Hidden Mirrors with Alan Huffman

The book club's recording ban is now in effect, and the season is drawing to a close – but the men aren't done just yet. With fewer members than usual in the room, the conversation turns to Framed, the John Grisham and Jim McCloskey expose of wrongful convictions, which has quietly rattled even these men. None of the book club members claim innocence. But the book has cracked something open.  The member known as Chris2 says he's been imprisoned for seven years, yet the stories still seemed incredible and shocking to him. Willie mentions a man currently imprisoned at Wilkinson who was convicted of rape despite an alleged DNA mismatch. Dollar notes that it can take two decades to get a wrongful conviction overturned. And Justin, writing from solitary, sends a question he hands over the room: Are the people I'm incarcerated with even supposed to be here? X-man frames it as a problem of projection – the same tendency to see only what you expect to see, which he says shapes elections, policing and how anyone in an orange jumpsuit gets perceived before a word is spoken. Such prejudgments happen even in prison, he says. Dollar calls this last book club session one of the most important discussions the club has had – which makes it all the more painful that it could not be recorded – of necessity, a large part of this episode relies upon notes recounted in voiceovers. In a one-on-one recorded interview, Micharlos, meanwhile, reflects on what this whole undertaking has meant to him. He wants to be remembered as someone who helped build something here, something that gave the men an outlet and helped them get through incarceration. He expects others to feel the same. The season ends not with a tidy resolution, but with lots of questions – that, and the image of a hand holding a book over a razor wire fence – an idea for a prison tattoo that Hopper came up with for the whole group. Books mentioned: Framed, co-authored by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey Podcast funding from the McMullan-O'Connor Fund; book club sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council. Engineered by Jesse Naus, Shawn Jackson and Charlie Sensabaugh at Red Cayman Studios, with assistant producer Amanda Akari. Edited and hosted by Alan Huffman. Initial support and recordings provided by Management and Training Corporation, operator of the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Special thanks to Robert Connolly Farr for use of his song "Everybody's Dying."  

Our book discussions are on hold as we await more copies of the next selection, so today's meeting takes a turn toward writing. The club has no shortage of aspiring authors. Micharlos wants to organize a group book, each member writing a chapter about their life in prison – not about their crimes, but about transformation and hard-won lessons. He even has a working title: Trapped in a Mason Jar, an allusion to the capacity to preserve things of value, but with an everpresent risk that the results will go rank. Dollar's father is pushing him to write a memoir. X-man says he has filled journals for years and is looking for a path to publication. Jonathan is working on movie scripts and a semi-autobiographical novel. Wes, who already writes for the corrections company's in-house magazine, with a notebook always at hand – deeply regrets throwing away journals from his twenties. "That's one of the stupidest things I've ever done," he says. The conversation opens up something personal and visceral. Wes puts it plainly: people on the outside forget that the men here are sons, husbands, brothers, uncles. They've made serious mistakes, and most of them admit that unflinchingly, yet that isn't the whole story, and it's not the only story these men want to tell. There are real obstacles, though. X-man lays them out in a written message he later sends: no typewriters, no laptops, submission guidelines that don't accommodate handwritten work, shakedowns that destroy months of writing. Battle, on the other hand, wants no part of this endeavor, though he'd be happy to talk while someone else transcribes what he says for the envisioned group book. Next up: Framed, co-authored by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey, about wrongful convictions. Even from inside prison, it'll shake some assumptions loose. Books mentioned: Framed, co-authored by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey | The Tragedy of True Crime by John J. Lennon | The Bone Tree by Greg Iles. Podcast funding from the McMullan-O'Connor Fund; book club sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council. Engineered by Jesse Naus, Shawn Jackson and Charlie Sensabaugh at Red Cayman Studios, with assistant producer Amanda Akari. Edited and hosted by Alan Huffman. Support and recordings provided by Management and Training Corporation, operator of the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Special thanks to Robert Connolly Farr for use of his song "Everybody's Dying."  

