Penned

Christina speaks with Mercedes about the life she's created with her husband, who is incarcerated in San Diego and serving a sentence of life without parole.  Mercedes' perspective shows how difficult it can be to navigate the nuances of loving someone behind bars and coming to terms with the reality of their crime - balancing being in love with that person and simultaneously experiencin...

Unconditional Freedom is an organization determined to create massive change within the United States' prison system by introducing a new model for prisons called The Prison Monastery.  This radical concept is meant to restore the penitentiary to its roots; a place to contemplate and meaningfully contribute to society while incarcerated.  Christina speaks with the organization's Director...

Christina speaks with Audree, a prison wife from Canada, who is in a relationship with Jeffrey, an American currently serving time in a facility near the US/Canadian border.    As with most incarcerated relationships, Audree and Jeffrey aren’t without their hardships.  However, their love story is reminiscent of a  RomCom - from the first letter to the first kiss and everything in between.  The lo...

Christina speaks with Paige, a woman living on the opposite coast from her incarcerated husband. She speaks candidly about her life as a prison wife, detailing the ups and downs that come with being married to someone who may never be released into the free world again.  Paige is an advocate on issues like the death penalty and people serving life without parole - she and Christina discuss alterna...

Christina continues her conversation with Danny, who is speaking from within Waupun Correctional Institution*. He speaks more on the programs in prison, what works and doesn't work, the reality of what it's like to be released and how easy it is to reoffend, especially when there is a lack of support from the community and society. Danny opens up about his goals upon release in the near...

Christina speaks with Danny, who is currently incarcerated in Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin*.  He's engaged to Katie, a British woman, who was featured in Episode 23 and shares his experience and perspective from the inside about his life, his love, and his plans for the future. Danny speaks on the flawed system designed to keep people down -  starting with being a child in fos...

Christina speaks with investigative journalist, TV show producer, and filmmaker Catherine Legge. Her documentary From Prison With Love  (known outside of the US as Met While Incarcerated)  tells the love stories of 3 women who are romantically involved with men in prison that have been charged with violent crimes. Catherine's film challenges the stereotypes surrounding these offenders and sho...

Christina speaks with Dana, an artist and educator who works with incarcerated folks in Mankato, MN through the "Art Under Confinement Program", a collaborative between the 410 Project and artists who are currently incarcerated. This program advocates on educating creatives on the professional development side of being an artist as well as pushing their creative thinking and technical sk...

Christina speaks with Katie, a soon-to-be prison wife who is separated from her fiancé, Danny,  by more than just prison walls. There's several states and an ocean between them, she lives in the UK and he is currently serving his time halfway across the world in a Wisconsin prison. Katie's journey has just begun as she prepares to uproot her life and leave the United Kingdom for the Unit...

Christina speaks with Christine, a recently married prison wife who met her husband, Carlos, through a prison pen pal website during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Despite Carlos' 25 year prison sentence and living on opposite coasts they couldn't imagine life without each other. Christine and Carlos started prisonpenpalconnect.com - they run the site together working on it from b...

Christina speaks with BL Shirelle & Fury Young, Co-Executive Directors of Die Jim Crow Records, a non-profit record label dedicated to producing music from currently and formerly incarcerated artists. BL & Fury have made it their life's work to not only bridge the divide between incarcerated artists and artists in the free world, DJC Records works as a radical creative collective, age...

Christina speaks with  Martin Lockett, who spent 17.5 years in prison for a DUI fatality that claimed two lives and severely injured another. In Penned's 20th episode Martin shares the story of the tragedy that shaped his entire life and how, post-release, he has devoted the rest of his life to honoring his victims’ legacies. While incarcerated, Martin earned a BS in sociology, MS in psycholo...

Christina speaks with Britnee who entered into a relationship with an inmate without planning to pursue anything romantically from the start. As their connection progressed and real life issues started to surface Britnee was forced to reevaluate her life, her decisions, and ultimately the future of their relationship.  *** Written and produced by Christina Hansen Additional production and sound ed...

Christina speaks with Aundrea, a prison wife who is plugged in to what goes on at the prison where her boyfriend is incarcerated. She shares some insight at the injustices that continue to occur, even after someone is sentenced and gives us a look into her boyfriend's daily life in prison - an outsider looking in. *** Written and produced by Christina Hansen Additional production and sound ed...

Christina speaks with Tiyauna, a prison wife who started a friendship with her now-husband Willie, during his incarceration over a decade ago. The friendship turned into something deeper in the last couple of years and the two were married in 2021.  Willie has been serving a life-sentence since he was a minor with no end in sight, until an incredible turn of events happened in his favor. Tiyauna s...

Christina speaks with Jade, a TikTok sensation who has gone viral for her videos talking about what everyday life is like being a self-proclaimed prison wife. Jade uses the platform as a means to connect with others like her in the prison wife community; a vent for her frustrations about being separated from her husband; and an outlet for the sense of humor she has living everyday life being marri...

Christina speaks with author/journalist, Elizabeth Greenwood, about her newest book Love Lockdown, in which she follows 5 couples who have met while incarcerated and shares their vastly different experiences. Christina and Liz talk about these featured relationships, prison wife culture, what really goes on during conjugal visits, and how prison relationships endure years of incarceration with som...

Christina speaks with Robert Kingett, a blind journalist, who began writing to inmates who are serving life sentences and on death row. He thought they would be more accepting than any other sighted person in his life,  knowing they would read his words and be able to look past his disability more than most people could. *** You can check out Robert Kingett's work at: https://blindjournalist....

Christina speaks with Emma, a woman who lives in Jackson, Michigan AKA 'Prison City'.  She recently started writing to inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic, including one man who is currently on death row. *** This episode contains content that mentions issues pertaining to eating disorders, which might be sensitive for some listeners. *** Written and produced by Christina Hansen Additio...

In Episode 12, Christina explores the idea of uncertainty and shares the audio from Michael Shane Hale's TEDx Talk about redefining the prison reentry experience from within.  This audio was recorded live from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in early February 2020.  *** Special thanks to Michael Shane Hale for the permission to share his TEDx talk, and to Sean Gallagher, co-organizer of the T...

Christina speaks with Shane again, an inmate currently serving a life sentence at Sing Sing Prison. As Christina tries to understand the idea of inmates being cancelled out from society, Shane goes into detail about what daily life is like for him on the inside. From pursuing higher education classes, to learning a foreign language and giving a TedX Talk, he is determined to push himself despite h...

Quarantine Edition. Christina speaks with Shane, an inmate currently serving a life sentence in New York State's Sing Sing Prison. He gives a firsthand account of the events developing in the prison during the COVID-19 outbreak and how it's impacting inmate life there. Sing Sing was one of the first US prisons to report positive tests for the COVID-19 virus. *** Article referenced: https...

In the second part of Vanessa's interview, she speaks with Christina about the details surrounding Tyler's crime for which he received a sentence of life without parole. *** Show warning: the topics discussed in this episode contain graphic descriptions of violence. Please listen at your own discretion.

Christina speaks with Vanessa, a woman who consistently corresponds with inmates serving life without parole sentences. In the first of a two part episode Vanessa shares details of a relationship that has impacted her life in a way she couldn't have imagined

Christina speaks with Kathie Klarreich, Executive Director of Exchange For Change, a nonprofit organization that teaches writing in prisons and runs letter exchanges between incarcerated students and writers studying on the outside. This episode also features a reading by Prison Poet Laureate, Eduardo 'Echo' Martinez' of his poem  Provocation.   You can learn more about Exchange For...