Reposted from They Did What?!, which you can find now or very soon at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcastica.com/podcast/they-did-what

Kelsey and Gen take on HBO’s The Alabama Solution, a documentary that drags the Alabama prison system out of the shadows and into full, brutal light. Through hidden cell-phone footage, inmate testimonies, and interviews captured at enormous personal risk, the film exposes violence, corruption, and conditions that defy any notion of rehabilitation. They break down the men who spoke up, the failures of the system around them, and the human cost the state would rather you never see, but it’s impossible to unsee once you have.

Next up:

"The Long Shot" on Netflix, a short 40 minute Netflix doc from 2017 about a man wrongly accused of murder and exonerated via footage from the TV show Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

Send us an email or a voice message to ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠,or look out for our episode comment posts on ⁠⁠facebook.com/groups/podcastica⁠⁠. We'd love to hear from you!

Waiting for our next episode? Leave us a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts and help more people find us to join the fun! Then explore other great shows in the Podcastica network at ⁠⁠podcastica.com⁠⁠!  

Mentioned:

The Business with Kim Masters at KCRW interview with the filmmakers, Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte KaufmanApple Podcast ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business/id73330606?i=1000735737607⁠ Spotify Podcast ⁠https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OFaujqzWadpJujV5fUc1D?si=vikI80tMQfu5BphQVOLBXw⁠

Alabama Reflector article

⁠https://alabamareflector.com/2025/09/04/analysis-says-alabama-department-of-corrections-received-5-billion-in-state-funding-in-five-years/⁠

⁠https://alabamaappleseed.org/news/alabama-department-of-corrections-5-billion-in-spending-in-five-years/⁠

Where Are They Now?

Robert Earl Council (Kinetik)

⁠https://thecinemaholic.com/the-alabama-solution/⁠

⁠https://www.thekinetikjusticeproject.com/⁠

⁠https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-robert-earl-council-reopen-his-case-now?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=mobileNativeShare&utm_campaign=share_petition&recruited_by_id=e2cc3780-94f8-11f0-ab8e-0744652ddffc⁠

Melvin Ray

⁠https://moviedelic.com/melvin-ray/⁠

⁠https://thecinemaholic.com/the-alabama-solution/⁠

Raoul Poole

⁠https://thecinemaholic.com/the-alabama-solution/⁠

Sandy Ray

⁠https://abc3340.com/news/abc-3340-news-iteam/state-lawmaker-demands-firing-of-officer-after-documentary-exposes-prison-beating-death⁠

Roderick Gadson

⁠https://www.alreporter.com/2025/10/16/petition-calls-for-federal-investigation-into-killing-of-inmate-steven-davis/⁠

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey

⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Ivey⁠

⁠https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2019/02/blackface-racist-photos-among-those-in-pages-of-old-glomerata-yearbooks⁠

⁠https://s3.amazonaws.com/snwceomedia/atp/c9c85d24-7aae-4f34-8770-5ba91627ffab.original.pdf⁠

Support Resources:

Families for justice reform

https://famm.org/

Civil liberties in prison

https://www.aclu.org/issues/prisoners-rights/civil-liberties-prison

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