The Bone Tree discussion deepens this week as most members have finished the book — and the conversation follows suit, growing sharper and more focused as the men dig into what the novel is really about. The biggest club news: Daquirius is nine days from release. He hasn't even gotten his copy yet, but the room lights up for him. He plans to take his small prison library into his new life on the outside. With more of the book under their belts, the members zero in on two interlocking themes: secrets and loyalty. Wes frames it precisely — Penn Cage is juggling his identity as lawyer, mayor, and son, all while learning his father is not the man he thought he knew. "You only see what they show you," one member observes. "You can never really know a person." The group draws that thread straight into their own lives, talking candidly about how secrets operate inside prison — the paranoia they breed, the trust they corrode, and the times a whispered warning could have changed everything. Micharlos has been doing research from the inside, burning expensive phone minutes to chase down the real history behind the Silver Dollar Group, and what he finds only deepens his conviction that this book is barely fiction at all. "There's no way that book ain't true," another member agrees. "That man lived something he put on paper." The group also wrestles with family loyalty – how it compares to Penn's fierce, complicated loyalty to his father, and what it means when someone you love turns out to have done something unforgivable. Daquirius may not have his copy yet. But the men who do are ready to read the whole trilogy. -- Books mentioned: The Bone Tree by Greg Iles (Book 2 of the trilogy, which begins with Natchez Burning and concludes with Mississippi Blood) Podcast funding from the McMullan-O'Connor Fund; book club sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council. Engineered by Jesse Naus, Shawn Jackson and Charlie Sensabaugh at Red Cayman Studios, with assistant producer Amanda Akari. Edited and hosted by Alan Huffman. Support and recordings provided by Management and Training Corporation, operator of the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Special thanks to Robert Connolly Farr for use of his song "Everybody's Dying."

The first crack at The Bone Tree starts rough. Half the club members are missing due to delayed escorts from their cells, which leads to lots of interruptions and scraping chairs as the guys finally settle in. The book itself is no light read: 900 pages smack in the middle of Greg Iles' trilogy, thick with KKK vigilantes, mob ties, JFK conspiracy threads, and the haunting "bone tree," a secret spot where victims' bones were hung like trophies, rooted in slavery and secrets. There's a lot going on in this novel, but it pulls in the club members fast.  The settings feel real to the men: nearby Natchez, Angola prison down the road, even the prison near Woodville where the club members are incarcerated makes an appearance.. "Man, we're sitting right where this could've gone down," one member observes. Due to logistical issues and the fact that this is the club's first foray into the book, the discussion is at times meandering. Some members haven't started the book, others are tearing through, but a conversational theme eventually develops, about the risks of secrets, how they rot families from the inside, shatter trust and echo through the generations. X-Man lays it out straight: "Everybody's hiding something... and you see what it does to everybody around them." Dollar, who says he coached football with Iles in Natchez 15-20 years back, calls it a barely veiled truth, "like he lived this instead of just made it up." Battle is already deep into chapter 41, dropping conspiracy teases. Chris2 lists characters like they're people he knows. Holloway lands a solid hit, tying the bone trophies to twisted Army war stories. Iles' death still haunts — he passed away on Aug. 15, 2025, at age 65 after battling multiple myeloma since '96. The club grabbed this book as a way of paying tribute. His Natchez roots make the loss hit closer. The meeting is loud and at times borders on chaotic, but the men are clearly animated by this book, and by the proximity of the Wilkinson prison. Justin, stuck in solitary, sends his notes by hand: Truth surfaces eventually. Keep digging. This episode catches the raw spark when a heavy crime thriller crashes into prison reality — secrets, race, loyalty, and the thin line between the page and the life they've lived. Books mentioned: The Bone Tree by Greg Iles (part two of a trilogy that includes Natchez Burning and Mississippi Blood) | Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel | nods to past picks.   Podcast funding from the McMullan-O'Connor Fund; book club sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council. Engineered by Jesse Naus, Shawn Jackson and Charlie Sensabaugh at Red Cayman Studios, in partnership with assistant producer Amanda Akari. Edited and hosted by Alan Huffman. Initial support and recordings provided by Management and Training Corporation, operator of the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Special thanks to Robert Connolly Farr for use of his song "Everybody's Dying."  

