With(in)

This week, we introduce you to two infamous men inside Colorado’s Department of Corrections. Rory Atkins, resident of the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center (DRDC) and Otis Bell, resident of Limon Correctional Facility, met three decades ago, while both were residing at Centennial Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colorado. When Rory entered prison at the age of 19, he met Otis, a muscular tough-guy who had been inside for a couple years, and took a liking to him. Otis, along with a few other guys, brought Rory in on a plan to escape from Centennial Prison. In Part 1 of their story, we get to know their relationships to violence, how they both came to be inside and how their decades-long friendship formed.

For more information on With(in), including team bios and how to subscribe to our newsletter, Reverberations from With(in), please visit our website: https://www.thisiswithin.com.

When our Associate Producer, Sarah Berry, came to prison, her crime determined how she was treated by other women in the facility. Media coverage of her case and gossip within the prison walls created a narrative about Sarah before she had even set foot inside a state prison. This week on With(in), we speak with Sarah and the woman who gave her the hardest time when she came to prison, Terrina Flora Alexander. We trace their relationship back to the beginning, looking to understand why Terrina decided to target Sarah, and how Terrina’s life experiences impacted how she viewed Sarah and her case. Denise, Draper and Ashley explore the hierarchy of crime that exists both within and beyond the prison gates, and why some crimes seem to be more “acceptable” than others. Now friends, Sarah and Terrina’s relationship shows the power of talking to someone, rather than about them, and how, as a society, we allow what’s said about someone to determine how we view them, and, subsequently, treat them.

For more information on With(in), including team bios and how to subscribe to our newsletter, Reverberations from With(in), please visit our website: https://www.thisiswithin.com.

In this week’s episode of With(in), Draper reflects on his experiences growing up in and living life in an East Denver gang and the vicious cycle of violence that largely goes unnoticed. Sharing personal stories of what his life looked like when he ran with the Crips, Draper shows the harm perpetuated by gang culture and how his experiences have led him, along with With(in) team members, Angel Lopez and Chuck Martinez, to help young people at-risk of falling into gangs. Later, our hosts talk to Denver Reception and Diagnostic (DRDC) resident, Lou Lopez, about the Chicano gang he grew up in on the West Side of Denver. Lou explains his perspective on how the term “gang” is simply a label, used to police and other certain groups of people.

For more information on With(in), including team bios and how to subscribe to our newsletter, Reverberations from With(in), please visit our website: https://www.thisiswithin.com.

On our very first episode of With(in) our hosts, Denise, Draper, and Ashley sit down with the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC), Dean Williams. Mr. Williams was appointed to lead the CDOC by Governor Jared Polis in January of 2019. In today’s episode, he outlines his plans to implement normalization efforts within the state’s prisons and discusses why now is the time to make this shift. Drawing on his experience with Alaska’s Department of Corrections and from prison system models in Norway, Mr. Williams explains his position on rehabilitation, care, and why and for whom prisons exist.

For more information on With(in), including team bios and how to subscribe to our newsletter, Reverberations from With(in), please visit our website: https://www.thisiswithin.com.

With(in) is a podcast that is committed to shifting the conversation on who is in prison through meaningful, complex and enlightening conversations with incarcerated people in Colorado and other's in and around the system. With(in) is a collaboration between the DU Prison Arts Initiative (DU PAI) and the Colorado Department of Corrections. With(in) is recorded in the vault of the Denver Complex Correctional Facility and is hosted and supported by a team of incarcerated folks alongside Ashley Hamilton (Founder and Director of DU PAI and Executive Producer of With(in)) and Caroline Sheahan (Producer of With(in)). For more information, including to read With(in)'s newsletter Reverberations from With(in), please visit thisiswithin.com.