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The Texas Tank: A prison radio station changing lives

An in-house radio station at Texas’ Death Row prison is creating community and changing inmates' lives.

The Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, used to be known as the Terror Dome for its high rates of inmate violence, murder and suicide. Polunsky houses all the men condemned to death in Texas (currently 185) and nearly 3,000 maximum security prisoners. But since the pandemic, a prison radio station almost entirely run by the men themselves has helped to create community--even for those on death row, who spend 23 hours a day locked alone in their cells.

The Tank beams all kinds of programmes across the prison complex: conversations both gruff and tender; music from R&B to metal; the soundtracks of old movies; inspirational messages from all faiths and none. The station’s steady signal has saved some men from suicide and many from loneliness; it lets family members and inmates dedicate songs to each other and make special shows for those on their way to execution. Maria Margaronis tunes in to The Tank and meets some of the men who say it has changed their livesβ€”even when those lives have just weeks left to run.

Producer: David Goren

Photo credit (Michael Starghill)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Thu 8 Sep 2022 12:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 8 Sep 2022 01:32GMT
  • Thu 8 Sep 2022 08:06GMT
  • Thu 8 Sep 2022 12:32GMT

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