Ten new members join the book club at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, and their arrival reshapes the room. As host Alan Huffman goes around the circle asking what each man likes to read — biographies, westerns, mysteries, Christian books, true crime — a portrait emerges of readers searching for something real, something that moves, something that might explain the choices that led them here. The selection process is rarely simple. In a club of 25, tastes range from vampire novels to Malcolm X, from Harry Potter to Lonesome Dove. But this session takes an unexpected turn when a new member named Dollar quietly shares that Natchez author Greg Iles — whose sprawling, history-soaked Mississippi thrillers the club has long admired — just died. The news lands hard. Dollar knew him personally, had coached football with him, had ridden in the ambulance after his accident years ago. From that moment of grief comes a rare convergence: another new member, who goes by 69, nominates Iles' The Bone Tree — a 900-page mystery novel woven through with KKK ties, organized crime, and threads that reach all the way to the Kennedy assassination. It's the second book in a trilogy they haven't started. None of that matters. The vote is nearly unanimous. This episode is about how a book gets chosen, and what that process reveals: about appetite, attention, and what these men are really looking for between the lines. Books mentioned in this episode: The Bone Tree by Greg Iles | Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel | Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward | A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah | The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas | War by Sebastian Junger | No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy | James by Percival Everett | Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury | Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut | The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The book club gathers to watch Restrepo—and the room fills with the sound of sustained gunfire echoing through a maximum-security prison. In this episode, the men discuss the documentary Restrepo, co-directed by Sebastian Junger and the late Tim Hetherington, a visceral companion to Junger's nonfiction book War, which the club read earlier. Filmed during a year embedded with a U.S. Army platoon at a remote Afghan outpost, Restrepo won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and was later nominated for an Academy Award. But A Rare Record is about more than war on screen. As the club looks ahead to a second season of the podcast, the men talk excitedly about sound design, T-shirts, and how Hidden Mirrors might give incarcerated people a public voice—only for that optimism to collide with a sudden and unexplained ban on further recording by prison officials. What follows is an account of how a fully approved podcast—endorsed by prison leadership, recorded with official permission, and even cleared for a planned CBS Sunday Morning segment—became a story the Mississippi Department of Corrections no longer wanted told. As prison administrators retreat, the podcast presses on using previously recorded sessions, transforming Hidden Mirrors into something unexpected: a rare, preserved record of voices that were meant to be heard, and then silenced. Inside the cinderblock room, the conversations continue—about books, rehabilitation, public perception, and the power of being listened to. Outside it, the ground is already shifting beneath the project. This is the beginning of Season Two—and the last season recorded inside the Wilkinson County prison.

