Exploitation Nation, The Podcast, with Brittany Friedman

Brittany Friedman, Ph.D.
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Society & Culture
  • Monthly

Exploitation Nation is a mixtape for liberation. Every month it uncovers the hidden economy of extraction shaping American life. This narrative podcast digs into the systems designed to take and the people forced to pay, sometimes with their life, sometimes with their savings. Through storytelling, research, and frontline voices, host Brittany Friedman, Ph.D., exposes how exploitation operates in the shadows of everyday life, from prisons to workplaces to the digital world. If you’ve ever felt squeezed by the systems that insist you’re free, Exploitation Nation reveals why and more importantly, who’s benefiting. We expose the cost. captivemoneylab.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Nov 1

    “$70/Day to $1.8M: From Jail Fees to Immigration Fines w/ Public Justice’s Charles Moore”

    This month, Brittany sat down with Charles Moore, a senior attorney in Public Justice’s Debtors’ Prison Project, where he litigates on two fronts of the same fight: jail and prison pay-to-stay fees, and federal immigration fines. First, we dive into the case of Black Hawk County, Iowa. Walk out of jail there and you may be handed a bill: $70 for every day you were locked up, plus a $25 booking fee. Before you can get your belongings back, you’re told to sign a “confession of judgment,” a document that lets the county bypass a judge’s review. But, where does the money go? According to the lawsuit, partly to a sheriff’s gun range outfitted with cotton candy, laser tag, and ice cream machines. Charles and his team are challenging this system in federal court, and in May 2026 the Eighth Circuit revived the lawsuit’s core due process claim. Next, we learn that Charles is also the lead attorney on the Public Justice team that launched a class action against immigration fines that often exceed a shocking $1.8 million. As of July, more than 103,000 people had been assessed these fines, totaling $84 billion. This fall, a federal court paused ICE’s recoupment of the fines while the lawsuit moves forward. From a county jail to federal immigration enforcement, this episode surveys the current legal landscape of litigating against extraction. Resources https://www.publicjustice.net/case/roberts-v-thompson/ (Public Justice page for the Iowa jail fees case) https://noimmigrationfines.org/. (Public Justice page with resources for individuals wishing to challenge immigration fines) https://www.publicjustice.net/case/maria-l-v-noem/ (Public Justice page for immigration fines case) Thanks for listening to Exploitation Nation, The Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new episodes and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “$70/Day to $1.8M: From Jail Fees to Immigration Fines w/ Public Justice’s Charles Moore”

  2. Oct 1

    “What We’re Reading: Break the System by Susila Gurusami”

    We’re told the prison system is broken, but a new book by sociologist Dr. Susila Gurusami documents instead that the system is not broken at all but operating exactly how it was built to. This month, we sat down with Dr. Gurusami to discuss Break the System: Criminalized Black Mothers and the Reproductive Politics of Abolition, based on years of fieldwork in South Los Angeles. Her rigorous research and talent for storytelling provide a portrait into the lives of formerly incarcerated Black mothers, revealing how a multitude of state institutions collude to keep Black mothers from their families and in turn punish Black communities. Tune in as we discuss key themes in the book from “reproductive warfare” to “abolitionist motherwork,” and conclude with a look at how coalitions are currently mobilizing to keep their communities safe, demand funding for life-affirming institutions, and push back against the ongoing threat of prison expansion. Resources No New Prisons IL Coalition to Decarcerate IL What is a Feminist Jail & Why Shouldn’t We Fall For It? https://www.susilagurusami.com/ Break the System, by Susila Gurusami Thanks for listening to Exploitation Nation, The Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “What We’re Reading: Break the System by Susila Gurusami”

  3. Sep 1

    “What We’re Reading: Crime Fictions by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve”

    Since 1989, Cook County, the seat of Chicago and largest criminal court in the U.S., has produced 215 murder exonerations with roughly 113 of them tied to false confessions. For the Season 2 opener of Exploitation Nation, we sit down with Brown University sociologist Dr. Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, author of Crime Fictions: How Racist Lies Built a System of Mass Wrongful Convictions (Random House, 2026). The book details, through extensive research, the racist narratives police and prosecutors construct around Black children long before a jury ever hears the case. We discuss everything from police secret “street files” to in-custody torture and their role in the production of crime fictions. This book upends the common misconception that wrongful convictions are rare or the result of unintended consequences. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe Resources: Crime Fictions by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve Crook County by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve https://www.nicolevancleve.com/contact Wrongful Convictions, Equal Justice Initiative Innocence Project Thanks for listening to Exploitation Nation, The Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new episodes and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “What We’re Reading: Crime Fictions by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve”

  4. Jun 1

    “What We’re Reading: The Coroner’s Silence by Terence Keel”

    It’s the season finale of Exploitation Nation! To end season one, we have one more installment of our “What We’re Reading” series. What does it mean to die in police custody, and how are coroners implicated in shaping accountability and uplifting systems of power? This episode, Brittany sits down to chat with Terence Keel, author of “The Coroner’s Silence,” unpacking how written onto the bodies of the vulnerable is a hidden system of silence that perpetuates state violence. Stay tuned for the Truth In 10, where our podcast correspondent, Olivia, hits rewind on some past moments this season. Thanks for listening this season, and be sure to follow us on Instagram, BlueSky, Substack, and X at CaptiveMoneyLab. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe Resources: https://laist.com/news/education/ucla-terence-keel-new-book-coroners-silence-students https://www.ucla.edu/research/article/terrence-keel https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/08/07/deaths-in-custody-reporting-act-problems https://www.incarcerationtransparency.org/ Thanks for listening to Exploitation Nation! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “What We’re Reading: The Coroner’s Silence by Terence Keel”

  5. May 4

    “Extinction is a Choice”

