Criminal justice reform and resilience are central in Albert Woodfox's 'Solitary'

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In an interview with the author of Solitary, the issue of criminal justice reform is central. Alfred Woodfox, who served 43 years in prison – most in solitary confinement, for a crime he says he didn't commit – died in August. He told NPR's Scott Simon that after his release, he struggled with claustrophobia because of the decades he spent in prison. This is an encore episode from February 2022.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book at the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh.
0:05.5	Alfred Woodfox spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement in prison for a wrongful
0:11.3	murder conviction. That's 40 years of spending 23 hours a day in a cell where if he spoke
0:18.4	up about his conditions, he'd be beaten up or tortured.
0:22.1	After he was released, he wrote this memoir called Solitary,
0:25.1	detailing his decades of claustrophobia, panic attacks,
0:28.1	and just the amount of sweat he'd shed pacing inside the cell.
0:32.6	Woodfox died in early August after complications from COVID,
0:36.1	so we wanted to play for you this interview he did with NPR Scott Simon about his book back in 2019.
0:41.8	It's a tough listen, but there are some glimmers of hope.
0:45.3	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:50.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
0:54.6	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:56.6	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:00.4	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:03.9	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:10.8	Albert Woodfox joins us now from the studios of WWNO and the World. wherever you get your podcasts. It too.
1:16.6	Albert Woodfox joins us now from the studios of WWNO in New Orleans, and I want to ask him to read a paragraph from the new book that he's written with Leslie George.
1:21.0	It's called Solitary.
1:23.7	Mr. Woodfox.
1:25.3	I pace the cell to think.
1:27.3	I pace to relieve tension.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.