The FreeHer Podcast

Andrea James, Founder & Executive Director of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and host of the FreeHer Podcast, breaks down how conspiracy charges, mandatory minimums, and the drug war have devastated women, families, and entire communities. This conversation connects lived experience to policy: why prisons dehumanize, what abolition actually mean...

Most of what we’re told about crime, public safety, and policing is shaped by police and media propaganda. In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis breaks down how the police and media manipulate our fear of crime, who actually benefits, and what real community safety looks like. This conversation exposes the deeper harms like pollution, wage theft, and corpora...

Cash bail isn’t about safety it’s about money. In this FreeHer episode, Andrea James sits with Jasmine Borges (Massachusetts Bail Fund) and Rena Kafa Johnson (FWD.us) to break down how pretrial detention punishes poverty, why “dangerousness hearings” expand incarceration, and what actually keeps communities safe. We talk real numbers, real harms, and real solutions, including bail funds, clemency,...

At 17 years old, straight-A student Michelle Pearson was sentenced to life without parole and spent 34 years in prison. In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James talks with Michelle and Dr. Raf about juvenile life without parole, the science of the adolescent brain, and why the U.S. keeps sentencing Black children, especially Black girls, to die in prison. We talk about Miller v. Alabam...

In this powerful episode, Andrea James speaks with law professor Cortney Lollar, author of Empty Pockets and Empty Promises, and justice advocates Tanya Pierce and Mary Kay Rogers about how federal restitution law traps women in lifelong debt even after they’ve served their time. 💡 Learn more about the FreeHer Campaign:🔗 https://www.nationalcouncil.us/clemency-works

In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James speaks with a formerly incarcerated woman who shares her powerful story of survival, injustice, and transformation. At 24, she was arrested, charged with operating a drug production facility, and held on $500,000 bail despite being innocent. She ultimately pleaded guilty to go home. This conversation exposes the broken systems of incarceration,...

Is artificial intelligence and surveillance reshaping the future of justice and abolition? And is it already impacting our freedom? In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James sits down with Nick from the Fund for Guaranteed Income to unpack the truth about We talk about bias in AI tools, surveillance threats, data ethics, and why abolitionist communities must shape the future of these te...

At 14, Fatiha (aka Bam Bam) was a basketball star with dreams of Tennessee. By the age of 17, she was serving a 10-year prison sentence. In this powerful episode of the FreeHer Podcast, she shares how trauma, abuse, betrayal, and a broken system stole her childhood and how she’s now reclaiming her voice. This is a story about survival, injustice, and the fight to be heard.⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 A Tro...

In this episode of the FreeHer Podcast, Andrea James sits down with former MA State Representative Jonathan Hecht to expose the deep-rooted secrecy in the Massachusetts legislature. 🗳️ 72% of voters approved Question 1 to audit the legislature, but Beacon Hill is resisting. We uncover how legislative pay, leadership control, and ignored public hearings are silencing change and locking out grassroo...

This episode of the FreeHer Podcast exposes how pregnancy is criminalized in the U.S. carceral system — from abortion bans to forced contraception and inhumane treatment. Featuring Dr. Grace Howard, author of The Pregnancy Police, and Kimberly Haven, reproductive justice advocate and formerly incarcerated leader, we dive deep into the policies, language, and lived experiences shaping this hidden w...

The Trump administration has floated a shocking idea: sending incarcerated U.S. citizens to El Salvador’s infamous mega-prison. NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow joins the FreeHer Podcast to break down this proposal's legal and constitutional dangers — and what it means for due process, citizenship rights, and the future of democracy in America. 🔎 We explore:  The Supreme Court's silence an...

Andrea James sits down with Eric to discuss his wife Brittany Martin and the unjust arrest and incarceration of her at a peaceful protest. Brittany Martin, the South Carolina activist who was arrested at a protest following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, has been released after serving years in prison. The S.C. Department of Corrections released Ms. Martin on  November 27 2024 , just i...

Andrea James interviews hit TV show writer and creator Piper Kerman. Piper and Andrea both share their experience incarnated at Dublin. Although they were not there at the same time the bonds created while incarcerated transcended into a real life sisterhood. After the traumas experienced while incarcerated both individuals set out in their own way to spread the awareness of women's prisons and ho...

Andrea James sits down with Ray Harts founder of Healthy Hearts Institute to discuss reimagining communities and what it could look like for future generations. Ray Harts is a Husband, Father, Son and community member that served time in San Quentin. As a formerly incarcerated individual he has founded an organization dedicated to changing his community and other communities that are disproportion...

Andrea James sits with Kym Whitley to explore the importance of women with influence to join the mission of freeing women and girls around the world from incarceration. Kym Whitley is a famous producer, actor and comedian that appeared in many Hollywood film projects and actively tours the United States doing comedy. Andrea believes voices like hers could be instrumental in getting the message of...

Andrea James sits down with guest Danielle Metz to discuss commutation and how commutation lessened her 3 life sentences. Commutation refers to  reducing or lessening a sentence or punishment resulting from a criminal conviction , which can be done by the governor of a state (for state convictions) or president of the United States (for federal convictions). Connect with us at www.freeherinstitute...

Andrea James sits down with Denise "Neicy" Coleman to discuss the real life story of how bifurcated sentencing has affected Denise Coleman's life for over 38 years. A bifurcated system is a sentence that consists of a term of confinement in prison followed by a term of extended supervision  under s. 302.113. In Neicy's case the federal prison system held her for 30 years and also the State of Miss...