In this first episode WMMT's General Manager Elizabeth Sanders & Public Affairs Director Rachel Garringer chat live on air about their hopes for this new monthly show - which aims to increase production of content by & for those incarcerated in our listening area and those directly impacted by the penal system in Central Appalachia.

They ask for folks on the inside to send in written submissions for the show & play audio from the archive of past prison-justice related work at the station: including audio postcards from family members, Calls from Home, and poetry & music submissions from the inside.  And they play audio from the Central Appalachian Prison Justice Assembly cohosted by WMMT and the Highlander Center March 29-30, 2019.

This episode aired April 15, 2019 on WMMT 88.7fm.

Restorative Radio - Episode #1

In this 2nd episode of Restorative Radio we hear:

- an interview with Alan Ramirez & Nicole Townsend, organizers with Southerners On New Ground, about the national Black Mamas Bail Out Action & their local efforts in Asheville, NC.

- an interview with Vishal Agraharkar, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Virginia, about their recently filed class action lawsuit aimed at ending solitary confinement in Wallens Ridge and Red Onion State Prisons.

- audio from the May 14th, 2019 Community Forum on Criminal Justice Reform in Dumfries, VA which was hosted by the VA Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.  

-volunteers from Calls from Home & Hip Hop From the Hilltop reading written submissions from two folks currently incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison in Pound, VA : Thomas Moyler Jr. and Russel Banks.

This episode aired May 20, 2019 on WMMT 88.7fm.

Restorative Radio - Episode #2

In this 3rd episode of Restorative Radio we'll hear:

-an interview with Diana Queen, president of the Kentucky Center for Restorative Justice about the work they do to facilitate restorative processes with communities and schools

AND - in honor of LGBTQ pride month & the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprisings we wanted to include segments in this month’s episode that speak to the unique experiences queer and trans folks face in prison and the criminal justice system - and to highlight the work of some queer and trans organizers and artists. 

So, we’ll also hear from:

- Grier, a volunteer with the Tranzmission Prison Project in Asheville, NC about TPP’s LGBTQ+ Prison Book program. 

- A more experimental piece brought to us from Liz Sanders featuring Kai Lumumba Barrow playing excerpts from and talking about: [b]REACH: adventures in heterotopia as a Black surrealist opera, a multimedia travelling theatrical event that imagines the fugitive journey of PRISONER #25, a CAT of CATS, and NOMADIC OUTLAW, determined to escape and abolish MISERABILISM.  

-And submissions from Russell Banks at Red Onion State Prison from his "Food 4 Thought" series.  

Music features Danja Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This episode aired on WMMT 88.7fm on June 17, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Episode #3

This episode features:

-writing by Ryrikah Custis who is currently incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison.  

- a half hour of stories about the Black Sheep Brick Oven Bakery in Hemphill, KY where drug court participants are helping create a hate free zone, learning to bake artisan bread, and offering advice to others in their community working towards recovery.

-an interview with Kenneth Bonner who was incarcerated at Tennessee State Penitentiary for nearly thirty years.  He talks about how books saved his life in prison, and how he started an organization called CAUSE while he was incarcerated aimed at teaching fellow inmates the life-skills and anger-management skills they’d need upon release that the prison was not providing them with. 

Music by Dajna Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This show aired on WMMT 88.7fm at 6pm on July 15, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Episode #4

In this 5th episode of Restorative Radio we'll hear:

-an interview with Deacon Preston Mitchell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Norton, VA about the ride share that has been supporting family members from eastern VA in visiting their loved ones at Wallens Ridge & Red Onion State Prisons in Wise County, VA since the late 1990s. 

-Interviews with Debbie Graner & Corey Logan who tell their personal stories about losing their voting rights due to past felony convictions and their activism around voting rights restoration with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

-and audio from a panel presentation by Indigenous Studies Scholars at the 2018 International Conference on Penal Abolition in London, England. In this excerpt Nancy Van Styvendale, from the University of Alberta, shares writing by Indigenous men involved in the Inspired Minds creative writing program at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.

Music features Danja Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This episode aired on WMMT 88.7fm on August 19, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Epiosde #5

In this 6th episode of Restorative Radio we'll hear:

-Two new writing submissions from folks currently incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison in Wise County, VA:

1. Our first-ever recording from inside features Richard Ames at Red  reading his poem "Pain of a Prisoner" over the phone.

2. And Russel Banks continues his series "Food 4 Thought" with a piece called "The Power & Beauty of our Past & Present on our Future" read by WMMT staff.

-Two audio pieces exploring what it's like for young people to grow up with loved ones in prison: 

 1.  The first "Dear Poppy" by Melissa Dueñas was produced as part of a series called “Surviving California” by the University of Southern California’s Spring 2019 public radio documentary class.  In this piece, Melissa explores her complicated relationship with her father & his incarceration, through letters they wrote to one another over the course of his life.

2. The second, "Locked" is a personal audio essay produced by Tobias and Miracle, who are both 14 years old, and who both have loved ones in prison. This piece comes from the After School Matters Youth Radio Program in Chicago and was produced during their six week Summer 2019 program. 

-And, from our archives here at WMMT we bring you Elizabeth Sanders' and Sylvia Ryerson's 2011 interview with Tayna Fogle - who talks about her own experiences living with a felony on her record in the state of Kentucky and her work supporting formerly incarcerated folks in  their re-entry into life on the outside.

Music features Danja Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This episode aired on WMMT 88.7fm on September 16, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Episode #6

In this 7th episode of Restorative Radio we'll hear:

1. Two new pieces from Russell Banks's "Food 4 Thought" series:  "24 Things to Remember" & "I Can, I'm Able, I'm Perfect." Russell is currently incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison and he sends us his submissions via mail.

2. An interview with Tena Grear - who’s grandparents owned the land where Red Onion State Prison is now based, and who's grandfather was known as "Red Onion." Tena shares memories of her childhood playing in the woods where the prison now sits & reflections on what it's like that her family land - and her grandfather's name - are now a super maximum security prison. 

3. An interview with Margaret Breslau of the Virginia Prison Justice Network, about their work in collaboration with folks on the inside to advocate for prison justice in the state.

4. An interview with WVU graduate student Gabriella Pishotti about the Appalachian Prison Book Project.

Music features Danja Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This episode aired on WMMT 88.7fm on October 21, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Episode #7

In this 8th episode of Restorative Radio we'll hear:

-new segments from Russell Banks's "Food 4 Thought Series" and a phone interview with Askari Danso - founder of Virginia Prisoners of Conscience, a steering committee member of the Coalition for Justice, and a founding member of the Virginia Prison Justice Network. Both Russell & Askari are currently incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison in Wise County, VA.

-an interview with Jasmine Heiss & Jack Norton of the VERA Institute of Justice talking about the quiet jail boom happening across the rural U.S. 

-and audio from SAMS' recent social justice speaker series in Big Stone Gap - where Tray Johns (co-founder & executive director of FedFam4Life) spoke about her experiences as a formerly incarcerated woman, and her & her wife's work to support women in the prison system.

Music features Danja Mouf & Dirk Powell.

This episode aired on WMMT 88.7fm on November 18, 2019.

Restorative Radio - Episode #8

This ongoing series aims to amplify the voices of those incarcerated in our listening area and those directly impacted by the penal system in Central Appalachia & beyond. Featuring submissions from folks on the inside, interviews with formerly incarcerated folks & others organizing for Prison Justice in Appalachia & the South, the show airs the third Wednesday of each month on WMMT 88.7fm at 6pm EST, and is uploaded to Soundcloud later that week.