prison reform

Today's Tory 'was it racist?' row centres a donor who's given the Conservatives more than ten million pounds.

The Guardian scoop revealed comments he made 5 years ago - centring on the now-suspended Labour MP Dianne Abbott whom he blamed for making him 'want to hate all black women'.

Rishi Sunak has called the comments 'clearly unacceptable' but refused to call them racist.

Is there any chance he'll chose to return the money? And why is the Tory party struggling with yet another case of the 'Lee Anderson's'.

Later, an exclusive: The prison in England where MORE inmates are on drugs than are NOT. What's going wrong with our prison system? And what's the knock-on effect?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Video Production: Rory Symon and Shane Fennelly

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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In the past 7 days Sir Keir Starmer has had to face down a leak over his big policy U-turn, a policy U-turn and the suspension of two Labour candidates for anti-Israel and/or anti-Semitic comments. A third person in the room at the time is, we understand, being 'spoken to'.

It's probably not been a great week for party morale - but has any of it hit Labour's poll lead?

And will any of it translate into actual voting in the by election results tomorrow? We talk to pollster Luke Tryl from More in Common.

Later - rats, open sewage, cockroaches and drugs. Chief Inspectorate of Prisons Charlie Taylor talks us through the worst report he's ever penned on our prison system as we ask whether the justice system or the accommodation limitations dictate who is put behind bars.

A Prison Service Spokesperson said:

“The findings of this inspection are unacceptable which is why we’re taking urgent action to address the concerns raised. This includes deploying extra frontline officers to reduce violence and improve safety, undertaking refurbishments to improve living conditions, and ensuring offenders get greater access to the education and skills they need to turn their backs on crime.”

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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Josh Dubin is the Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, a criminal justice reform advocate, and civil rights attorney.

https://tinyurl.com/4kb2y5hm

Bruce Bryan was recently released from prison after nearly 30 years and receiving clemency. Follow Bruce : @bruce.bryan24

Donate to Bruce's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/a1f61da1

Shane Gillis, Mark Normand, and Ari Shaffir are standup comedians, writers, and podcasters. Mark is the co-host of "Tuesdays with Stories" along with Joe List. His latest special, "Mark Normand: Out to Lunch," is available via YouTube. Ari is the host of "The Skeptic Tank." His most recent special, "Ari Shaffir: Double Negative," is available via Netflix. Shane is the co-host of "Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast" with Matt McCusker. His special "Shane Gillis: Live in Austin," is available via YouTube.

Today on the Matt Walsh Show, as the Derek Chauvin trial continues, we’ll try to sort through all of the issues related to George Floyd’s death. Was he actually murdered? Did it have anything to do with race? And, however he died, does he deserve to be memorialized and celebrated nationwide? Also Five Headlines including another vicious anti-Asian assault that’s being blamed on white supremacy, even though it wasn’t carried out by a white person. Plus, YouTube makes a move to protect the feelings of YouTube creators like myself, and AOC says you’re racist if you use the term “border surge.”

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Shaka Senghor (@ShakaSenghor) is a leading voice in criminal justice reform, the director of innovation and strategy at #Cut50, and the consulting producer for the OWN docuseries Released. He is also the author of Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison.

What We Discuss with Shaka Senghor:

• How Shaka's childhood neighborhood in Detroit quickly went from idyllic to nightmarish when the crack epidemic struck in the '80s (and what he spent his money on when he became a dealer).
• The assorted sources of trauma faced by kids who wind up in the drug-dealing lifestyle and why such a lifestyle is initially appealing to them -- in spite of exposing them to very adult consequences.
• Why the current opioid crisis may actually be instrumental in helping heal societal class and racial divides widened during the crack epidemic.
• Why removing the stigma of mental health treatment is crucial to breaking the cycles of recidivism in which young people often get trapped.
• The series of events that landed Shaka in prison for 19 years, how he made use of his time there, and what he's doing to help fix a very broken system.
• And much more...

Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/305

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Gymnast Simone Biles lands a historic dismount, questions swirl around Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed suicide, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley sits down with Trevor.

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Nadya Tolokonnikova (@tolokno) is one of feminist art punk collective Pussy Riot's most visible members, and she's the author of Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism.

What We Discuss with Nadya Tolokonnikova:

• The roots of Nadya's distrust of authority -- and why she became a headstrong activist against it at an age when many Americans are only beginning to discover themselves.
• What Pussy Riot's protest art aims to accomplish by openly defying such authority.
• What life in a Russian prison labor camp is really like and how Nadya and her bandmates survived their sentence for "hooliganism" there.
• How today's young people are making contributions to their communities in ways undreamt of just a generation ago (and often pulling bigger paychecks than their parents).
• The potential perils of shoplifting to survive for eight years and creating DIY music in a corrupt police state without a stunt double.
• And much more...

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Learn over 500 subjects (no tests or homework!) at The Great Courses Plus — including Boosting Your Emotional Intelligence. Listeners to this podcast can check out a free trial at thegreatcoursesplus.com/jordan!

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Full show notes and resources can be found here.

Coss Marte (@CossMarte) is the founder and CEO of ConBody, a NYC-based fitness studio that hires formerly incarcerated individuals to teach fitness classes, and author of ConBody: The Revolutionary Bodyweight Prison Boot Camp, Born from an Extraordinary Story of Hope.

What We Discuss with Coss Marte:

• How a 13-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic scaled up a $5 million per year drug business -- the Uber for cocaine.
• How Stephen King (probably not the one you're thinking of) brought this whole operation down, inadvertently leading to a domino effect of positive change beginning with Coss Marte.
• The power of mindset and fitness to stay sane and healthy behind bars -- where the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against personal improvement on any level.
• What Coss and ConBody Fitness are doing to help rehabilitate the incarcerated and break the cycle of recidivism so many fall into.
• How lessons learned from the illicit drug trade transferred to Coss' legitimate business and helped him build a bridge of understanding between the world's successful and its formerly incarcerated.
• And much more...

Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

Sign up for Six-Minute Networking -- our free networking and relationship development mini course -- at jordanharbinger.com/course! 

Full show notes and resources can be found here.

Jason Flom (@itsjasonflom) is the founder and CEO of Lava Records responsible for launching acts such as Katy Perry, Kid Rock, and Lorde, a philanthropist who has supported and championed various political and social causes, the host of podcast Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom, and the co-author of Lulu Is a Rhinoceros.

What We Discuss with Jason Flom:

• Why Jason has always rooted for the underdog -- from bullied siblings to sports teams to endangered species to the wrongfully incarcerated -- and how he's passed this sensibility along to the next generation of Floms.
• How one stays relevant in the entertainment industry, which is always asking: "What have you done for me lately?"
• The role relationships play at the top of the music game -- one of the most competitive industries on the planet.
• What we can learn from the wrongfully convicted, and why many of us are -- for the grace of good fortune -- just a hair away from a similar fate.
• Why Jason's bulldog is actually a rhinoceros and what he hopes this lesson will teach us about tolerance.
• And much more...

Sign up for Six-Minute Networking -- our free networking and relationship development mini course -- at jordanharbinger.com/course! 

Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

Full show notes and resources can be found here.

Imagine a concrete room, not much bigger than a parking space. You're in there 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the reality of solitary confinement at prisons across the United States. Keramet Reiter, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, says that while some inmates in solitary are dangerous, others are there because they're difficult for prisons to manage, or because of bureaucratic inertia. This week on Hidden Brain, we look at what happens in solitary confinement, and the psychological effects of being alone for long periods of time.

In our continuing exploration of crime and punishment, we take a look at the practice of solitary confinement. To be sure, it has its place in prisons, sometimes for protection of the inmates themselves. However, leaving people in solitary for weeks, months and even years is another thing. We explore this cruel and unusual punishment in today's episode.

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