Rattling the Bars puts the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it. The show was founded by the late Black Panther and political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, and is now hosted by Charles Hopkins, better known as Mansa Musa, who himself spent 48 years behind bars.
Rattling the Bars offers an honest look at the lives of prisoners, returning citizens, their families, and their communities. With Rattling the Bars, by presenting hard data and real-life stories, we examine and seek to shift public opinion around the misconception that incarceration, punishment, and increased policing make cities safer—the truth of which has been disproven by countless studies. The series examines the history and root causes of the current so-called justice system. It showcases individuals and communities nationwide who are grappling with real solutions to problems created by the prison-industrial complex.
Find Rattling the Bars wherever you get your podcasts…
Recent episodes
From Black Power to hip hop: The evolution of Mopreme Shakur
“[Tupac] fans know—he really cared about the people. ‘Keep Ya Head Up,’ ‘Brenda’s Got a Baby,’ ‘Papa’z Song,’ ‘Dear Mama’ were addressing issues in our communities. You know what I mean?”
Real public safety means more community, not cages
DC Justice Lab’s 2026 Public Safety Policy Agenda is chock-full of evidence that criminal justice reforms that prioritize restorative justice, not draconian punishment, lead to safer communities.
Voices for a Second Chance: Returning citizens demand investment in re-entry, not incarceration
As GOP lawmakers push “tough-on-crime” policies in Washington, D.C., re-entry advocates argue these backward measures will only increase recidivism, not prevent it.
Congress’ ‘dumb on crime’ crusade in Washington, DC, is coming to your state next
Cash bail, mandatory minimums, incarcerating children as adults—the Trump-led GOP is destroying decades of criminal justice reforms for “tough on crime” policies that are not only cruel but objectively don’t work.
Want less prison violence? Make prison phone calls free.
“What we’re talking about is real basic human connection, … being able to get on the phone and talk to that family member is a basic human need.”
ICE: From the ‘War on Terror’ to the war on us
“Every president across party lines has poured money into ICE,” author and immigrant justice organizer Harsha Walia tells us.
Rebels with a cause: The Black Panther Party and socialism in practice
“While the youth got no clue what the [Black Panther Party] was about, they got the essence… What they like is that the Party were no punks, they were no sellouts.”
What would the Black Panthers say about DSA today?
“The Black Panther Party’s embracing of socialism was clearly with the acknowledgement that this was an alternative to the present condition, but it was independent. What I see today with people is they’re trying to bring socialist politics into this bourgeois democratic political arena.”
‘Beyond the Wire’: A grassroots perspective on Baltimore
“…if Baltimore don’t tell its story, we’ve seen time and time again, people will come and tell the story and the story will be told in a way that gets them more and more dollars. And people love crime and violence and sensationalism.”
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