How to Escape Alcatraz

American History Hit

History Hit

History, America

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What was it like to live on Alcatraz? And was it possible to escape? In this episode, Don speaks to a historian with the unique experience of growing up there.

Jolene Babyak's father worked on Alcatraz during its 29 years as a federal maximum-security prison. She and Don discuss the origins of the prison, the people who were imprisoned there and the escape of 1962.

Jolene is the author of a number of books about the history of Alcatraz, including 'Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz'.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to explore even more history? Sign up to History Hit, where you will discover history from around the world.
0:07.1	From the American Revolution to prehistoric Scotland, there is plenty to discover. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries, with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient
0:22.4	world to World War II. Just visit history hit.com slash subscribe to bring the past alive.
0:34.3	It is night here at this federal penitentiary.
0:38.7	Outside, strong winds howl, whistling through cracked windows
0:42.9	as the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay surge against the rocks.
0:48.1	Inside, here in the cell blocks, prison guards do their evening bed check,
0:53.6	pointing flashlights into cells at the
0:55.8	shapes of inmates curled beneath their blankets. Throughout the building, barred doors clang shut.
1:03.6	B-block, all is calm, just an ordinary night, except, listen, closely, you hear that? Beneath the wind and waves, past the footfalls of
1:14.5	the guards, there's a shuffling, a grunting, feet scraping on cement, hands grasping metal,
1:22.8	careful moves higher than higher in the space between the blocks. It is men climbing. It is the sound
1:32.5	of an escape. Hello, I'm Don Wildman. Welcome to American History Hit. Where today I'm
1:39.5	joined by Jolene Babiak, author of Breaking the Rock, the Great Escape from Alcatraz, among other titles.
1:46.4	Today, we'll get behind the prison walls to find out how Alcatraz became the dark symbol it is today.
1:52.6	What was it like to be a prisoner out there?
1:55.4	What was the world of Alcatraz?
1:57.5	And did anyone really escape, as myth and legend would have us believe?
2:12.4	Jolene Babiak, welcome to American History Hit.
2:15.0	Thank you very much.
2:15.8	You have a very personal relationship with the island of Alcatraz, more so than most people.
2:21.5	You lived on the island in the mid-50s, and then again in 1962, two chapters as a child.
	...

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