In this episode, we have two updates from prisoners in California on their conditions amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Afterwards, we speak with Max Felker-Kantor, historian and professor at Ball State University. Felker-Kantor’s particular focus of study is policing and anti-police violence post WWII. He’s been on Kite Line before, talking about the history of policing in Los Angeles, and about the racially biased national Weed and Seed Program. Today, he talks to us about rebellions, past and present- from Watts, to Liberty City in 1980, to the George Floyd rebellion- and how, although these uprisings are usually sparked by specific instances of racially-motivated police violence, they are indicative of long-term problems in policing.

You can hear previous episodes with Felker-Kantor on policing in Los Angeles here, and here. You can listen to our conversation about the Weed and Seed program here.

Please continue to encourage people to call in to our coronavirus hotline: (765) 343- 6236. We will continue to air statements about the pandemic’s impact on the inside, both from inmates and their loved ones.