Prison Unlocked pulls back the curtain on life behind prison walls through raw conversations with incarcerated individuals, correctional staff, and those impacted by the system. Hosted by former prison physician Dr. Karen Gedney, the podcast explores the human stories, hard truths, and unexpected lessons from both sides of the wall.
“Your past has consequences, but it does not have to decide your future” – Jacquin Webb After spending 20 years incarcerated, Jacquin Webb walked out of prison knowing that freedom would mean much more than simply making it through the gate. In this episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with Jacquin - someone she knew during the final seven years of her career inside the Nevada prison system- to talk candidly about incarceration, transformation, accountability, reentry, redem...
19 Sept 2026
22 Years in Solitary – The Torture of Being Alone
“I was not born to hurt or kill, yet it became my way” – Frank DePalma At just 18 years old, Frank De Palma entered the Nevada prison system after an impulsive attempt to avenge the killing of his beloved dog. No one was injured in the incident. He received a ten-year sentence and entered prison believing that, with good behavior, he could be home in approximately two years. Instead, Frank would spend nearly 43 years behind bars - including an almost unimaginable 22 years and 36 days in solit...
31 Aug 2026
The Truth Between the Lines
“We have this moment to recreate who we are.” – Shaun Griffin Nevada Poet Laureate Shaun Griffin has spent decades walking into prisons with an unusual expectation: if you enter his writing workshop, you are there to do the work. No grades. No good-time credit. No easy praise. Through the Razor Wire Workshop, Griffin created a space where incarcerated men were expected to write honestly, respect one another, accept constructive criticism, and eventually move beyond the stories they told the o...
20 Aug 2026
Do No Harm
What does “do no harm” mean when the person in front of you is incarcerated for a serious crime? In this episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with former prison nurse Forest Fasig, whose unusual career took him from emergency nursing and flight medicine to law enforcement, aviation, and eventually behind the walls of the Nevada prison system. Forest entered correctional medicine with a perspective few healthcare professionals share. He had already spent years as an emergency...
13 Aug 2026
Become a Square
“If you don’t want to come back to prison, you have to become a square” – Steve Suwe In this episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with Steve Suwe, a longtime Nevada Department of Corrections employee whose career began in recreation and eventually took him into casework, classification, inmate transportation, and administration. Steve entered the prison system in the 1980s with a degree in physical education and no correctional experience. He wasn't looking for a career behi...
6 Aug 2026
Echoes of Nevada State Prison
"I'm a believer that something is there" - Joe Kinsley For nearly 30 years, Joe Kinsley worked inside Nevada’s prison system, beginning his career in 1985 at the old Nevada State Prison in Carson City. What started as a practical decision for steady work and a pension became a decades-long career that placed him inside maximum-security housing, death row, inmate transportation, prison industries, and some of the most difficult parts of correctional life. In this candid conversation, Dr....
30 Jul 2026
The Music of Humanity
Episode 6: The Music of Humanity"Sometimes a guitar can reach places punishment never will." What happens when you hand a guitar to someone the world has already written off? For more than a decade, musician and songwriter Dale Poune walked through prison gates carrying guitars instead of judgments. As a volunteer music instructor in California prisons, he taught incarcerated men to play guitar, write songs, and discover something many thought they had lost - their own voice. In this episode ...
23 Jul 2026
Compassion Under Lock and Key: A Prison Nurse's Story
Guest: Pam Johnson "I never wanted to know what they did. I only wanted to know how to care for them." - Pam Johnson For nearly twenty-five years, Pam Johnson cared for patients inside Nevada's prison system. What began as a job she never expected to take became a career defined by compassion, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what was right - even when it wasn't popular. In this episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with one of the nurses who had the greatest ...
16 Jul 2026
From Life Sentence to Life of Purpose
"The opposite of addiction isn't sobriety. Sobriety is the tool. The opposite of addiction is connection." - David Nyberg At twenty years old, David Nyberg was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a murder. Forty-four years later, he walked out a different man. In this powerful episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with someone she first met while serving as a physician inside Nevada's prison system. Together, they revisit David's extraordinary journey, from a childhoo...
9 Jul 2026
Changing Hearts Behind Bars - Alternative Violence Project
"Violence isn't only physical. Sometimes it begins with how we see one another." For more than twenty years, Rita Sloan has walked through prison gates—not as a correctional officer, counselor, or clinician—but as a volunteer committed to one simple belief: every person has the capacity to change. In this episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney sits down with Rita to explore the Alternative Violence Project (AVP), an internationally recognized program that has spent fifty years helping i...
18 Jun 2026
Witness to Death: A Prison Doctor and a Correctional Officer Reflect
Witness to Death: A Prison Doctor and a Correctional Officer ReflectWhat is it really like to witness an execution? Most people will never know what happens behind prison walls when an execution is scheduled. Beyond the courtroom, political debates, and media headlines are the correctional officers, physicians, wardens, and prison staff who must carry out one of the most difficult responsibilities within the criminal justice system. In this compelling episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Ged...
2 Jun 2026
The Hostage Who Stayed
Why would a doctor stay in prison for 30 years after being taken hostage and assaulted by an inmate? In the inaugural episode of Prison Unlocked, Dr. Karen Gedney shares the extraordinary story that began her unexpected journey into one of America's most hidden worlds. Assigned to a Nevada prison through the National Health Service Corps, she arrived with no experience, no preparation, and no idea what awaited her. Just eighteen months into her assignment, a violent hostage crisis changed eve...
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