Voices Behind Bars

Hi my name is Kavita Getchell, I am double majoring in Film/Media Studies and Brain, Behavior & Cognition (BBAC) in the class of 2025. This summer I have been working in Walla Walla with a small production company called Unincarcerated Productions to produce a podcast in the Washington state penitentiary. 

When I accepted an internship with a small production company this summer, I never imagined that it would take me behind the bars of the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP). Yet, despite my mother’s nerves, I found myself drawn to understand more about WSP and about some of the people inside. 

The Washington State Penitentiary is located a mere 6-min drive from campus yet is completely a world within its own. The podcast features four co-hosts all of whom are/were inmates, one of the co-hosts, Anthony Covert, was granted clemency and released on June 10th, 20 years earlier than his original sentence. The aim of the podcast is to shed a more realistic and positive light on those who are incarcerated. This summer, I have discovered that the media's portrayal of prisons and those who reside within them is often misleading and incomplete. Thus, the podcast will shed light on many of the positive things that are happening such as the impact of programming and education inside the compound. 

Each week I venture into the West complex to meet with our co-hosts to check in on progress and provide outside research. I’ve also spent much of my time this summer combing through all of the audio files to pull out quotes and organize the content so that we can build each episode. 

This internship opportunity has been incredibly rewarding. It integrates both of my majors that I’m pursuing at Whitman in a very unique way. I took this role with limited knowledge of WSP or the prison system in general and have grown my perspective of what happens behind the concrete walls. Additionally, this internship has given me a deeper understanding of a major but often overlooked community in Walla Walla and has enhanced my ability to empathize with the concept of second chances. The WIG has helped me pursue this opportunity and I would highly recommend students to use this resource! This experience has been transformative, merging my passions for media and the intricacies of human behavior in a way I never anticipated. 

Stay on the lookout for “Concrete Mama (the Podcast)” on hopefully all streaming platforms in the fall!