Exploitation Nation, The Podcast, with Brittany Friedman

In the second installment of our “What We’re Reading” series, we examine the political economy of confinement as seen through incarceration and immigration detention and the expanding role of private prison corporations contracting with government agencies–a multi-billion dollar industry. Drawing on abolitionist policy frameworks, this conversation features an interview with Bianca Tylek, author of “The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits,” and Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises. We break down recent data showing dramatic year-over-year profit increases for major contractors, explore ongoing legal disputes shaping forced labor and modern-day slavery, and what you can do to support campaigns to abolish the prison industry.Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta JobeResources:https://worthrises.org/https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.htmlhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-rules-against-private-prison-firm-alleged-to-have-forced-immigrant-detainees-to-work-for-1-a-dayhttps://theconversation.com/we-study-mass-surveillance-for-social-control-and-we-see-trump-laying-the-groundwork-to-contain-people-of-color-and-immigrants-221073https://abolitionistfutures.com/latest-news/practising-everyday-abolition This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

What if “doing nothing” isn’t being lazy or apathetic, but an intentional political practice? In this episode, we unpack Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing and place it in conversation with Black feminist thinkers like Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and bell hooks. We explore attention as a site of extraction and what it means to resist productivity, visibility, and constant availability in a world that profits from all three. We ask how care, slowness, and most importantly, unavailability can be tools for survival and imagining something more sustainable and authentic. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia walks us through Black, queer, and POC independent booksellers around the country that you must visit.Resources: https://www.standwithminnesota.com https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org http://www.ilrc.org/community-resources/ https://nipnlg.orgCo-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

What do the cases of Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein reveal about power, silence, and cover-ups? In this episode, we break down how allegations of sexual and gender-based violence can circulate for years without consequence, how institutions conceal harm until they are forced to be accountable, and why such violence is publicly exposed only when silence is no longer profitable. We also discuss the new Netflix documentary series executive-produced by 50 Cent about “Diddy,” its social media reception, and how the series shines a light on the mechanisms of complicity that allow exploitation to persist for several decades. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia walks us through the top things she learned from this new documentary.Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com

Tianna Laboy thought jail would cost her time. She did not expect it to cost her money, let alone the future of her child. In this episode, we follow her story and speak with April D. Fernandes, Ph.D., to uncover how confinement has become a profit center and what that means not only for the people inside, but for the little known origin story of America. This episode is a cinematic exploration of what it means to survive in a system where prison time is treated like a hotel bill. For “The Truth in 10,” Olivia answers the phone lines to understand what everyday people from all walks of life know about prison pay-to-stay.Co-producers: Brittany Friedman and Olivia Aminatta Jobe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit captivemoneylab.substack.com