Kite Line

Kite Line is a radio program devoted to prison issues around the Midwest and beyond. Behind the prison walls, a message is called a kite: whispered words, a note passed hand to hand, or a request submitted to the guards for medical care. Illicit or not, sending a kite means trusting that other people will bear it farther along till it reaches its destination. On the show, we hope to pass along words across the prison walls.

June 26, 2020: The High Stakes of Institutional Racism During COVID-19

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreThis week, we share a phone conversation between Kijana Tashiri Askari and C, one of their outside supporters. Askari is incarcerated in the California Medical Facility- a male-only state carceral medical institution.The recorded this conversation earlier this week, about the conditions Kijana and others are facing, including …

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June 19, 2020: Nothing Can Be Changed Until it is Faced

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 41.2MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreThe whole country is in upheaval as a vast Movement for Black Lives continues to challenge white supremacy and the institutions of policing and prison. As monuments fall and precincts are seized in Minneapolis to Seattle, the lies and hidden truths of American society are being revealed. …

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June 12, 2020: Beyond Reform

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 40.6MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreIn the wake of uprisings across the world in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, this week’s episode shares thoughts on these revolts and their demands, along with considerations on police reform. We broadcast a June 11th message from Marius …

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June 5, 2020: Re-Entry into an Uprising

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 43.7MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreOn this episode, we have a letter from a prisoner at Pendleton Correctional Facility about his experiences with COVID-19 there. We share a short PSA about street safety during protests, and a message from Keith “Malik” Washington. On June 3rd, Bloomington residents occupied the courthouse square in …

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May 29, 2020: The COVID Prison Project

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 33.6MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreThis week, we broadcast updates on a riot in Macon State Prison, and two calls from mothers of prisoners at Westville Correctional Facility. After a rebellion by prisoners on April 22, over a dozen prisoners have been moved to a new segregation unit and are being subjected …

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May 22, 2020: You Haven’t Demonstrated Enough For This Opportunity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 37.4MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreWelcome to the 200th episode of Kite Line. This week, we revisit the important intersection of incarceration and higher education. Barriers to higher education are a key way the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated are trapped by the system in a cycle of unemployment, low-wage work, and …

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May 15, 2020: Barriers to Higher Education

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 40.4MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreThis core of this week’s Kite Line is a conversation between Anastazia Schmid and Jennifer Fleming about trying to get an education before, during, and after incarceration. You’ve likely heard Anastazia before on Kite Line, both while she was inside at the Indiana Women’s Prison, and since …

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May 8, 2020: COVID-19 Kites

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 35.9MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreThe country might be locked down, but struggles inside prisons and out continue to develop chaotically and unexpectedly intersect with the COVID-19 crisis.  Prisoners in Stateville in Illinois report that they continue to suffer from a full lockdown, restricting their programming and access to phones.  Yet, guards …

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May 1, 2020: System of Lies

This week, we continue our coverage of the coronavirus within the prison system with three messages from the inside. First, we have some audio sent to us from Oakland IWOC, who recorded a statement from Eric Wayne, housed in the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. Afterwards, Abu Faheem Shabazz reports on the coronavirus situation in Westville Correctional Facility, and …

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April 24, 2020: The Deepening Crisis

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 37.9MB)Subscribe: RSS | MoreAcross the country, politicians and businessmen are calling for the economy to reopen, regardless of the consequences.  At the exact same time, the corona virus is spreading nearly uncontrolled inside America’s prisons and jails, with concentrations of infections spiking from Rikers Island in NY to the Marion …

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