Prison makes a lot of life's big questions feel extremely urgent.

Author Andy West explores such questions  in his work teaching philosophy to prisoners - some of whom have minimal education; some of whom have acquired PhDs.

Andy has also experienced the shadow of prison in his own life - witnessing the incarceration of his father, brother and uncle.

We discuss prison and ideas of freedom, and use the story of Ulysses and the Sirens to test out ideas of who it is in our world who is the most free.

Andy West is a London-based author and philosopher. His new book is The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

⭐️Shame and Pandora’s Box: the lessons for today from an ancient myth.

⭐️3 things Andy West knows to be true.

⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

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Buy Andy West’s book The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free

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You might also enjoy Andrew’s interviews with Julia Samuel MBE on Inherited Pain, or with Joanna LaPrade on Surviving Dark Times.

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Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall