired for a party gone awry, and a mail carrier getting busted for mail theft.
Manipulation (Pt. 1)
1 hr 4 min
Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss the ethics of manipulation, advertising, population control, inmate manipulation, downing a duck, blackmail, totalitarian communities, and Get Santa (2014)
Prison News 1/5/26
27 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss smuggling tobacco into a prison, detestable co-workers, and the buried 60 Minutes CECOT report.
The Christmas Star (1986)
1 hr 6 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the made-for-TV movie "The Christmas Star", and, more importantly, who controls the pipes.
Prison News 12/22/25
39 min
Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss this week’s news, including Sam Bankman-Fried acting as a jailhouse lawyer, a loosening of regulations for UK corrections officer retention, and an update on CECOT. Also, Beck’s Reccs and Brit’s Picks!
Prison News 12/15/25
29 min
Today Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss short time, good time, a father and daughter prison dance, God behind bars, and another Louisiana prison escape.
The Death Penalty (Pt. 3)
1 hr 21 min
Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss orgies at P Diddy’s prison, methods of execution including stoning, beheading, burning, hanging, the electric “old sparky” chair, the gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad, the 8th amendment, and Wild Things Foursome (2010).
Ventriloquism in Prison
1 hr 14 min
Today Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit are joined by Dr. Andrew Baranauskas to discuss erroneous prison releases in the UK, ventriloquism in prison including the history of ventriloquism in prisons, Winston Pearson Jr., modern puppet shows, death row ventriloquism shows, Willie Brown, Walter “The Puppetmaster” Taylor, ventriloquism in WWII, a jail owned by a dummy, and Extreme Prejudice (1987)
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