Podcast appearances and mentions of bianca tylek

We're joined today by Bianca Tylek, the founder and director of Worth Rises, an advocacy non-profit that works to dismantle the prison industry and end the exploitation of its targets. She's also the author of the newly released book, The Prison Industry – How It Works and Who Profits. Buy The Prison Industry: https://worthrises.org/theprisonindustry Follow on Social: https://x.com/WorthRises https://bsky.app/profile/worthrises.bsky.social https://x.com/BiancaTylek Music: Airglow - Spliff and Wesson (CC-BY) Subscribe on Patreon to support making this show, get extra episodes, and listen to our entire back catalog. patreon.com/wetwired

This week on Everyday Injustice we speak with Bianca Tylek from WorthRises. In her new book The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits, Bianca Tylek pulls back the curtain on the vast network of corporations, investors, and government actors that profit from human incarceration. Drawing on her background in both Wall Street and public interest law, Tylek reveals how the $80 billion prison economy monetizes every aspect of imprisonment—from phone calls to healthcare—and disproportionately exploits Black, brown, and low-income communities. While private prisons are often the face of the system, Tylek emphasizes they represent only a fraction of the problem. Far more insidious are the industries that operate within prisons, profiting off captive markets with little oversight. The book traces financial connections to powerful private equity firms like H.I.G. Capital and Platinum Equity, which invest heavily in prison telecom and healthcare services, often delivering substandard care while reaping massive profits. Tylek recounts organizing divestment campaigns, including one in which a public school worker demanded her pension not be invested in incarceration. With the looming possibility of renewed mass immigration enforcement and expanded detention under a second Trump administration, Tylek warns that these financial actors are preparing for a “gold rush” fueled by human suffering. Yet the book isn't just an exposé—it's a blueprint for resistance. Tylek highlights divestment campaigns, legislative advocacy, and public pressure as tools to make incarceration less profitable and more transparent. Through vivid storytelling and firsthand accounts, The Prison Industry humanizes those caught in this web of exploitation and urges readers to see incarceration not as an inevitable system, but as a constructed one that can be dismantled. Tylek's message is clear: “Justice and profit are incompatible.”

The fingerprints of antebellum slavery can be found all over the modern prison system, from who is incarcerated to the methods used behind bars to repress prisoners. Like its antecedent system, mass incarceration also fulfills the function of boosting corporate profits to the tune of $80 billion a year. Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises, joins Rattling the Bars to discuss her organization's efforts to combat prison profiteering across the country, and expose the corporations plundering incarcerated people and their communities to line the pockets of their shareholders.Producer: Cameron GranadinoHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on BlueskyLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

The fingerprints of antebellum slavery can be found all over the modern prison system, from who is incarcerated to the methods used behind bars to repress prisoners. Like its antecedent system, mass incarceration also fulfills the function of boosting corporate profits to the tune of $80 billion a year. Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises, joins Rattling the Bars to discuss her organization's efforts to combat prison profiteering across the country, and expose the corporations plundering incarcerated people and their communities to line the pockets of their shareholders.Producer: Cameron GranadinoHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterFollow us on BlueskyLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Bianca Tylek, founder and executive director of Worth Rises, joins Karen Conti to talk about how inmates are being used to fight wildfires.  They also discuss why prison activists say this violates the anti-slavery provisions of the 13th Amendment.

Founder and executive director of Worth Rises, Bianca Tylek, shares her thoughts about how inmates are serving their time on the front lines of fighting the wildfires and the importance of ending exploitation by the prison industry.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

The call to end modern-day slavery and the prison industrial complex is gaining momentum because of organizers committed to realize the dream of abolition. At upEND, we understand that the demand to end incarceration is deeply linked to the movement to end family policing.  Nearly half of the people in state prisons are parents to children under 18, which pushes thousands of kids into the foster system while also destroying their support systems.  Then, one in three families dealing with incarceration goes into debt trying to stay in touch with their loved ones due to predatory systems profiting from imprisonment. Our episode guest works to end this cruel practice and keep families connected.  Episode Guest:  Bianca Tylek is one of the nation's leading experts on the prison industry and the Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a national organization working to end the financial incentives for incarceration.  Bianca is a leader in the national movement to make prison and jail communication free, which has saved families more than $400 million and generated two billion additional minutes of call time to date. She also leads the #EndTheException campaign to end prison slavery.  Episode Notes: Support the work of upEND: upendmovement.org/donate Read “Both sides of the bars: How mass incarceration punishes families” by Prison Policy Initiative.  Visit worthrises.org to support their work and subscribe to their newsletter.  Follow @WorthRises on Twitter and Instagram.  Follow Bianca Tylek on Twitter.  Bianca mentions the letter archive from #EndTheException.  To learn more about the #EndTheException campaign to end prison slavery follow @endtheexception on Instagram and visit endtheexception.com to take action. Read “The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits” by Bianca Tylek and Worth Rises.  Credits:  Hosted by Josie Pickens and Jaison Oliver Produced by Sydnie Mares Mixed by Luke Brawner

Season 5 Episode 19 dives into a range of thought-provoking topics, from the multibillion-dollar US prison industry and strategies for dismantling it, to the importance of embracing simplicity in life. With discussions on resiliency, prayer for protection and blessings, and motivational messages, this episode offers a blend of introspection and inspiration. Featuring empowering music from artists like Ledisi and Seyi Vibez, as well as TED Talks addressing societal issues, this episode encourages reflection and action towards personal growth and social change. TUNE IN NOW. The VIBEZ are already set and unmatched. NOW PLAYING ON IHEARTRADIO AND ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS!!!#PositiveEnergyGenerations #SocialChange #PrisonReform #Simplicity #Resilience #Motivation #Empowerment #Blessings #Inspiration

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Bianca Tylek is the Founder of Worth Rises, a multi-million dollar non-profit that's dismantling the prison industry. Here's what you're going to learn from Bianca: Why your business has a greater responsibility beyond the numbers. How to listen and communicate with those you serve. How to stay accountable to your mission without engaging in saviorism. How to avoid scaling bad business practices. How to take a meaningful stand so your business isn't complicit or actively engaging in harmful business practices. Get Sh!t Done & Grow Your Business Daily: Join the Tribe HERE Get Free Traction Resources: Access our Traction Library HERE

On this episode, Yvette interviews Bianca Tylek, the founder and executive director of Worth Rises, a nonprofit aimed at dismantling the prison industry by exposing who grossly profits from incarceration. They discussed how people power will always be the engine of abolition, the relationship between an access to phones campaign and the larger goal of abolition, and encourage people to check out the Worth Rises 101 curriculum on the prison industry and profits.  https://worthrises.org/thecurriculum (https://worthrises.org/thecurriculum) 

Bianca Tylek serves as the founder and executive director of Worth Rises, which focuses on the impact that the for-profit prison industry has on our community and society.She is one of the nation's foremost experts on the prison industry and a leader in the national prison phone justice movement.

This week, our guest is Bianca Tylek, who fills us in about the prison phone industry. GTL and Securus among others profit off of prisoners and their families by charging them exorbitant fees for access to the phone lines which are so key for surviving prison. Recent coverage confirming that Sesame Street had entered a …

This week, we sample a few of our favorite episodes on the important topic of criminal justice. We start with Bianca Tylek who gives us a history lesson on how today's criminal justice system evolved from slavery and the Black Codes. Then, we hear from Jason Flom on wrongful convictions and the sheer scale of our carceral state. Finally, we close out with the story of Adnan Kahn who was imprisoned under The Felony Murder Rule and then worked to overturn that same legislation. Follow Radical Ones on social media: @RadicalOnesPod on Twitter @RadicalOnesPodcast on Instagram Radical Ones on Facebook Sign up for the Radical Ones Newsletter at www.RadicalOnes.co Support the podcast on Patreon

On this Summer Friday, we've put together some of our favorite recent interviews, including: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist and CBS News analyst, talks about the many other moments in United States history, besides the massacre in a Black neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921, where White Americans committed organized acts of terror seeking the destruction of Black communities and neighborhoods. Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst and author of Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department (HarperCollins, 2021) talks about his new book examining the Bill Barr era at the DOJ, plus offers analysis of current legal issues. People behind bars are six times more likely to experience food poisoning than those on the outside. Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises's executive director, and Leslie Soble, a research fellow at Impact Justice, non-profit innovation and research center working towards a more restorative and humane justice system, talk about how companies that provide food to jails and prisons stay profitable by cutting corners. In a heat wave, shade from trees can be life saving. Alejandra Borunda, former climate scientist and a National Geographic writer on climate change, adaptation, and the environment, explains how redlining and other racist practices mean in many American cities, communities of color often have less access to shade, and what can be done to fix that as the planet continues to warm. Jessica Hopper, music critic, producer and author of several books, including an expanded second edition of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic (MCD × FSGO, 2021), discusses how Joni Mitchell's 1971 album "Blue" was shaped by its time and has influenced music for generations to come.   These interviews were edited slightly for time, the original versions are available here: The 'Other' Tulsas (June 7, 2021) Bill Barr and the Law (July 20, 2021) The Injustice of Prison Food (April 5, 2021) Why Shade is an Equity Issue (June 29, 2021) Iconic at 50: Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' (July 2, 2021)

A phone call to a US prison or jail can cost up to a dollar per minute -- a rate that forces one in three families with incarcerated loved ones into debt. In this searing talk about mass incarceration, criminal justice advocate and TED Fellow Bianca Tylek exposes the predatory nature of the billion-dollar prison telecom industry and presents straightforward strategies to dismantle the network of corporations that has a financial interest in seeing more people behind bars for longer periods of time.

A phone call to a US prison or jail can cost up to a dollar per minute -- a rate that forces one in three families with incarcerated loved ones into debt. In this searing talk about mass incarceration, criminal justice advocate and TED Fellow Bianca Tylek exposes the predatory nature of the billion-dollar prison telecom industry and presents straightforward strategies to dismantle the network of corporations that has a financial interest in seeing more people behind bars for longer periods of time.

A phone call to a US prison or jail can cost up to a dollar per minute -- a rate that forces one in three families with incarcerated loved ones into debt. In this searing talk about mass incarceration, criminal justice advocate and TED Fellow Bianca Tylek exposes the predatory nature of the billion-dollar prison telecom industry and presents straightforward strategies to dismantle the network of corporations that has a financial interest in seeing more people behind bars for longer periods of time.

