Ep:#65 Prison Radio and it’s power with Phil Maguire

Prison, by definition, removes someone’s liberty as punishment for the crime committed. But there are two ways to spend that time inside, and therefore, two ways to see prison. Prison can be a horrible place to suffer for the crimes that have been committed. Or it can be a place to reflect, to learn, to gain skills, and to be better. Today I talk to Phil Maguire who became the founding Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association (PRA) in 2006, and has been running the award-winning charity that uses radio to support prisoner rehabilitation ever since. We talk about what prisons looked like in London in the 90s: Riots, racial tension, deaths in custody and lots of incidents of self-harm. A sad and desperate place. And then how things have evolved from there. We talk about what happens when you create a conversation between the people living in prison and the people running a prison. And what happens when you empower people in the most difficult of situations. Phil talks about how their award-winning model has people who live in prisons at the heart of everything they do – including being the award-winning hosts and producers of their programmes. You’ll hear about what happens when people leave prison and how they continue to engage people “beyond the gate”. And how they are building a global movement of people using audio in criminal justice systems for social good. Talk about the power of humanity! This is a movement you will love to know more about. So grab that favourite beverage or throw on those running shoes, and enjoy this conversation with Phil. Please don’t forget to let us know what you think of this episode, leave a review and subscribe. And if you would like to be reminded of future podcasts and other inspiring stories from TIE, join our newsletter here. http://bit.ly/TIENewsletter And definitely check out: The Life After Prison Podcast: https://lifeafterprisonpod.com/ More on Prison Radio: https://www.prisonradio.org/ And connect with Phil here: [email protected]