About this episode
Incarcerated people grow crops, fight wildfires, and manufacture everything from motor oil to prescription glasses — often for pennies per hour. Zachary Crockett reports from North Carolina. SOURCES: Laura Appleman , professor of law at Willamette University. Christopher Barnes, inmate at the Franklin Correctional Center. Lee Blackman , general manager at Correction Enterprises. Brian Scott, ex-inmate, former worker at the Correction Enterprises printing plant. Louis Southall , warden of Franklin Correctional Center. RESOURCES: " Prisoners in the U.S. Are Part of a Hidden Workforce Linked to Hundreds of Popular Food Brands ," by Robin McDowell and Margie Mason ( AP News, 2024). " Ex-Prisoners Face Headwinds as Job Seekers, Even as Openings Abound ," by Talmon Joseph Smith ( The New York Times, 2023). " Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers ," by the American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Chicago Law School Global Human Rights Clinic (2022). " Bloody Lucre: Carceral Labor and Prison Profit ," by Laura Appleman ( Wisconsin Law Review, 2022). " Prison Labor Is on the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Pandemic ," by Eliyahu Kamisher ( The Appeal, 2020). Correction Enterprises . EXTRAS: " Can Data Keep People Out of Prison? " by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.