    In a single week this past March, federal courts saved the Florida panther’s habitat and restored the Endangered Species Act (ESA), after seven years of litigation. The very next day, a panel of federal cabinet officials called the “God Squad” voted unanimously to exempt the entire Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry from that same law, citing “national security.” This month we tell both stories. The wins: a federal appeals court blocking a 10,264-acre development on top of panther habitat, the ESA getting most of its legal teeth back, anti-wildlife riders stripped from the 2026 funding bill, and the slow recovery of the North Atlantic right whale after years of advocacy. The exploitation: $8 million in oil industry lobbying, 17 anti-wildlife riders that did make it into law, a 26% gutting of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a Gulf whale species with fewer than 100 left on Earth currently fighting for its life. We close with a discussion of what the concept of “shifting baselines” means for how environmental degradation becomes normalized over time within each subsequent human generation. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe Resources: “We Won Back Endangered Species Act Protections” “U.S. exempts oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for ‘national security’” “North Atlantic ‘right whale’ population shows recovery” “Lawsuit Seeks to Protect Endangered Florida Panthers From Massive Development” “The shifting baseline syndrome as a connective concept for more informed and just responses to global environmental change” Thanks for listening to Exploitation Nation, The Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “Extinction is a Choice”

  6. Apr 1

    “Urban Farming w/ Crop Swap LA”

    In this episode, our host, Dr. Brittany Friedman, sat down with Crop Swap LA’s founder & executive director, Jamiah Hargins, to discuss the intersections of urban farming, food insecurity, and sustainability. The two discuss Crop Swap LA initiatives to address food insecurity and provide healthy food options for LA neighborhoods. In the Truth in 10, our correspondent, Olivia, takes us IRL to one of Crop Swap LA’s volunteer events on an early March Sunday morning. We hear from some volunteers about what inspired them to volunteer and, of course, answer the hard-hitting question: What’s your favorite fruit or vegetable? Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe Resources: https://www.cropswapla.org/ https://www.ronfinley.com/ https://civileats.com/2018/06/04/a-reparations-map-for-farmers-may-help-right-historical-wrongs/ Reparations & Rematriation Mapping Tool https://blackfoodjustice.org/ https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/food-and-nutrition-insecurity-linger-in-la-county/ Thanks for reading Exploitation Nation! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “Urban Farming w/ Crop Swap LA”

  7. Mar 1

    “What We’re Reading: The Prison Industry by Bianca Tylek”

    In the second installment of our “What We’re Reading” series, we examine the political economy of confinement as seen through incarceration and immigration detention and the expanding role of private prison corporations contracting with government agencies–a multi-billion dollar industry. Drawing on abolitionist policy frameworks, this conversation features an interview with Bianca Tylek, author of “The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits,” and Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises. We break down recent data showing dramatic year-over-year profit increases for major contractors, explore ongoing legal disputes shaping forced labor and modern-day slavery, and what you can do to support campaigns to abolish the prison industry. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe Resources: https://worthrises.org/ https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.html https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-rules-against-private-prison-firm-alleged-to-have-forced-immigrant-detainees-to-work-for-1-a-day https://theconversation.com/we-study-mass-surveillance-for-social-control-and-we-see-trump-laying-the-groundwork-to-contain-people-of-color-and-immigrants-221073 https://abolitionistfutures.com/latest-news/practising-everyday-abolition This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “What We’re Reading: The Prison Industry by Bianca Tylek”

  8. Feb 1

    “What We’re Reading: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell”

    What if “doing nothing” isn’t being lazy or apathetic, but an intentional political practice? In this episode, we unpack Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing and place it in conversation with Black feminist thinkers like Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and bell hooks. We explore attention as a site of extraction and what it means to resist productivity, visibility, and constant availability in a world that profits from all three. We ask how care, slowness, and most importantly, unavailability can be tools for survival and imagining something more sustainable and authentic. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia walks us through Black, queer, and POC independent booksellers around the country that you must visit. Resources: https://www.standwithminnesota.com https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org http://www.ilrc.org/community-resources/ https://nipnlg.org Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “What We’re Reading: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell”

  9. Jan 1

    "When Silence is Profitable"

    What do the cases of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein reveal about power, silence, and cover-ups? In this episode, we break down how allegations of sexual and gender-based violence can circulate for years without consequence, how institutions conceal harm until they are forced to be accountable, and why such violence is publicly exposed only when silence is no longer profitable. We also discuss the new Netflix documentary series executive-produced by 50 Cent about “Diddy,” its social media reception, and how the series shines a light on the mechanisms of complicity that allow exploitation to persist for several decades. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia walks us through the top things she learned from this new documentary. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    "When Silence is Profitable"

  10. 11/30/2025

    “The Price of a Cell”

    Tianna Laboy thought jail would cost her time. She did not expect it to cost her money, let alone the future of her child. In this episode, we follow her story and speak with April D. Fernandes, Ph.D., to uncover how confinement has become a profit center and what that means not only for the people inside, but for the little known origin story of America. This episode is a cinematic exploration of what it means to survive in a system where prison time is treated like a hotel bill. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia answers the phone lines to understand what everyday people from all walks of life know about prison pay-to-stay. Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

    “The Price of a Cell”
  • 10 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Exploitation Nation is a mixtape for liberation. Every month it uncovers the hidden economy of extraction shaping American life. This narrative podcast digs into the systems designed to take and the people forced to pay, sometimes with their life, sometimes with their savings. Through storytelling, research, and frontline voices, host Brittany Friedman, Ph.D., exposes how exploitation operates in the shadows of everyday life, from prisons to workplaces to the digital world. If you’ve ever felt squeezed by the systems that insist you’re free, Exploitation Nation reveals why and more importantly, who’s benefiting. We expose the cost. captivemoneylab.substack.com

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