Welcome to The Takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris Perry. It's good to have you with us as we

continue to move toward our final episode on June 2nd. Now during these weeks, we're taking you

behind the scenes at The Takeaway and introducing you to the producers on our team.

We're going to highlight some of the great stories they've brought to us.

Today, I'm joined by an award-winning sonic storyteller who's crafted some of the most complex, sophisticated, and memorable narratives that you've enjoyed here on The Takeaway.

Welcome back to this side of the mic, Mary's Stefan Hagan.

Thanks, Melissa.

All right, Mary, for listeners, radio can feel like magic, but actually it's a ton of work.

So what are some of the tasks that you do as a producer?

Every day is different, but I guess the main things are finding the guests for every interview,

researching the stories, we prep you, our host with all the info, we write the scripts.

So often the words that listeners are hearing Melissa say on air are written by me or another

producer.

And, oh yeah, we edit the tape, which is sometimes my favorite part. It's

pretty zen, actually. Now, you've been with the takeaway for just over a year now. Yeah, I started

last May when I was hired as a temp, and I was told at the time that I was just going to be there

for the month, but I kept asking to stay, and you guys kept keeping me. And then in October,

I officially became a permanent producer. So here we are. And thank goodness, because if you weren't here,

I don't know where we would be. What have you been up to? There are a few beats and kinds of stories

that I've kept coming back to over the past year. One of those is mass incarceration.

And I think it's really necessary when we talk about the criminal legal system

to hear from people who've actually experienced it.

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