EPISODE · Apr 30, 2016 · 49 MIN
Serving Time at San Quentin
from Not by the Playbook · host BBC World Service
The San Quentin Correction Facility is one of North America's most notorious prisons. It has held convicts like Charles Manson, and today it houses the largest death row population in the USA. The cells are dark, claustrophobic and threatening. However outside in the Californian sun is one of the more progressive rehabilitation projects in the American penial system: The San Quentin tennis program. The tennis court is one of very few places in the prison where racial divides do not exist. No matter of race or gang affiliation, the tennis court is a neutral zone. We’re on court with murderers, bank robbers and kidnappersMr. Irrelevant: The NFL Draft comes to an end on Saturday, with the 256th and last pick earning the title 'Mr Irrelevant'. That may seem harsh, but it made no difference to Marty Moore who became the first Mr Irrelevant to make it to and then win a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots. He tells us just how relevant he went onto become!Escape from Alcatraz! After Birmingham‘s Dave Healy, or Blind Dave as he calls himself, finished last week’s London Marathon, his thoughts immediately turned towards his next challenge. Not content with just running (including the Marathon des Sables) he is now turning to triathlons as he attempts to “Escape from Alcatraz.”Cue the Music: We preview this weekend’s World Snooker Championships through the music of snooker legend Steve Davis.Sporting Witness… The Australian, Dawn Fraser, is one of the greatest swimmers of all time - a three-time Olympic champion for the 100-metres freestyle and the first woman to break 60 seconds for 100 metres. But Fraser is equally well-known in Australia for her rebellious behaviour - including a notorious incident at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 when she was accused of stealing an Olympic flag from outside the Emperor Hirohito's Palace.Photo: An inmate on the tennis court at San Quentin Credit: BBC
What this episode covers
The San Quentin Correction Facility is one of North America's most notorious prisons. It has held convicts like Charles Manson, and today it houses the largest death row population in the USA. The cells are dark, claustrophobic and threatening. However outside in the Californian sun is one of the more progressive rehabilitation projects in the American penial system: The San Quentin tennis program. The tennis court is one of very few places in the prison where racial divides do not exist. No matter of race or gang affiliation, the tennis court is a neutral zone. We’re on court with murderers, bank robbers and kidnappersMr. Irrelevant: The NFL Draft comes to an end on Saturday, with the 256th and last pick earning the title 'Mr Irrelevant'. That may seem harsh, but it made no difference to Marty Moore who became the first Mr Irrelevant to make it to and then win a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots. He tells us just how relevant he went onto become!Escape from Alcatraz! After Birmingham‘s Dave Healy, or Blind Dave as he calls himself, finished last week’s London Marathon, his thoughts immediately turned towards his next challenge. Not content with just running (including the Marathon des Sables) he is now turning to triathlons as he attempts to “Escape from Alcatraz.”Cue the Music: We preview this weekend’s World Snooker Championships through the music of snooker legend Steve Davis.Sporting Witness… The Australian, Dawn Fraser, is one of the greatest swimmers of all time - a three-time Olympic champion for the 100-metres freestyle and the first woman to break 60 seconds for 100 metres. But Fraser is equally well-known in Australia for her rebellious behaviour - including a notorious incident at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 when she was accused of stealing an Olympic flag from outside the Emperor Hirohito's Palace.Photo: An inmate on the tennis court at San Quentin Credit: BBC
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Serving Time at San Quentin
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