Rattling The Bars

Dec 23 2024 138 ep. 30 mins 46

Rattling The Bars Podcast artwork

Rattling the Bars, hosted by former Black Panther and political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, puts the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it.

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Healing Justice: The medical industry and mass incarceration w/Erica Woodland

Dec 23 2024 28 mins

Popular representations of the Black Panthers often focus on their armed self-defense activities, but medical services and health justice were a tremendous part of the party's work. This legacy continues today as Black activists work to transform the medical industrial complex and its relationship to the prison system. Erica Woodland (he/him), co-author of Healing Justice Lineages,

'Incredibly hypocritical': Hunter Biden's pardon and President Biden's legacy

Dec 16 2024 25 mins

President Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Among these critics are opponents of the War on Drugs and mass incarceration, which President Biden played a personal role in architecting throughout his political career. Jason Ortiz, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Last Prisoner Project, joins Rattling th

Alabama prisoners sued to stop forced labor—a court dismissed their case

Dec 09 2024 25 mins

Five incarcerated people in Alabama are fighting to push forward a lawsuit, Stanley v. Ivey, challenging the state's power to punish prisoners who resist forced labor. Despite a state constitutional provision abolishing slavery that was passed in 2022 by referendum, Montgomery County Circuit Court dismissed the plaintiffs' lawsuit, arguing Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department o

The truth about solitary confinement

Nov 18 2024 31 mins

"Who would want to lock somebody in a room the size of your bathroom and leave them in there for three years...and expect them to come out in the same condition that they went in? That's insanity."A new bill in Washington, DC seeks to end the district’s use of solitary confinement in jails. Rattling the Bars' Mansa Musa speaks with two formerly incarcerated organizers: Herbert Ro

2 million incarcerated people could vote on Tuesday. But for who?

Nov 04 2024 31 mins

Since the 1990s, 2 million people with felony convictions have regained the right to vote, thanks to crucial reforms abolishing felony disenfranchisement in 26 states. This election, these voters could play a crucial role—and based on data from 2020, many of them prefer Trump. There's more to this story however, from incarcerated people's limited access to information, to the rol

Prison abolitionists could score wins on election day, despite electoral ambivalence

Oct 31 2024 29 mins

Policing and prison abolition policy questions have been minimized in the lead-up to the 2024 November election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, despite their significance in the last election cycle. Yet these ideas have finally pierced into mainstream debate, and committed prison abolitionists are tirelessly organizing to free incarcerated people, improve conditions within

North Carolina failed to evacuate prisoners during Hurricane Helene

Oct 28 2024 28 mins

Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, including its prisons. Yet rather than evacuate incarcerated people, the state left prisoners locked up in their cells without running water or light to survive the storm on their own. Schuyler Mitchell, who recently covered this story for The Intercept, speaks to Rattling the Bars about this manmade disaster and its consequences.

Under Prop 6, California voters could finally abolish forced prison labor

Oct 23 2024 30 mins

This November, California voters will have the chance to pass Proposition 6. This ballot referendum would nullify the state constitution's exception for involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, and institute additional protections for incarcerated people. Jeronimo Aguilar of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, and John Cannon of All of Us or None join Rattling the B

'I Am Maroon': The life of Black Panther Russell 'Maroon' Shoatz

Sep 30 2024 30 mins

For nearly half a century, Russell 'Maroon' Shoatz was a political prisoner of the United States. Prior to his incarceration, Shoatz fought against US capitalism and imperialism as a member of the Black Panther Party, and then as a soldier of the Black Liberation Army. Due to his two successful escapes from prison and organizing behind bars, Shoatz spent two decades in solitary con

How Oakland prosecutors kept Black and Jewish people off juries for decades

Sep 25 2024 30 mins

Researchers with @colorofchange have made a shocking discovery: for decades, prosecutors in Alameda County, California, worked to systematically exclude Black and Jewish individuals from jury participation in order to produce juries that were more likely to support capital punishment. Michael Collins, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Color Of Change, joins Rattling the Bars