Why are faith-based ministries on the rise in prisons?
Bill Radke speaks with Tanya Erzen, associate professor of religion and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound, about the rise of Christian faith-based ministry in prisons.
In Washington state prisons, 85 percent of the faith-based ministries for inmates are Christian. That tracks with what's happening in prisons all over the country.
And in many cases, if inmates want to be involved in anything that isn't daily prison life, their only option is Christian faith-based ministry.
Erzen has been looking at why Christian prison ministries are on the rise and how those ministries became the only option for so many prisoners.
Erzen's new book is called "God in Captivity: The Rise of Faith-Based Ministries in an Age of Mass Incarceration." It'll be released early next month. She is also giving free talks around the state about this as part of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau.
-
Bill Radke
Host
Bill hosts Week In Review and Words in Review. After starting with KUOW as a University of Washington student in 1985, Bill was KUOW's morning host in the '90s and the creator of past show, Rewind, a news-satire show heard on KUOW and nationwide on NPR. Bill moved away to Southern California to host American Public Media's Weekend America and Marketplace Morning Report and returned to KUOW in 2012.
More stories from Bill Radke » -
Matt Martin
Podcast Producer
Matt Martin is a podcast producer who has worked on many different show for KUOW. He pitched and created THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a rich and experiential podcast about ecology and conservation. Matt also produced the Seattle music history podcast Let the Kids Dance and the award-winning Ghost Herd. Before moving to the on-demand side of the station, Matt worked as a producer on The Record, KUOW's local news show. He has also worked as a general assignment reporter and host for public radio stations in upstate New York and rural Alaska. Matt got his start in media as an intern with StoryCorps and Aljazeera America.
More stories from Matt Martin »