In this episode Amira Rose Davis interviews Bianca Tylek, Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a non-profit advocacy organization dismantling the prison industrial complex. They discuss Worth Rises' recent prison phone justice action on Mother's Day at a Detroit Pistons game to call out (again) Pistons' owner Tom Gores and his telecom company that profits from overpriced prison phone calls. They talk about the sacrifices families make to pay for these phone calls that are the only lifeline to their loved ones who are incarcerated.  This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network. For show notes, transcripts, and more info about BIAD, check out our website: www.burnitalldownpod.com To help support the Burn It All Down podcast, please consider becoming a patron: www.patreon.com/burnitalldown For BIAD merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/burn-it-all-down/ Find us on Twitter: twitter.com/BurnItDownPod; Facebook: www.facebook.com/BurnItAllDownPod/; and Instagram: www.instagram.com/burnitalldownpod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amira Rose Davis, Shireen Ahmed and Jessica Luther start the show with the most random thing they've seen at a sporting event. Then they cover the latest on the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics. Will they happen?! If so, How?! They talk about Japan's low vaccination rate and overburdened medical system, the IOC offering the vaccine to competitors and how impossible it feels to determine fairness.   Following the main segment, Amira teases her interview with Bianca Tylek, Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises about national prison phone justice. Then sports' latest garbage gets torched on the Burn Pile. Next they lift up the people and projects shining brightly, including Torchbearer of the Week: 144, the documentary about last year's WNBA bubble, and Executive Producer Chiney Ogwumike. They wrap up the show with what's good in their lives and what sport they are watching this week.  This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network. For show notes, transcripts, and more info about BIAD, check out our website: www.burnitalldownpod.com To help support the Burn It All Down podcast, please consider becoming a patron: www.patreon.com/burnitalldown For BIAD merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/burn-it-all-down/ Find us on Twitter: twitter.com/BurnItDownPod; Facebook: www.facebook.com/BurnItAllDownPod/; and Instagram: www.instagram.com/burnitalldownpod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. Mass incarceration is not only a racial justice and civil rights issue—it is also an investment issue. Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Elizabeth Parisian, assistant director of research and strategic initiatives at American Federation of Teachers (AFT), talk about how our money—from pension funds to retirement accounts—is tied up in the prison industry, and whether there’s anything we can do to take control and change course. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion HERE.

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. As the idea of mass incarceration becomes increasingly less popular, some have pointed to alternatives like diversion programs and electric monitoring. Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Vincent Schiraldi, co-director of the Columbia University Justice Lab and former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, talk about the private companies that are creating a space for themselves with these so-called alternative monitoring models and take your calls. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion HERE.

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. Today: Private transportation companies that contract with jails and prisons are often paid by the mile, which can incentivize longer routes, avoiding stops and ignoring the critical needs of passengers, which has had deadly consequences in some cases. Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Alysia Santo, reporter for The Marshall Project, talk about the business of prison transportation and take your calls. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion HERE.

A year after returning home from prison, formerly incarcerated people have a mortality rate nearly four times the national average. Incarcerated people who are sick or injured are often treated by for-profit healthcare companies that frequently fail patients by tending to their profits instead. On Today's Show: Dr. Homer Venters, clinical associate professor at NYU College of Global Public Health and also newly appointed member of the Biden/Harris COVID 19 Health Equity Task Force, and Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, describe how the for profit healthcare system within jails and prisons often fail patients by ignoring preventative care and neglecting to offer treatments that might hurt their bottom line.

A year after returning home from prison, formerly incarcerated people have a mortality rate nearly four times the national average. Dr. Homer Venters, clinical associate professor at NYU College of Global Public Healthand also newly appointed member of the Biden/Harris COVID 19 Health Equity Task Force, and Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, describe how the for profit healthcare system within jails and prisons often fail patients by ignoring preventative care and neglecting to offer treatments that might hurt their bottom line.

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. Today: People behind bars are six times more likely to experience food poisoning than those on the outside. Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Leslie Soble, a research fellow at Impact Justice, non-profit innovation and research center working towards a more restorative and humane justice system, talk about how companies that provide food to jails and prisons stay profitable by cutting corners.  Read Impact Justice's report: Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison.  EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion HERE.

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. This Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Paul Wright, founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center, and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), explain how private companies that contract with jails and prisons can make money by offering financial services to incarcerated people who don’t have other choices.  EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion HERE.

Hey everyone, Mike Novogratz here. My latest guest on Next with Novo is an absolute rock star of the criminal justice reform space, Executive Director of non-profit advocacy group Worth Rises, Bianca Tylek. Born to a family of immigrants, Bianca turned around a rough upbringing that exposed her to the troubles of the juvenile system. At a young age, Bianca suffered an extreme traumatic event, further exposing her to the effect of crime and injustice on young people and their families. Bianca eventually turned things around and found her footing in higher education, graduating from Columbia University, setting her up for a successful career on Wall Street before getting an additional degree from Harvard Law. She eventually transitioned into the non-profit space, using her finance and legal expertise to challenge institutions that profit off of the prison industry and structures like solitary confinement and pre-trial bail. Bianca is a fighter through and through and joined me for a powerful conversation about her current reform work, where she finds drive and inspiration, and some of the most significant issues currently being focused on at Worth Rises. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube and Apple Podcasts channels so you don't miss out on future episodes, and follow me: Twitter: https://twitter.com/novogratz YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/mikenovo/ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sdPneD Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3s74l5Y Next with Novo is the go-to resource for what's new and what's next. In this series, Mike Novogratz, influential investor, Wall Street Veteran, and CEO at Galaxy Digital, invites viewers to learn with him from the brightest minds behind disruptive businesses, prolific social movements, and technologies powering permissionless innovation. This podcast was recorded on March 3, 2021. The Next with Novo podcast is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this podcast constitutes an offer to buy or sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, any securities. The information in the podcast does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. The host is an affiliate of Galaxy Digital (host and Galaxy Digital together, the “Parties”), and the podcast represents the opinions of the host and/or guest and not necessarily that of Galaxy Digital. The Parties do not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information therein. Each of the Parties expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to or resulting from the use of this information. Certain information in the podcast may have been obtained from published and non-published sources and has not been independently verified. The Parties may buy, sell or hold investments in some of the companies, digital assets or protocols discussed in this podcast. Except where otherwise indicated, the information in this video is based on matters as they exist as of the date of preparation and will not be updated.

