142 Episodes

  1. Former Black Panther Mansa Musa on how to fight Trump: 'Get organized!'

    Published: 4/7/2025

  2. Maryland's Second Look Act clears State House—is relief for longterm prisoners imminent?

    Published: 3/24/2025

  3. Prison profiteering exploits whole communities, not just the incarcerated

    Published: 3/10/2025

  4. Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

    Published: 3/10/2025

  5. Healing Justice: The medical industry and mass incarceration w/Erica Woodland

    Published: 12/23/2024

  6. 'Incredibly hypocritical': Hunter Biden's pardon and President Biden's legacy

    Published: 12/16/2024

  7. Alabama prisoners sued to stop forced labor—a court dismissed their case

    Published: 12/9/2024

  8. The truth about solitary confinement

    Published: 11/18/2024

  9. 2 million incarcerated people could vote on Tuesday. But for who?

    Published: 11/4/2024

  10. Prison abolitionists could score wins on election day, despite electoral ambivalence

    Published: 10/31/2024

  11. North Carolina failed to evacuate prisoners during Hurricane Helene

    Published: 10/28/2024

  12. Under Prop 6, California voters could finally abolish forced prison labor

    Published: 10/23/2024

  13. 'I Am Maroon': The life of Black Panther Russell 'Maroon' Shoatz

    Published: 9/30/2024

  14. How Oakland prosecutors kept Black and Jewish people off juries for decades

    Published: 9/25/2024

  15. In 8 days, Missouri could execute an innocent man

    Published: 9/16/2024

  16. New report exposes DC police using arrests and tickets to score revenue for the District

    Published: 9/12/2024

  17. Invest in housing, not prisons: California's war on the homeless

    Published: 9/3/2024

  18. Will a new president revive the use of clemency?

    Published: 8/19/2024

  19. It's been 10 years. When will we get justice for Michael Brown?

    Published: 8/13/2024

  20. How poor and working-class voters navigate an electoral system that doesn't serve them

    Published: 8/5/2024

1 / 8

Rattling the Bars puts the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it. The show was founded by the late Black Panther and political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, and is now hosted by Charles Hopkins, better known as Mansa Musa, who himself spent 48 years behind bars.Rattling the Bars offers an honest look at the lives of prisoners, returning citizens, their families, and their communities. With Rattling the Bars, by presenting hard data and real-life stories, we examine and seek to shift public opinion around the misconception that incarceration, punishment, and increased policing make cities safer—the truth of which has been disproven by countless studies. The series examines the history and root causes of the current so-called justice system. It showcases individuals and communities nationwide who are grappling with real solutions to problems created by the prison-industrial complex.Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletter