Prison Breakdown

Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss Bi-weekly, a record payout for wrongful death in New York, the ongoing Christa Pike situation, Beckommendations and Brit’s Picks!

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss Timothy Leary, from his days as a Harvard Psychologist to a drug reformation advocate to a prisoner, also, Producer Brit discusses The Snowman (2017)

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss the upcoming parole hearing of the Manendez brothers and Republican candidates using prison labor in Oklahoma to politically campaign.

Professors Beck Strah, Eric Bronson, and their former student Madi Stevens discuss 9/11, prison pen pals, prison hobbycrafts, predatory prison e-mail services, untoward pen pal behavior, and Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997)

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss the death of an inmate in the hands of the Clackamas County Jail, and unbearable heat conditions in Alabama Prisons, and Joe Arpio

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss the history of psychedelic studies behind bars, Whitey Bulger, the CIA’s use of psychedelics on prisoners for their MKUltra studies, and The Client (1994)

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss prison abuses in Ohio, Buc-ee’s litigious culture and the pushback, sexual abuse in California prisons, and private prison companies pulling in record profits.

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Dr. Timothy Leary, his history and beliefs as a clinical psychologist, MCI Concord partnering with Harvard, Dr. Leary’s experiments with psilopcybin, his accounts of his experiments, subject accounts, and long-term observances. Producer Brit reviews Primal Fear (1996).

Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss Murder 2 convicts in Pennsylvania getting a new lease on life, felony murder, the prison-industrial link to diarrhea lettuce, some Brit’s Picks, and Beckommendations. 

Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss a 7-Layer Dessert Dip, family podcasts, Flora, Illinois’s bid to get a prison in their town, Brown County’s bid for a prison and prison experience night, an early viral rap song, and The Last Seduction (1994) Chief Ed Guyott and the Long Arm of the Law Band - All We Want'sa Prison -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZVrckq-D-c Barbed Wire Choir -...

Professor Beck Strah and Producer Brit discuss the best cereals, protests over prison conditions in Wisconsin, felon disenfranchisement, an innocent man serving a record-setting prison tenure, and Israel using crocodiles as prison guards

Professor Beck Strah interviews criminology professor and author Dr. Jacqueline Helfgott about art in prison, restorative justice programs, working with incarcerated populations, psychopathy, and Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)

Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser discuss several federal prison closures, an update on the Prairieland case, plus Brit's Picks, Beckommendations, and Spenser's Gifts.

Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser discuss Wesley Snipes' crimes, idiosyncrasies, trial, and imprisonment.

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss prison mail digitization services and new laws in Florida allowing the death penalty for child abuse. 

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson talk to Vik Chopra from the Concrete Mama Podcast and Unincarcerated Productions, with topics ranging from Vik's incarceration, building a media platform, peer support in prison, prison subcultures, restorative justice, and Vik's abs. follow Vik's work on Instagram @unincarceratedproductions or listen to Concrete Mama wherever you get podcasts

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a stay of execution in Alabama, and an epidemic of suicide within solitary confinement at Mississippi state prisons. 

The boys take a trip to The Fife & Drum restaurant, a one-of-a-kind culinary program at Northeastern Correctional Center in Concord, MA. Also, Producer Brit reviews Mercy (2026).

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss lenient sentences for inmate sexual assault in New Mexico, a promising new college program in California, and toilet flush limiters in prisons. 

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017).

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss the Louisiana Prison System and Gov. Jeff Landry “tough on crime” policies, as well as a call to remove Michigan’s Prison Director due to some deaths at a women’s facility. 

Professors Eric Bronson and Beck Strah discuss Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory (2000)

Professors Beck Strah and Eric Bronson discuss a Louisiana Sheriff accused of malfeasance, Bronson’s recent student trip to the Angola Prison rodeo, Angola’s unfortunate conversion to migrant detention, and a mother’s attempt to break her son from prison. 

Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser Hodge discuss former Subway mascot Jared Fogel, his rise, his media coverage, his cultural impact, his crimes, and of course: his imprisonment. Producer Brit also reviews Crime 101 (2026).  Follow Spenser on IG: @numetalkvlt

Professor Beck Strah, Producer Brit, and Media Consultant Spenser Hodge weigh in on a pizza smuggling ring, two deaths at the Dayton Correctional Facility, a Texas court of appeals overturning a death row sentence, Brit’s Picks, Beccomendations, and Spenser’s Gifts. Follow Spenser on IG: @numetalkvlt