Downright Mindful
Good conversations. Great stories. People worth remembering.
Downright Mindful is hosted by Matt Parris and Paul Sausville from East Tennessee.
Some weeks, we sit down with educators, coaches, public servants, community leaders, local legends, and everyday people whose stories deserve to be preserved. Other weeks, it’s just Matt and Paul behind the microphones talking about history, culture, education, current events, or whatever has us thinking that week.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers. We just believe there’s still value in sitting across the table from someone, asking good questions, laughing a little, disagreeing sometimes, and actually listening.
Over 100 episodes in, the mission is becoming clearer: preserve the people, stories, and conversations of our time and place while staying curious about the world beyond it.
Think of Downright Mindful as a dusty old box of letters in the attic. Stories from our time and our place, preserved for whoever comes looking someday.
New episodes every Sunday at 2 PM.
Follow the show and come be part of the conversation.
America's Most Famous Prisons | Downright Mindful Ep. 103
We're back from fall break, and Paul has a few questions for Matt. Mostly about prisons.
In Episode 103 of Downright Mindful, Paul brings a conversation from his sociology classroom to the podcast table, putting Matt's criminal justice knowledge to the test.
What starts as a little prison trivia turns into a trip through the history of American incarceration.
Alcatraz. San Quentin. Sing Sing. Leavenworth. Eastern State Penitentiary. The Indiana Women's Prison.
We explore the Pennsylvania and Auburn prison systems, the ideas that shaped early American corrections, and the stories behind some of the country's most recognizable institutions.
And you can't talk about famous prisons without talking about some of the people connected to them.
Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Sonny Liston, James Earl Ray, Ted Kaczynski, and plenty of other names make their way into the conversation.
But eventually, we move beyond the history and into a bigger discussion.
What should prison actually accomplish?
Matt draws on his experience in corrections to discuss direct supervision, the Scandinavian approach to incarceration, rehabilitation, and the idea that losing your freedom is punishment regardless of how comfortable your surroundings might be.
It's a little history, a little trivia, some fascinating stories, and a conversation that goes in directions neither of us probably expected.
America's Most Famous Prisons | Downright Mindful Ep. 103
New episodes every Sunday at 2 PM Eastern.
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4 Oct 2026
Funny How Things Come Full Circle | Ashlynn Maddox | Downright Mindful Ep. 102
Paul is a little under the weather this week, so Matt called in some backup.
Episode 102 introduces you to the newest member of the Downright Mindful team, Ashlynn Maddox, formerly Ashlynn Akiona.
And there’s a lot of history here.
Ashlynn is the daughter of former Walker Valley High School principal Nat Akiona, who hired both Matt and Paul at Walker Valley. She was also one of Paul’s journalism students and helped create The Hoofprint, a student publication during her time there.
A few years, a college graduation, a marriage, and a move to the Atlanta area later, things have come full circle. Ashlynn is now editing Downright Mindful.
Matt and Ashlynn catch up on what life has looked like since Walker Valley, how she ended up joining the podcast, and pretty much whatever else comes up along the way. Brushy Mountain, true crime podcasts, The War of Art, journalism, creativity, and the strange ways people from different chapters of your life sometimes find their way back around.
No big agenda this week. Just a good conversation with someone you’ll probably be hearing a lot more about around Downright Mindful.
Episode 102: Funny How Things Come Full Circle
New episodes every Sunday at 2 PM.
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@DownrightMindful (https://www.youtube.com/@DownrightMindful)
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/3sANbCaTFQag9nMCnR01N7?si=0950bd8497ee47ad (https://open.spotify.com/show/3sANbCaTFQag9nMCnR01N7?si=0950bd8497ee47ad)
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/downright-mindful/id1776503597 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/downright-mindful/id1776503597)
Facebook
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27 Sept 2026
Behind the Walls of Brushy Mountain | Downright Mindful Ep. 101
Before we take our students to Brushy Mountain, Paul decided Matt needed to be put to the test.
For Episode 101, we’re going all in on Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
Paul came prepared with the questions and turned the tables on Matt for a conversation about one of Tennessee’s most fascinating and notorious historic places.
We trace the story of Brushy Mountain from its roots in the aftermath of the Coal Creek War through more than a century of Tennessee corrections. We talk about the prison itself, the people who were incarcerated there, the officers who worked behind its walls, escapes, violence, changing approaches to incarceration, and the role Brushy played in Tennessee history before finally closing in 2009.
There are stories most people know, and plenty they probably don’t.
This episode also has a second purpose.
Matt and Paul will be taking Criminal Justice, Mock Trial and Sociology students to Brushy Mountain this week for their annual field trip. So we wanted to make something our students could watch or listen to beforehand that would give them some context for what they’re about to walk into.
But this isn’t a lecture.
It’s still Downright Mindful.
Two teachers, a lot of questions, a remarkable piece of Tennessee history, and a conversation about what happened behind the walls of Brushy Mountain.
🎙️ Behind the Walls of Brushy Mountain | Downright Mindful Ep. 101
New episodes every Sunday at 2:00 PM.
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🎧 Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/downright-mindful/id1776503597 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/downright-mindful/id1776503597)
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Subscribe, share the episode, and come learn a little Tennessee history with us.
Who has been a guest on Downright Mindful
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Richard Jackson
Katie DelBonis
Valanna White
Christian Mann
Josh Morris
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
15 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
83
Social presence
91
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
Contact Downright Mindful
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
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