Every Tuesday evening through May 4th, The Greene Space and the non-profit advocacy organization Worth Rises are holding virtual panel discussions about the business side of the prison industry, asking: who profits when people get put away? We're previewing those discussions with a weekly segment here on The Brian Lehrer Show. This week, incarcerated people, their families and other allies have been fighting for what they call “phone justice” for years. Calls can cost $1 a minute in some facilities, and the phone companies that contract with prisons and jails make big profits.  Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, and Ulandis Forte, an activist and grandson of Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed, the namesake of the prison phone justice legislation, talk about why the phone companies can charge so much and what activists are doing to try to make a change. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion on phone justice HERE.

We've discussed the prison problem before, but today we tackle it from a different angle. Today's guest is Bianca Tylek, and she's the Executive Director of Worth Rises. She talks to Xander about how prisons and capitalism are intertwined. Bianca tells us what we don't know about the $80 billion prison industry. Follow Bianca and Worth Rises: Twitter @BiancaTylek Instagram @biancatylek Visit the Worth Rises website Twitter @WorthRises Instagram @WorthRises Facebook @WorthRises Follow WWDK on social media: @WWDKPod on Twitter @WWDKPod on Instagram WWDK on Facebook Sign up for the WWDK Newsletter at www.WWDKPod.com Support the podcast on Patreon And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

The relationship between criminal justice and technology is complicated, especially given that the tools marketed to law enforcement often perpetuate racial biases in mass incarceration. On Today's Show:Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, talk about the data and information systems that track individuals in the criminal legal system.

The Brian Lehrer Show and The Greene Space have launched a new series called Punishment and Profit. Each week we examine one aspect of the business side of the prison industry, and ask: who stands to gain when people get put away?   This week we talk to Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, about the data and information systems that track individuals in the criminal legal system. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion on data and information systems HERE. Hosted by The Greene Space and Worth Rises.  

The Brian Lehrer Show and The Greene Space have launched a new series called Punishment and Profit. Each week we examine one aspect of the business side of the prison industry, and ask: who stands to gain when people get put away?  This week we talk to Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and WNYC/Gothamist reporter George Joseph, about the equipment and supplies corporations that provide nearly everything used in prisons and jails from desks and uniforms to restraint jackets and tear gas.  EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion on prison equipment HERE. Hosted by The Greene Space and Worth Rises.  

When companies sell supplies to prisons, does their influence over inmates' lives stop with the inventory? On Today's Show:Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and WNYC/Gothamist reporter George Joseph, talk about the equipment and supplies corporations that provide nearly everything used in prisons and jails from desks and uniforms to restraint jackets and tear gas.

The 13th Amendment removed slavery from our laws. Except as punishment for a crime. Do mass incarceration, prison labor and the profits it generates add up to modern day slavery? On Today's Show:Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley talks about his "Abolition Amendment" which would seek to close the "slavery loophole" in the 13th amendment, and Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, talks about programs that require incarcerated people to work for little or no pay.

The Brian Lehrer Show and The Greene Space have launched a new series about the business side of the prison industry. Each week we examine one aspect of the $80 billion dollar prison industrial complex, and ask: who profits when people get put away? This week we talk with Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, about programs that require incarcerated people to work for little or no pay, and with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley about his Abolition Amendment which would seek to close the "slavery loophole" in the 13th amendment. 

The Brian Lehrer Show and The Greene Space have launched a new series about the business side of the prison industry. Each week we examine one aspect of the $80 billion dollar prison industrial complex, and ask: who profits when people get put away? This week we talk about personnel and companies that contract with prisons to provide training for correctional staff with Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Insha Rahman, Vice President of Advocacy and Partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice, one of the largest justice reform organizations in the country. EVENT, 7pm: Sign up for Tuesday's live virtual panel discussion on prison personnel HERE. Hosted by The Greene Space and Worth Rises.    

