This is an unedited interview I did with a young man in Barre, Vermont in 2011. He gave me permission to use this tape, but I’ve chosen not to use his name in order to protect his privacy. I’ll call him ‘O’.

I had interviewed O once before, when he was on furlough and living in Barre. About a year after that first interview I interviewed him again. I was curious about how he was doing after having maxed out his jail sentence. We met at the apartment he was living in with his girlfriend and daughter.

According to O, many in his family–his dad, grandfather, uncle, cousins–have been in and out of jail for as long as he can remember. I wanted to know how this family history affected his thoughts about his own life prospects.

I go back to this tape over and over. Pieces of it show up in other stories I’ve made, but there is more ‘content’ in this raw tape than any story I could write or edit.

Warning: There are references to sex and violence in this interview.