For prisons to function smoothly and profitably, the major tools of

control - violence, surveillance, separation - must be complimented by a

host of less obvious instruments and technologies. These include

censorship in the mail room, the cultivation of racial tension,

integration of prisoner labor into facility maintenance, cafeteria

operations, and private contracting, among many others. This week on

Kite Line, we go in depth on another of these minor but vitally

important aspects of the prison: commissary, the private market run by

prisons to sell products to prisoners. We include research projects and

interviews with current and ex-prisoners that demonstrate how commissary

is vital for supplementing inadequate diets, protecting social status,

maintaining communication with the free world, and - from the

perspective of prison administrators - racking up enormous profits.

One of the people we interview in this episode reflects on how prison

distorts your sense of proportion. Suddenly minor variables can

translate into life-or-death stakes, which is the best summary we've

heard of the role of commissary.