On today's show, our guest is Bianca Tylek, Venezia Michalsen, and Jewu Richardson Bianca Tylek Founder & Executive Director, Worth Rises Bianca is the Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a national criminal justice organization working to dismantle the prison industry and end the exploitation of those it targets, namely Black and Brown people. Bianca is one of the nation’s leading experts on and advocates against the prison industry. She led the first successful campaign in the country to make jail phone calls free, blocked a major merger in the prison telecom market, and denied prison profiteers millions of investment dollars. Every year, under her leadership, Worth Rises publishes the innovative research about the prison industry, including the nation’s largest dataset of corporate prison profiteers. In just three years, her work has cost the industry and its investors over a billion dollars, and saved communities tormented by incarceration millions. Bianca is a Draper Richard Kaplan Entrepreneur and has previously been awarded fellowships by TED, Art For Justice, Equal Justice Works, Harvard University, Ford Foundation, Paul & Daisy Soros, and Education Pioneers. Before committing her career to justice, Bianca worked in financial services at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. Bianca holds a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Dr. Venezia Michalsen is an American intersectional feminist criminologist whose work focuses on gender and imprisonment and reentry from incarceration. Venezia received her B.A. in 1998 from Barnard College and her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (2007) from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She was the Director of Analysis and Client Information Systems (ACIS) at the Women’s Prison Association until she began her career as an academic in the Justice Studies Department at Montclair State University (MSU) in 2008. She is currently an Associate Professor of Justice Studies at MSU. Venezia interrogates the use of incarceration as a response to women’s survival strategies in the face of childhood and adult abuse. She also focuses on women’s experiences of re-entry to the community from prison and jail, and in particular on the role of children in women’s desistance from criminal behavior after incarceration. Her first book, Mothering and Desistance in Re-Entry was published in 2019. She is under contract with the University of California Press for her second book. Always an advocate for women who come in contact with the criminal justice system, Venezia’s more recent work has involved fighting for abolitionist policies in her home state of Connecticut. Venezia is the mother of a nine-year-old autistic boy, and her advocacy work for him and other children in special education has led to the formation of Special Education PTA in her town and she is working to increase police training on interactions with disabled people. In her free time, she loves to ride her bicycle, hike at Sleeping Giant State Park, and lift heavy weights. Jewu Richardson -Co Director CT Bail Fund BA Social Science - Albertus Magnus College New Haven CT Social Justice Advocate and Lifetime Connecticut native who has used his personal experiences and the experiences of others involved with the criminal justice system to promote advocacy efforts for people incarceration. One example of these initiatives are Resilience Behind the Walls: A 30 minute monthly radio show that amplifies the reality of what people on the inside and their families are experiencing. He is also the Co creator of the 1st Annual Survivors Walk in CT, which highlights the intersections of systematic violence caused by criminal justice institutions and to celebrate the survivors of these traumas.

The Greene Space has launched a new series about the business side of the prison industry, everything from prison labor to companies who contract with prisons to provide health care, food and other services. Who profits when people get put away? This week we dig into the history of private prisons in America and where Biden's executive order falls in that story with Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney for the ACLU National Prison Project focusing on immigration detention. →TGS "Punishment & Profit" Series

The Greene Space, the non-profit advocacy group Worth Rises, have launched a new series about the business side of the prison industry, everything from prison labor to companies who contract with prisons to provide health care, food and other services. Who profits when people get put away? Up first, a conversation about prison design and construction with Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, Johnny Perez, the director of the U.S. Prisons Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and Raphael Sperry, a leader of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility, where he leads a national campaign to ban the design of spaces that violate human rights, and a board member of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, the first architecture and development firm dedicated to ending mass incarceration through building restorative alternatives.

The NBA is a global game and BLM is a global movement, with this in mind I'm honored to be joined by Bianca Tylek, the executive director of Worth Rises, to discuss The NBA, Black Lives Matter & the carceral capitalism of Detroit Pistons' Owner Tom Gores. Our conversation touches upon: - How Mr. Gores PE firm, Platinum Equity , owns one of the nation's largest and most vicious prison Telecom companies: Securus. Who through price-gouging and exploiting the suffering of black, brown and poor incarcerated families, earns over $700 Million dollars a year. - How Detroit Pistons stars like Jerami Grant (who joined the Pistons, in part, to help represent the Majority Black city of Detroit) can try to pressure Pistons Ownership to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to supporting Black Lives Matter. - And larger conversations on racial capitalism, inequality and the problematic politics of NBA owners. For more, I recommend the following resources: - Worth Rises main website and more information on their campaign against Tom Gores' Carceral Capitalism: https://worthrises.org/ - James Edwards III incredible article on Jerami Grant, Black Empowerment and the NBA: https://theathletic.com/2297656/2021/01/06/jerami-grant-detroit-pistons-denver-nuggets-nba-basketball-free-agent/ - John Gonzalez & Zach Kram of the Ringer and his reporting on the conservative politics of NBA owners: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/24/21453818/nba-owners-political-donations-trump-gop Music by Gold Streak Beats : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPEP1rX_9zb_77z-56Ysprw Episode Art by Worth Rises

DeRay, De'Ara, Kaya, and Sam dive into the underreported news of the week, including predatory payday lending, job losses, COVID-19's targeting of the Black community, and Kim Janey. Netta Elzie gives updates on what's happening with the nationwide protests. DeRay sits down with Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises, who is working to dismantle the prison industry. Links: DeRay Kaya Sam De'Ara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can find links to each of Sean's analysis pieces here. This article covers the week beginning May 10.