In this epilogue to Hidden Mirrors' pilot season, we hear from listeners about why these conversations matter — from bestselling author Sebastian Junger to combat veterans, readers across the country (and one from overseas), and people who never imagined they'd have anything in common with men serving long prison sentences. Their reflections reveal the power of literature to bridge seemingly impossible divides and show what rehabilitation actually looks like. But there's a complication: the Wilkinson prison warden recently halted our recording, raising questions about who gets to tell these stories and why. We discuss what happened and what comes next. This episode features reflections from: Sebastian Junger — Author of The Perfect Storm and War, co-director of the documentary Restrepo. Sebastian participated in two Zoom calls with the book club in Episode 3 and explains why giving voice to incarcerated people matters for all of us. Keith Dow — Member of PB Abbate veterans book club, co-founder of Dead Reckoning Collective. Keith discusses the unexpected power of book discussions between combat veterans and incarcerated readers. Michael Jerome Plunkett — Leader of PB Abbate, author of the novel Zone Rouge. Michael describes how the Zoom conversations challenged his assumptions about prison and rehabilitation. Brendan O'Byrne — Combat veteran featured in War and Restrepo. Brendan draws parallels between his own recovery from combat trauma through a New Hampshire Humanities book group and the healing potential of the prison book club. Owen Phillips — Reader in Oxford, Mississippi, who recognizes in the club's discussions what she calls "humanity's Common Core." Ryan Nave — Birmingham, Alabama journalist who appreciates the raw honesty and unique perspectives the inmates bring to familiar books. Kerry Dicks — Natchez resident who confronted her own biases about incarcerated people through listening. Pete Joyce — Washington, DC listener who describes how the same book becomes different depending on who's reading it. Chris Harris — Originally from Scotland, now in New Zealand, drawn to the intersection of literature and the hidden world of prisons. John Sewell — Personal friend who discusses how books narrow the divide between the incarcerated and the outside world, and why the podcast's unpolished approach matters. What Happened: In November, Warden Tim Delaney rescinded approval for recording after the Mississippi Department of Corrections flagged a positive newspaper article about the podcast. Despite having secured approval from two wardens and MTC (the private company operating the prison), and initially from Warden Delaney and Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain for both the podcast and a planned CBS Sunday Morning segment, we were told we could no longer record future sessions. The irony: positive press about rehabilitation through literature was treated as a problem. Season 2 launches in January, based on previously recorded sessions provided by the prison or done with official permission. Support Hidden Mirrors: If you'd like to help ensure these conversations continue, please follow or subscribe on your podcast platform and visit hiddenmirrors.com to support the show. Credits: Hidden Mirrors is made possible by the McMullen O'Connor Fund in cooperation with the Mississippi Humanities Council, which sponsors prison book clubs across the state. Produced by Matt Stroud and his team at Amphibian Media. Engineered by Jesse Naus, Sean Jackson, and Charlie Sensabaugh at Red Caiman Studios. Co-editors Erisa Apantaku and host Alan Huffman. Management & Training Corporation provided space and support. Special thanks to Robert Connolly Farr for use of his song "Everybody's Dying."

For incarcerated men serving long sentences, the holidays bring a complicated mix of loss, memory, and unexpected moments of connection. In this final episode of Hidden Mirrors' pilot season, members of the Wilkinson County prison book club reflect on how Christmas feels when you can't be with family—and how they've learned to create meaning and community behind bars. Drawing on Jesmyn Ward's novel "Where the Line Bleeds," the men discuss childhood holiday memories, the painful distance from loved ones, and the creative ways they bring Christmas spirit into their pods—from paper-mache nativity scenes to elaborate decorations contests. One member shares the story of his most memorable prison Christmas, when he became a "live baby Jesus" that moved wardens to tears. The conversations reveal how incarceration reshapes the definition of family, how holiday meals become rituals of unity across divided groups, and why some men have learned to find joy even in the bleakest circumstances. It's a meditation on resilience, community, and what the season of giving means when you have almost nothing material to give. 

The Wilkinson County book club takes up Jesmyn Ward's Where the Line Bleeds and lands on something bigger than plot: how to listen. What starts as a debate about parenting, responsibility, and small-town pressures becomes a practice in hearing one another with patience and respect. The men weigh different views of Seeley's choices, talk honestly about their own families, and keep circling back to a shared theme: choices shape us, and listening helps us make better ones. Along the way, the group reflects on how reading together has changed their day-to-day communication. They describe catching themselves before reacting, asking for clarity, and trying to understand where someone is coming from. You'll hear the familiar sounds of the facility in the background, but what stands out is the care the men bring to the room and to each other. In our next episode, the club spends a holiday inside Where the Line Bleeds and inside the prison, sharing memories of Christmas, hope, and what it means to show up for family. Hidden Mirrors is recorded with the support of Management Training Corporation, the facility operator, and produced in collaboration with the Mississippi Humanities Council's statewide prison book clubs.    Credits: Host & Writer: Alan Huffman Co-Editor: Erisa Apantaku Associate Producers: Amanda Zaremba & Matt Stroud (Amphibian Media) Audio Production: Red Caiman Studios Music: Robert Connolly Farr Support: Mississippi Humanities Council | Funding: McMullan/O'Connor Fund  

