Prisons

Chesa Boudin's radical leftist parents were imprisoned when he was a toddler. Now he's working to reduce the inmate population in San Francisco — and worrying about his dad, who remains in prison.

A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives.

Stiller's Showtime series, which is up for 12 Emmys, centers on the true story of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum security prison in 2015. Originally broadcast Jan. 8, 2019.

Ben Stiller loves a good escape story. So when he heard about Richard Matt and David Sweat, two convicted murderers who used tools provided by a prison employee to break out of a New York state maximum security prison in June 2015, he was intrigued.

Daniel Genis, son of Soviet emigre writer Alexander Genis, served 10 years for armed robbery. The crimes fueled his heroin addiction. "It was so obvious I didn't fit in," he says.

Two more shows to add to your 2012 list: Justified, which returns to FX Tuesday night for its third season, and Alcatraz, a new Fox drama and the latest from producer J.J. Abrams. TV critic David Bianculli explains why they're both worth watching.

The old-school Brooklyn funk and soul band just released its fourth album, I Learned the Hard Way. Sharon Jones and bassist Gabriel Roth join Fresh Air to discuss the band's style and songwriting techniques.

AMC's newest miniseries is an ill-advised attempt at a reboot of the cult-hit '60s spy series: A man known as Six (Jim Caviezel) finds himself trapped in a strange desert village, dogged b y a mysterious watcher (Ian McKellen's elusive Two). Critic David Bianculli says that despite McKellen's captivating performance, the remake has none of the curious genius of the original.

Poet and novelist Carol Muske-Dukes founded the University of Southern California's doctoral program in literature and creative writing; she's written three novels and seven collections of poetry, been a National Book Award finalist and received a Guggenheim fellowship.