))
The Secret Life of Prisons is produced by a charity, the Prison Radio Association. To make a donation please visit prison.radio/donate. The podcast tells the hidden stories from behind bars. Paula Harriott is Chief Executive of Unlock. She spent time in prison and now works to help those who have been to prison to contribute to the debate around crime and justice. Phil Maguire is the Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association. He's worked in prisons for two decades and received an OBE f ...
…
continue reading
In 2013, Khamran Uddin wrote a letter to the man he had violently assaulted in a random attack on a deserted railway platform. The victim was coming home from work as he did every day when Khamran seriously injured him with a baseball bat. What followed was an extraordinary meeting which changed both their lives. Keeva Baxter is the Campaigns and C…
…
continue reading
David Gauke is the former Conservative Member of Parliament for South West Hertfordshire, the former Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, and the Chair of the Labour government's Independent Sentencing Review. Phil and Paula ask him about the progress of the report, delve into the politics of crime and justice, and finish with challe…
…
continue reading
1
Talent development | Richie Makepeace and Nancy Prentice
37:00
37:00
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:00
Richie Makepeace was just trying to keep his head down and get through his prison sentence in HMP Brixton when he was offered a job in the prison's radio production training workshop. Like many people in prison, he was really worried about whether he would be able to find employment. But after release he got offered a job helping to deliver Nationa…
…
continue reading
1
The most serious development in decades | Michael Kennedy and Ian Vandersluys
33:27
33:27
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:27
Spice, a name for a group of synthetic drugs that have gripped prisons over the past decade, are said by researchers at Middlesex University's Drug and Alcohol Research Centre to have played a role in almost half of all non-natural deaths in prisons over a five year period. Michael Kennedy had already used spice on one occasion before he went to pr…
…
continue reading
1
Diagnosis | Scout Tzofiya Bolton and Michelle Walsh
40:52
40:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
40:52
Scout Tzofiya Bolton is a poet, activist, radio producer and the author of The Mad Art of Doing Time. She went to prison in 2023 where she received excellent care for the mental health conditions that led to her offence. You can read Scout's recent article for The Guardian here. You can listen to Scout's documentary for BBC Radio 4, entitled The Ba…
…
continue reading
Tim Owen KC is a criminal barrister who has sat as a Deputy High Court Judge. He is a co-host of Double Jeopardy: The Law and Politics Podcast. You can find the sentencing guidelines for all offences heard in the Magistrates and Crown Courts on the Sentencing Council website. Presenters: Phil Maguire – Chief Executive, Prison Radio Association Paul…
…
continue reading
1
Telling stories | Mickey Dehara and Max Porter
41:41
41:41
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
41:41
Mickey Dehara is a screenwriter who has frequently collaborated with the director Guy Richie, including playing a starring role in the film Snatch. He served a prison sentence in the early 2010s when he got involved with National Prison Radio and won the Sandford St. Martin and Jerusalem Awards for a dramatisation of the Good Friday story which he …
…
continue reading
1
Moral blindness | Jamie Bennett and Andrew Morris
49:44
49:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
49:44
Jamie Bennett is is the author of a new book which looks at the challenges of managing prisons. He is Prison Contracts Group Director at His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. He has been Governor of Morton Hall, Long Lartin, Grendon and Spring Hill prisons. Andrew Morris served a sentence in HMP Spring Hill while Jamie was the Governor there.…
…
continue reading
In November 2024, Janey Starling from the charity Level Up, called out the presenter of LBC's breakfast show Nick Ferrari live on air for his apparent ignorance of the facts around the imprisonment of women. In response to that interview, we invited friend of the podcast Dr. Kimmett Edgar to the studio to help us understand what the numbers can tel…
…
continue reading
1
Spending Christmas outside San Quentin | Greg Eskridge and Eli Wirtschafter
32:24
32:24
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:24
Greg Eskridge was released from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in California, formerly known as San Quentin state prison, on 23 July 2024 after serving 30 years and 25 days. In prison Greg became a founding member of the Uncuffed radio program and podcast, a project run by the public radio station KALW. Greg now works full-time as Uncuffed’s fir…
…
continue reading
In November the Sentencing Academy, a charity that aims to improve public understanding of sentencing in England and Wales, released a piece of research entitled 'Who is in prison and what is the purpose of imprisonment?'. It concluded that most people know very little about prisons. To test these findings, Phil and Paula went to stand outside the …
…
continue reading
1
I disappeared for seven years | Sarah Moore and Sonya Ruparel
38:38
38:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
38:38
Sarah Moore was exposed to the most dangerous situations imaginable during a seven-year period in which she disappeared from her family's life. She wanted to protect them from the effects of her chaotic lifestyle and mental ill-health, both of which she struggled to manage. She is now a criminal justice practitioner working at Anawim, a Women's Cen…
…
continue reading
1
Six people who were in prison and now work in radio | Ali, Jules, Nico, Garth, Faye ... plus Paula
44:19
44:19
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
44:19
The Prison Radio Association is a charity that runs National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people serving prison sentences. We employ people in prison to develop their skills, find their best voices and help them discover ways to lead crime-free lives after release. This week we are participating in The Big Give, a nati…
…
continue reading
Sean Henry received multiple prison terms through his early adult life. But receiving a long sentence for a serious offence when his son was just two months old, Sean discovered a different perspective on his own life and the way he had been acting. With precious support from key people in his life, including his son's mother and their extended fam…
…
continue reading
1
What I Learned About Prison in Iran | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe gives the Longford Lecture 2024
55:17
55:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
55:17
On Monday 11 November 2024, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe delivered the annual Longford Lecture at Church House in Westminster. Nazanin was imprisoned in 2016 at the end of a family visit to Iran, accused of plotting to overthrow the government by running courses in journalism that the Iranian regime said aimed to train people to spread propaganda agai…
…
continue reading
1
I lost 18 stone in prison | Tyler Voase and Samy Ali
28:09
28:09
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:09
Tyler Voase was released from prison in the summer of 2024. He first went into jail in 2022 weighing over 40 stone, and with the support of a well-thought-through and timely intervention from gym staff he reinvented himself, losing 18 stone while in HMP Feltham. Samy Ali is a Physical Education Instructor (PEI) at HMP Feltham, and he was the member…
…
continue reading
1
What can we learn about the future of criminal justice from the budget? | Matthew Torbitt and Ben Zaranko
34:54
34:54
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
34:54
Matthew Torbitt is a writer and broadcaster. A period of homelessness as a young man led to involvement in crime, for which he received a sentence. These experiences fed a political awakening and a career working with the Labour Party. Matthew now writes and tours television studios commentating on politics. He joins us down the line from Washingto…
…
continue reading
