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BackStory

250: Land of the Free? The History of Incarceration in the U.S.

BackStory

BackStory

History, Education

4.72.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2018

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

(Contains archival audio in segments 1 and 3 (see backstoryradio.org for details).) The United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation in the world. This month prisoners across the U.S. took part in a National Prison strike protesting how they are used as cheap labor, and calling for an end to “prison slavery.” In this episode, Brian, Nathan and Joanne reflect on the history of prison labor and learn more about the challenges facing those behind bars.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Major funding for Backstory is provided by an anonymous donor, the National Diamond

0:04.5

for the Humanities, the University of Virginia, and the Robert and Joseph Cornell Memorial Foundation.

0:09.6

From Virginia Humanities, this is Backstory.

0:15.0

Welcome to Backstory, the show that explains the history behind the headlines.

0:26.2

I'm Joanne Freeman.

0:27.2

I'm Nathan Connolly.

0:28.8

And I'm Brian Balla.

0:29.9

If you're new to the podcast, we're all historians, and each week we explore the history

0:33.7

of a topic that's been in the news.

0:36.5

Earlier this month, inmates around the country banded together in a National Prison Strike

0:41.4

to protest poor conditions and labor exploitation, referring to the American prison system

0:47.0

as modern-day slavery.

0:49.4

Although the protests happened only a few days ago, the issue of having an incarcerated

0:52.9

population as cheap labor is far from a recent development.

0:57.1

In 2005, I had the chance to hear from members of a prison work crew and learn about their

1:02.5

experiences working for Paltry Pay on the side of the Broadin for Virginia.

1:10.5

My name is Corporal Harris Bruce from Elmarshal for Reek and Jail.

1:14.7

I'm the Supervisor for the Roegain.

1:17.1

Today we live on Ewan Street cleaning up.

1:21.1

My first question for you is, is this a punishment or is this a reward?

1:26.7

I mean, I drive by, I think, punishment, but then it occurs to me this might be better

1:31.9

than sitting in jail.

...

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