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‘Life on the Outside’ is a monthly podcast that shares first-person stories about returning to society after long-term incarceration. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Division for Rehabilitative Programs will begin to air the podcast on the institutional channel throughout the entire prison system on Tuesday, September 24th, providing incarcerated individuals a rare opportunity to hear successful reentry stories from their cells.
‘Life on the Outside’ began in January 2018 when producer and volunteer Lucy Copp began interviewing people in the reentry community who had served long sentences - anywhere from twenty years to forty-eight years - about their transition back to society. This community of people have a rare and profound first-person experience of the United States prison system. As California continues to change laws and adhere to a mandate to decrease the prison population, an increasing number of individuals are being released. But after decades behind bars what is one to expect of the free world? How should one prepare? And once released, who will be there to support them? Each episode explores a different facet of this monumental rebirthing and reentry experience, diving deep into what freedom, redemption, and dignity means for those who served life sentences.
There are currently eleven episodes of “Life on the Outside.”