This Episode Is Being Monitored

Is media made inside prisons (A) a tool of collective empowerment, (B) a promotional vehicle for prisons, (C) an instrument of management, or (D) all of the above? In this live recording from the “Carceral Media Ecologies—And How To Break Them” symposium at UC, Santa Cruz (May 13, 2026), Visualizing Abolition co-director Rachel Nelson speaks with filmmaker and organizer Thanh Tran and cultural strategist Keisha Knight (Solidarity Media Network) about media-making under conditions of incarceration. The panelists trace the history of prisoner-led media initiatives at San Quentin, examining the emergence of the prison’s media center, the creation of For This Productions and the San Quentin Film Festival, and the tensions that arise when institutions seek to control the stories incarcerated people tell. Because a third panelist joined the event by phone from prison, portions of the conversation were monitored and recorded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). To protect the incarcerated participant, some material has been edited from this version of the recording. Citations Steve Brooks, articles published in Documentary magazine (International Documentary Association) California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) The “California Model” Media Resources Forward This Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@forwardthisproductions9863 Solidarity Media Network: https://www.youtube.com/@SolidarityMediaNetwork Ear Hustle podcast: https://www.earhustlesq.com/ Dying in Prison (dir. Thanh Tran, 2021) Juvies (dir. Leslie Neale, 2004) Work by Eric “Maserati E” Abercrombie; Rahsaan “New York” Thomas; Adamu Chan Unmaking the Prison Image is a production of Visualizing Abolition, a public scholarship initiative at the University of California, Santa Cruz, directed by Gina Dent and Rachel Nelson. Additional support comes from Amherst College. Full transcripts for all episodes are available at https://ias.ucsc.edu/unmaking-the-prison-image/. Theme music for Visualizing Abolition is Pray by Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science. Our cover art features an image from Christopher Harris’s still/here.