Prison Sells Abolish Private Prisons

Join the Prison Sells crew as they welcome Dr. Suzanne Shanahan from the Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns. The group discusses some important questions surrounding human dignity, the refugee experience, serendipity and life choices.



Suzanne Shanahan is the Leo and Arlene Hawk Executive Director and professor of the practice at the Center for Social Concerns. She currently leads Virtues & Vocations, a national forum for scholars and practitioners across disciplines to consider how best to cultivate character and purpose in pre-professional and professional education. For 14 years before joining the center, Suzanne led the Kenan Institute for Ethics and more recently DukeEngage, Duke University’s signature civic engagement program. At Duke she founded the Kenan Refugee Project, a six-country, community-engaged research project on forced migration. Her current research focuses on forced migration and moral responsibility, which she will now continue at the center. Other current work explores the drivers of domestic child sex trafficking and dynamics of racial collective action in the United States and Europe. At Duke Suzanne also received the Robert B. Cox Distinguished Teaching Award and the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. She received her PhD in sociology from Stanford University.

Kate Boccia joins the Prison Sells Podcast to tell deeply moving story of how her son's experience in prison motivated her to become an advocate for those whose voices were not being heard. Using her deeply compassionate paradigm and ability to build bridges, Kate founded the National Incarceration Association and has grown it into an extremely effective advocacy organization.



Join us as we talk about deeply rooted problem in the prison system, how privilege affects that industry, working with diverse groups of individuals, and a theory of change grounded in humanization and grit.

Pamela Winn joins the Prison Sells crew to talk about the effects that the profit incentive can have on people who are locked up inside of private prisons. In particular, Pamela shares her story of being pregnant while inside a private prison facility, how private prisons shirk responsibility for those inside their walls, the devastating consequences for the people inside, and her advocacy work since being released.



Please join us for this powerful conversation!

D.Nash joins the Prison Sells team to talk about his inspirational journey to bring attention and solutions to gun violence, particularly in his home city of Chicago, Illinois.

The Prison $ells team is joined by Shane Bauer, an incredibly important investigative journalist, to talk about what the insatiable need to squeeze profit from the people inside private prisons means for those inside the walls: both the staff members and the people convicted of crimes. Shane wrote about his experience inside a Louisiana private prison for Mother Jones, and he later turned it into an incredible book: American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment.



Shane's story is captivating and courageous.

Rev. Dr. John H. Vaughn serves as the Executive Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which has long served as a hub and leader for civil rights movements in the United States. He works closely with the Church’s Senior Pastor and newest United States Senator, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock in managing the overall vision, ministries, and operations of this iconic, international congregation. Previously, Rev. Vaughn served for almost ten years as the Executive Vice President at Auburn Theological Seminary. Auburn is a national leadership development and research institute that equips leaders of faith and moral courage for multi-faith movements for justice.