S11Bonus: Power to the People On Thursday June 11, 2020, justice advocate and philanthropist Jason Flom moderated a forum on Facebook Live with four extraordinary leaders in civil rights, justice, and advocacy: Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors; prison industry expert Bianca Tylek; Drug Policy Alliance executive director Kassandra Frederique; and civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis. The goal of this event was to empower people to take action, find resources, and learn how to use their unique talents/resources to move us forward in the urgent fight for racial justice. This is a list of the many organizations mentioned during this discussion. Learn more and get involved at: 8 to Abolition https://www.8toabolition.com/ Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/ Blackout Collective https://blackoutcollective.org/ Black Youth Project 100 https://www.byp100.org/ Civil Rights Core https://www.civilrightscorps.org/ Dignity and Power Now http://dignityandpowernow.org/ Drug Policy Alliance https://www.drugpolicy.org/ Innocence Project http://www.innocenceproject.org Movement for Black Lives https://m4bl.org/ People's Budget LA http://www.peoplesbudgetLA.com Real Justice PAC https://realjusticepac.org/ Vocal New York http://www.vocal-ny.org/ Worth Rises https://worthrises.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1 and PRX.

On this episode of Justice Podcast, Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Donovan Ramsey look at the privatization of America’s criminal legal system. They go beyond just private prisons and look at all the ways the system has privatized corrections, including privatized probation, supervision, healthcare, and communications, and more. To discuss the issue, Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises, joins the show. Bianca Tylek’s Twitter handle: @biancatylek Worth Rises’s Twitter handle: @worthrises For show notes and more information visit theappeal.org.

Bianca Tylek is the Executive Director of Worth Rises, a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. Bianca joined host Josie Duffy Rice to talk about her reading recommendations. For show notes and more information please check out theappeal.org.

