KNKX premiers Forgotten Prison on Jan. 22, a new podcast featuring McNeil Island — the Alcatraz you've never heard of.
There are a thousand stories about McNeil Island. And odds are, you haven't heard any of them. In Episode 1 of Forgotten Prison, hosts Simone Alicea and Paula Wissel explain how we came to abandon one of the country's first federal prisons.
While the prison on McNeil Island closed in 2011, Washington state still runs the Special Commitment Center there. It's where the state keeps "sexually violent predators" who have served their prison time, but are deemed too dangerous to release into society. Technically, the commitment center is not a prison, but the reality is more complicated.
The abandoned prison on McNeil Island and its 136-year history can tell us a lot about why we lock people up and how it has changed over time. Hosts Simone Alicea and Paula Wissel explore the decaying structures on the island to learn how the modern American prison system came to be.
One obvious thing that made the prison on McNeil unique was its island location. In Episode 4 of Forgotten Prison, we hear from former guards, inmates and children who grew up there, as well as someone descended from island homesteaders, about life in and around an island prison.
Studying the history of an American prison is really just a study in American history. Pick a major event, and odds are good you can find at least one story related to McNeil Island.
McNeil Island is an especially forgotten prison. But, in the end, all prisons are forgotten in some way. In the last episode of Forgotten Prison, hosts Simone Alicea and Paula Wissel wrestle with why that is.
Laura McCollum, who was profiled in Episode 2 of Forgotten Prison, has been conditionally released from the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island. Hosts Simone Alicea and Paula Wissel spoke with KNKX's Kirsten Kendrick about what that means.
Homelessness on the West Coast is rising to crisis levels at a time of historic economic growth and prosperity. Why? KNKX Public Radio and The Seattle Times' Project Homeless spent one year in a city that’s grappling with homelessness. What’s it like to live outside for months on end? What’s it like when tents come to your neighborhood? What new solutions can city leaders find?
KNKX Public Radio and The Seattle Times want to share a new podcast: The Walk Home. Listen to the first episode here. To get new episodes as they come out, look for The Walk Home wherever you get your podcasts or visit thewalkhomepodcast.org.
Denise Nichols
Someone that finds a child 2 yr"s old sexually exciting is not going to find adults satisfying when they get out. Sexual predators sent caught the first,second,third,forth attack on babies. I don't think these people ever change. People that find attacking victims exciting is turned on by the fear ! As someone that has been abused and has talked to many other victims,we never get over it,never feel safe and many never enjoy sex .We try to fake it the rest of our life with our partners but many are empty inside. Do we feel sorry for the attackers in jail for life.Hell no ! I hope they all rot. This desire for raping children is growing by leaps.
ABR
The way you briefly described the Attica Prison Uprising kind of implied that it was the prisoners who did the killing... for those who don't know, only one CO died (as a result of head injuries inflicted by prisoners) during the uprising. The dozens of other victims, including about a quarter of the hostages, died at the hands of police, soldiers, and prison officers during the assault. Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the media deliberately spread lies to cover up the terrible truth, which lead to further abuse and killings of prisoners in the early aftermath.
ABR
I saw both the old and new prison cells at McNeil on a YouTube video, and my first thought was that the latter seem smaller. A small window is better than none I guess, but overall the newer cells are about as bad as the old ones IMO.