Solitary Confinement is a visual representation on an excerpt from prisoner Chris McBride’s letter to the newspaper Indy Week dated on July 4th 2012. This piece attempts to visually communicate, in less than 2 minutes, the amount of time a prisoner spends in a very small confinement, the minuscule amount of time spent outside the cell and the psychological impact this can have.

The relevant excerpt from the letter can be found in the article What life is like in solitary confinement at North Carolina’s Central Prison by Billy Ball, dated on October 21st, 2012.

After settling into her new life in America, a Syrian refugee receives a visit from her past. Based on a story by Syrian writer Jehan Sayed Issa.

High school student Gerardo Hernandez – raised in the United States since six months of age – was one of over 100 undocumented workers arrested by ICE in Ohio on June 5th, 2018. Gerardo spent almost 2 months in prison before being released… and is now scheduled to be deported in early 2020. THE OTHER BORDER is his American story, told through intimate interviews with Gerardo and his sister, Karime, and shot exclusively on 8mm and 16mm film.

Jen Senko, a documentary filmmaker, looks at the rise of right-wing media through the lens of her WWII vet father who changed from a life-long, nonpolitical Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic after his discovery of talk radio on a lengthened commute to work. In trying to understand how this happened, she not only finds this to be a phenomenon, but also uncovers some of the forces behind it: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon to create a media for the GOP; the Lewis Powell Memo, urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion – especially the universities – the media and the courts; and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine – all of which helped to change the entire country’s direction and culture, misinformed millions, divided families and even the country itself.

Join Doug Hamilton and special guest John Nichols for a conversation about the state of contemporary media. Nichols is a pioneering journalist for The Nation, host of the podcast Next Left, and author of serveral books, including Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America (Nation Books) as well as The Genius of Impeachment (New Press).  

Their conversation will focus on John’s experiences working in media: what he’s seen as a journalist, what is working and what he’s concerned about, and what consumers of media need to be wary of moving forward.