The Cost is F’d Up Part TwoRecapWritten by Brandi AbbottOn August 10th, 1984 the body of a woman who had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death was found. A witness stated that he had seen the victim with a black man named Darryl Hunt the morning before she had been murdered. Another witness claimed they had seen her with another man who couldn’t have done it but then changed their statement to say they had seen her with Darryl after being pressed by the police. Darryl’s girlfriend was arrested for outstanding charges against her, but was most likely arrested so the police could get more information on Darryl. She told them that he had confessed to her that he had murdered the victim. Darryl maintained his innocence, but was tried for first degree murder. Many of the witnesses testified that he had either been seen with the victim or covered in blood, but he testified that he didn’t even know the victim. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. It’s possible that his jury was completely white but there are conflicting reports. One holdout on the jury prevented him from being sentenced to death.When Darryl was convicted, the black community was upset to say the least. The black community thought he was innocent, whereas the white community thought he was guilty. The case was extremely racially charged, even in prison because the victim was a young successful white woman. Darryl told Larry that he was a target for the skinheads. After five years in prison, Darryl’s conviction was overturned because it was revealed that the prosecutors presented Darryl’s ex-girlfriend’s statement, which she had recanted even before the trial. He was released on bond while he awaited a new trial and was offered a plea deal that if he just pled guilty he could have time served and not spend another day in prison. As he was innocent, he refused.Darryl was retried in front of all of all-white jury and, as well as the original witnesses, some jailhouse informants showed up to testify. Darryl was convicted for a second time and sentenced to life in prison. During all of this, the SBI had compiled a report that was thousands of pages long, but the trial court opted to not review it and the judge ordered it sealed so that no one would be able to read it. All requests from Darryl’s attorneys, Mark Rabil and Ben Dowling-Sendor, to get the report unsealed were denied. The attorneys requested DNA testing on a semen sample found on the victim because Ben found out that the SBI had more evidence than they were saying, including this sample. Prior to this, the SBI complained that the sample was too degraded to test. Darryl’s attorneys argued that there was witness tampering and evidence that the SBI was clearly concealing. The judge disagreed that there was anything shady going on, but allowed for testing of the semen sample.In October of 1994, the test results came back and Darryl was not a match to the sample. The victim’s mother begged for there not to be a third trial as she had already been through it twice. The judge refused to exonerate Darryl, saying the case was only somewhat weakened by this evidence, and believed that Darryl could still be guilty. Darryl’s attorneys appealed many times but were continuously denied.In February of 2003, Darryl was still in prison even though it had been 19 years since he was convicted and 10 years since he proved his innocence. Darryl’s attorneys requested that the semen sample be run through the state database and it got a match. The match was for a man named Willard Brown who confessed to the crime. He was allegedly in prison at the time of the murder, but according to the movie “The Trials of Darryl Hunt”, Mark Rabil found out he had been released prior to the murder. Mark also discovered that there may have been another victim who survived and the police may have coerced her into not pressing charges against Brown for some unknown reason and destroyed evidence of this crime. The DA tried to delay Darryl’s release because they were sure they had their man. However, with overwhelming evidence that he was innocent, Darryl was released from prison on December 24th, 2003. He had to go before a judge six weeks later and prove his innocence again, and Darryl Hunt was finally exonerated in 2004. He received a state payment of $300,000, and, when he sued the city of Winston-Salem, received a settlement of over 1.6 million dollars.Every case F’d Up has covered has been settled which Jess says protects the system and prevents it from having to admit culpability. The Innocence Project and Center on Actual Innocence makes a difference by showing law enforcement and the public that there are people in prison who are actually innocent, which will go a long way towards helping these injustices. Prosecutors will sometimes do press conferences saying they just didn’t have enough evidence which places doubt in the public’s eye about the exonerated. Kim Cook said that a public apology instead could go a long way. If you’re exonerated and return to where you once lived, the community may recognize you from the crime you were convicted of and not as someone exonerated from that crime. Saundra and Kim reference a woman who was wrongfully convicted of killing her child and exonerated. She returned to her hometown, but most people still believed she was a monster. Facing an accusatory community can be an added stressor, and extremely frustrating.The trauma of a wrongful conviction doesn’t just affect the exoneree, their family and loved ones are affected as well. According to a report called “Who Pays: The True Cost of Incarceration on Families”, the US spends 80 billion dollars to lock away more than 2.4 million people in jails and prisons. This has a huge impact on people who are “already stigmatized, penalized, and punished.” Unjust policy has created a legacy of collateral impacts that last for generations, especially in women, low income families, and communities of color. If a family is already struggling financially before a member goes to jail, the loss of income and court related costs can add up and create a financial hole. There are also charges for phone calls or emails with a prisoner, care packages, and costs related to visiting such as traveling or possibly lodging depending on how far away they are incarcerated. In short, outside of the costs of court fees and just losing their income, it’s going to cost you quite a lot just to communicate with your incarcerated love one. Also according to that report, families who are not able to speak with or visit their loved one are more likely to report experiencing negative affects on their health. The report says that these affects hit women and people of color the hardest deepening the societal divides that push many into the criminal justice system in the first place. Almost one in every four women and two in every five black women specifically are related to someone incarcerated. The system is set up to keep people of color down.It can take a year from being released to actually be pardoned and, as we learned last week, an exoneree must be pardoned to get the state allocated money. If an exoneree’s record is not expunged or sealed, it can be extremely difficult to reenter the work force. The question “have you ever been convicted of a felony” is a kind of a trick question to an exoneree because there’s not exactly a box to check for “yes, but I didn’t do it”. According to the Innocence Project, it can take three or four years for a criminal record to be expunged. This can affect more than jobs, as landlords may not want to rent to you after they run your background check, you can’t provide work history or credit history for a mortgage, and Section 8 housing doesn’t allow convicted felons. The system sets the exoneree up for failure, and they often can end up homeless which can lead the exoneree back on the path to prison.The article “How Private Equity is Turning Private Prisons Into Big Profits” states that “Poverty in particular perpetuates the cycle of incarceration while incarceration leads to greater poverty.’ Estimates say that nearly 40% of all crimes are a result of poverty, and the majority of incarcerated people are low income. Because of extremely problematic policies, by 1985 prisons in 34 states were under court supervision for violating constitutional rights of prisoners. President Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs had begun, leading to a steady influx of newly incarcerated American’s. Priya tells us that 1985 was around the time she lived in DC and that homelessness and gangs were on the rise. Her dad was a White House press photographer for UPI, and would walk past the homeless people at the gates of the White House, who President Reagan claimed didn’t exist. Her dad took a photograph of a homeless man there, started getting to know some of the regulars he encountered, and was, in general, taking really powerful photographs. One of the people he would speak to recommended he go to one of the homeless shelters. When he got there, the kids really wanted to play with his cameras so he taught them how to use them, and let them shoot photos. He noticed that their photographs were much lighter and had more hope than his own which were more serious and taken from an adult perspective. He ended up leaving UPI and started a non-profit called Shooting Back where kids would take photos, develop them, and he and some of the kids would travel the country educating others on the homeless situation. This program helped kids steer clear of getting involved in gangs, Priya says she remembers that one of the kids who wasn’t in the program for very long ended up being a victim of murder but she’s unsure of it was gang related but that considering the climate, it’s possible it was. She remembers that another kid who went through the program sent her dad an email a few years ago thanking him for helping him stay out of prison, because he’s certain that’s where he would have ended up. She says the cycle can be broken and arts education can help. Reagan ended up recanting his statement on homeless people and Priya says she believes that the work of her dad and others contributed to that. She says that the reason she’s telling the story is that there were people, including her dad, at that time in the most powerful city in the nation trying to help but the government kept pushing forward with what was in front of their eyes instead of getting to the root of the issue.A woman named Bianca Tylek, the founder of an advocacy group called Worth Rises has cataloged 3,100 companies with a financial stake in mass incarceration. Jess says that incarceration is good for business, just terrible for people.In 2005, Darryl Hunt founded The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice, a non-profit dedicated to educating people about criminal justice reform, advocating for the wrongfully convicted, and providing resources to individuals who were recently released from prison. A reporter from the local paper interviewed Darryl Hunt in 2014. It had been 10 years since his exoneration and he still felt the conditioning of prison. He would pause before doors and wait for them to automatically open. If he left the house, prior to his return, Darryl would drive to an ATM and withdraw money, simply to have his face photographed so that there would be a record of his movements. Darryl said he never left his home without fear of being picked up for something he didn’t do on his mind. He also said that he refused to celebrate the anniversaries of his exoneration. He recognized the miracle of it and was grateful for it, but said for others around him it would be a celebration but for him it would just be reliving it. The article says that Darryl’s attorney, Mark Rabil, and Darryl became extremely good friends. The racial divide had not ended with Darryl’s exoneration, if Darryl and Mark went out to dinner in a more black neighborhood, everyone knew and loved Darryl. However, if they went out to dinner in a more white neighborhood, it would be quieter as he didn’t know many people and some kept their distance. Priya said it’s interesting to her that some of the people they have covered have moved out of North Carolina. Not that anyone can blame them as I’m sure it’s a constant reminder of what happened and they’re surrounded by people who still only see them as a convicted felon. Darryl did not move, however. He said he stayed in Winston-Salem because it made people uncomfortable. If people had a constant reminder of the injustice he went through, maybe it wouldn’t happen again. Because he worked in justice reform, he would spend time in courtrooms. Mark Rabil said his face was a reminder to the people who put him away and that some DAs would cross the street to avoid him. When he walked into a courtroom, it would go quiet. In the same year Darryl was exonerated, he dedicated his life to justice reform. In addition to his non-profit, he worked with the Innocence Injustice Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law where he helped people get their criminal records expunged and spoke publicly, allowing law students to ask him about his case. He joined the board of directors for the Center on Actual Innocence. He helped advocated for the Racial Injustice Act of 2009, which basically forbade race from being a factor in the pursuit of the death penalty. He was working non-stop and was the type who could never say no to the point of personal risk to his mental health. It was like he was paying something back. Priya says that all of this work was clearly taking a toll on him. Darryl’s friend Mark Rabil was quoted as saying “He was the voice of the voiceless who was wounded by 20 years of wrongful incarceration and taking on the burdens of so many people and fighting systems that can’t be changed in one lifetime.” On March 13th 2016, Darryl Hunt completed suicide.Darryl Hunt has an incredible legacy. In North Carolina, anyone over the age of 16 can be tried as an adult, and, if convicted, may not be eligible for financial aid in schools when they get out. Many people, guilty or not, want to do better when released and want to start with an education. Darryl told friends that education is the key to breaking the cycle of incarceration. In 2017, the Darryl Hunt Memorial Scholarship was set up to help provide tuition to those that had been convicted of crimes. Darryl’s legacy is amazing but it doesn’t change the fact that he died. His friend and lawyer Mark Rabil was the only constant in his life, as his own mother had been murdered and the case was never solved. Mark told the Winston-Salem Journal that 19 years of wrongful incarceration is what killed Darryl Hunt.Darryl got to taste freedom, at least for a moment. Next week’s episode will revisit the audit because not everyone got that chance. Seven of the cases on the audit’s list were sentenced to death and we’ll learn more about those cases and death row, itself.

