In Keri Blakinger's memoir, the path from high-achieving teenager to prison to writer

NPR's Book of the Day

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Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Keri Blakinger says there are no rules behind bars. In 2010, she was arrested on a drug charge and spent two years in prison. And although that statement might sound counterintuitive, Blakinger says that inside the prison, no one is watching when it matters. In her memoir Corrections in Ink, she writes about her path from high-achieving teenager to incarcerated woman to reporter and writer. In an interview with Ailsa Chang on All Things Considered, she says reporting on the prison system has been meaningful because she gets to amplify the stories of those who are just where she used to be.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. The part of Carrie Blakinger's memoir,
0:08.1	where she writes about being arrested for the Tupperware full of heroin she had on her,
0:13.5	is filled with these specific details, the dragon print hoodie she was wearing, the song that was her
0:19.0	ringtone, newfound glories my friends over
0:21.4	you, the fritos she found on her chest after waking up in a holding cell. She's a reporter now
0:26.9	focusing on prisons and criminal justice, but her memoir, titled Corrections Inc. Traces her path
0:33.5	through the prison industrial complex. And in this interview with NPR's Elsa Chang, which, by the way, mentions suicide and self-harm,
0:41.5	Blakenture talks about how maddening being in prison is and how she hopes her reporting can make it maybe some bit less awful.
0:49.6	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:54.5	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
0:59.0	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:01.0	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:04.7	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:08.6	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:13.7	If you pay attention to news stories about prison life, you may notice one byline pop up a lot,
1:19.8	Carrie Blakinger. If you're familiar with her work, it's hard to ignore the connection she
1:24.8	seems to forge with the population she covers, her depth of
1:28.4	understanding. And maybe that is because this longtime prison reporter comes to her beat from a special
1:34.3	vantage point. She had been incarcerated herself for a couple years in New York for drug possession.
1:41.4	How Blakinger's life carved a path from Olympic figure skating dreams to drug addiction
1:46.6	and then to prison is told in wrenching detail in her new memoir, Corrections in Inc. Just to note,
1:53.6	this conversation will touch on some really hard topics, including some of the challenges
	...

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