Why are men jailed at US prison setting themselves alight?

The Take

Imprisoned people are setting themselves on fire at a US jail. At Red Onion State Prison in Virginia, we examine the racism and abuse that leave them feeling they have no other way to protest. Are these issues isolated to Red Onion, or do they reflect a deeper, systemic problem within US prisons?

In this episode:

  • Noel Hanrahan (@PrisonRadio), legal director for Redwood Justice Fund and co-director of Prison Radio

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Sonia Bhagat, and Ashish Malhotra with Sarí el-Khalili, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Duha Mosaad, Khaled Soltan, Hagir Saleh, Cole Van Miltenburg, and our host, Malika Bilal. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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