Hosts Nik & Anna discuss privatization and mass incarceration - we will be airing interviews with Bianca Tylek from the Corrections Accountability Project at the Urban Justice Center in NYC and Nico Amador at ACLU-Vermont. We cover Vermonters move to a CoreCivic privately owned prison in Mississippi that happened early October, prison slave labor, the criminalization of the poor, and divestment.

Josh talks with Bianca Tylek and Michael Crowley about prison privatization and private prisons I forgot to mention that Decarceration Nation was mentioned in the online publication Bustle this week. Thanks to Taylor Maples for including us on the list of "7 Criminal Justice Podcasts to Listen to." If you are a long-time fan of Orange Is the New Black, the guide to all of my recaps covers every season to date. If you are just starting to watch Orange Is the New Black, the first recap covers the first episode of Season 6 from the perspective of formerly incarcerated folks. Bianca Tylek is the Director of the Corrections Accountability Project. Michael Crowley worked at the Office of Management budget under both the Bush and Obama Administrations, he currently works at the Brennan Center for Justice. He was written recent articles on funding priorities for criminal justice reform and about model state movements towards criminal justice reform. I asked the most renowned expert in prison abolition that I know the question, "if you could only suggest one book people should read if they wanted to learn more about abolition, what would you suggest?" She quickly responded, "Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Y Davis." I have also recently written a breakdown of my own experiences in Solitary Confinement. Private Prisons are seeing incredible growth in immigration enforcement contracts. Private Prisons are often shielded from FOIA requests. Privatization of public prisons should be an equally large concern as Bianca's research at the Correction Accountability Project has proven. The University of Pennsylvania produced a pretty good study summarizing the problems with medical contracts in prisons. Securus has moved to acquire ICS which will create a near duopoly on telephone communication in the correctional market. New York City just made many phone calls in jail free. Many of the companies who operate in the private prison and prison privatization space are buying up community correction and reentry services to take advantage of the movement towards criminal justice reform. Carl Takei's article addresses the move by private companies into mass supervision and surveillance. Obviously, I disagree with Michael on the First Step Act but I do agree that one of the risks of the legislation is that it widens the net of supervision and surveillance. Meek Mill is a textbook case in how expanded surveillance and supervision can be dangerous. I have covered the evidence behind the question of violence many times, here on the podcast, on Medium, on Medium again, and on Daily Kos. The breakdowns of prison costs were broken down in a Vera Institute of Justice study "The Price of Prisons."

A small group of men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility fundraised nearly $8,000 from other men in the facility for a gun buyback. Bianca Tylek, founder of the Corrections Accountability Project, tells us about her involvement with the project and discusses rehabilitation and the Second Amendment for communities of color.

Have you ever thought about what it means to make money off of caging other people? You should. Vanguard owns 19% of Core Civic, a company with $1.7 billion in revenue that owns, manages, and operates private prisons and detention centers. So millions of Americans are unknowingly invested in Core Civic through Vanguard’s extremely popular retirement accounts and mutual fund products. But private prison companies are only the tip of a much larger iceberg. Prisons and prison services are being commercialized at alarming rates. Bianca Tylek, our guest this week & the Founder of the Corrections Accountability Project, invites us not only to decide how we want our money to be invested, but more importantly to ask whether or not we’re ok with some people profiting off of the caging of others.