In this episode, the book club at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility connects over Zoom with veterans from Patrol Base Abbate, led by author and veteran Michael Plunkett, to explore how stories can bridge different worlds. With help from the prison's education department, the men gather in the visitation room to discuss War by Sebastian Junger, joined by the author himself for a rare and deeply engaging conversation. What begins as a discussion about combat and survival expands into a dialogue about grief, vigilance, and healing — from the front lines to life inside prison walls. The men respond with openness and insight, finding unexpected parallels between their experiences and those of soldiers at war. While the recording carries the familiar hum of a prison Zoom call, the honesty and connection that emerge make this exchange something extraordinary. In our next episode, the club turns to Jesmyn Ward's Where the Line Bleeds, a story about how choices define the paths we take. Hidden Mirrors is recorded with the support of Management Training Corporation, the facility operator, and produced in collaboration with the Mississippi Humanities Council's statewide prison book clubs. Special thanks to Patrol Base Abbate and Michael Plunkett.   Credits: Host & Writer: Alan Huffman Co-Editor: Erisa Apantaku Associate Producers: Amanda Zaremba & Matt Stroud (Amphibian.Media) Audio Production: Red Caiman Studios Music: Robert Connely Farr Support: Mississippi Humanities Council | Funding: McMullan/O'Connor Fund  

In this episode, the men of the Wilkinson Book Club unpack A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah — a memoir often described as harrowing, though for them, it was about hope. As they talk through Beah's story of being forced into war as a child and finding his way back to peace, the group keeps returning to that one word: hope. They see not only violence and loss, but endurance, compassion, and the possibility of change.  For some, Beah's survival feels like proof that people can rebuild after unthinkable experiences. For others, it's a reminder that faith, love, and patience — especially from strangers — can help someone find their way home again. What might seem like a story of despair becomes, in their hands, a lesson in resilience and the human will to heal. "This book," one member says, "is about somebody who didn't let his circumstances define who he was. It shows that no matter what, you can rise above it." In our next episode, follow along as the club connects with a group of U.S. military veterans and journalist Sebastian Junger to explore how different kinds of conflict shape our understanding of recovery, identity, and home.   Hidden Mirrors is recorded with the support of Management Training Corporation, the facility operator, and produced in collaboration with the Mississippi Humanities Council's statewide prison book clubs.   Credits: Host & Writer: Alan Huffman Co-Editor: Erisa Apantaku Associate Producers: Amanda Zaremba & Matt Stroud (Amphibian.Media) Audio Production: Red Caiman Studios Music: Robert Connely Farr Support: Mississippi Humanities Council | Funding: McMullan/O'Connor Fund  

Inside a classroom at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Mississippi, a book club meets every other Friday. Journalist Alan Huffman sits with the men and follows the conversation from the page to lived experience: isolation, imagination, brotherhood, survival, and hope. In Episode 1, Members share why stories matter inside, how books become mirrors, and how reading in community builds the habit of truly hearing one another. Recent reads include "A Long Way Gone," by Ishmael Beah, and "War" by Sebastian Junger, which spark questions about resilience and the choices that shape us. Hidden Mirrors is recorded with the support of Management Training Corporation, the facility operator and produced in collaboration with the Mississippi Humanities Council's statewide prison book clubs.   Credits: Host & Writer: Alan Huffman Co-Editor: Erisa Apantaku Associate Producers: Amanda Zaremba & Matt Stroud (Amphibian.Media) Audio Production: Red Caiman Studios Music: Robert Connely Farr Support: Mississippi Humanities Council | Funding: McMullan/O'Connor Fund  

In a maximum security prison in Mississippi, a book club becomes something more: a mirror for the men inside. They read closely, see differently, and find hope in unexpected places. This preview introduces Hidden Mirrors, a documentary podcast series hosted by journalist Alan Huffman. Recorded inside Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, the series explores how literature reshapes conversations about freedom, identity, and resilience. Hidden Mirrors launches October 15, with new episodes released every two weeks. For more information on the show, visit HiddenMirrors.com. Credits Hosted and Written by: Alan Huffman Produced by Associate Producers: Amanda Zaremba and Matt Stroud of Amphibian.Media Audio Production: Red Caiman Studios Music by Robert Connely Farr With support from the Mississippi Humanities Council and funding from the McMullen/O'Connor Fund