Most reporters who cover America's sprawling prison system have to cover it from afar.

They will never know the experience of being arrested, of being locked up, of being put

in solitary confinement.

But there is one reporter on the beat who brings a unique background, unique experience

to her job.

She was an inmate, and she's now a reporter, causing reforms to the criminal justice system.

So what can we learn from her?

And why did she decide to write it all down in a new memoir?

Well, those are a couple of the questions for this week's Reliable Sources podcast.

Let's cue that music.

I'm Brian Stelter, and this weekly podcast is our chance to go more in-depth with media

leaders and newsmakers exploring the story behind the story.

And Carrie Blakeinger has a heck of a story to tell.

She is currently a reporter at the Marshall Project, covering the criminal justice system,

focusing on incarcerated life, what it's like inside penitentiaries, what it's like

for the prisoners and the people guarding them.

She has also worked at the Houston Chronicle and other publications.

You're about to hear all about them.

And she's the author of a brand new book titled Corrections in Inc.

She says that on her first day in jail, a woman urged her to take notes to write down

everything she was seen and then write a book someday.

And now a decade later, that's exactly what she has done.

...