Life Solved The academic imprisoned for his research graphic

In this episode, we peer inside a place that most people want to be kept out of, but one University of Portsmouth researcher has worked hard to get into - prisons.

22 min listen

External Audio

The academic imprisoned for his research

In this episode, we peer inside a place that most people want to be kept out of, but one University of Portsmouth researcher has worked hard to get into - prisons.

Professor Francis Pakes from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice purposefully incarcerated himself in an Icelandic prison for two weeks to find out what life on the inside is really like. 

For Life Solved, he looks at how incarceration has evolved over time, what current systems are in place around the world, and what could be done to improve them. 

We’d love you to be part of the discussion, too. Email your questions on this episode or ideas for future episodes to lifesolved@port.ac.uk.

If you’ve been inspired by this episode, and want to support our research then head to port.ac.uk/lifesolved to find out how.

You can also find out how to work or study with us.

Life Solved is released on Thursdays and available on all major podcast platforms.

Host: John Worsey

Producer: Robyn Montague 

Sub Editors: John Worsey and Glenn Harris

 

USEFUL LINKS

Professor Francis Pakes bio: https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/francis-pakes

Francis Pakes piece for The Conversation, ‘I deliberately sent myself to prison in Iceland – they didn’t even lock the cell doors there’: 

https://theconversation.com/i-deliberately-sent-myself-to-prison-in-iceland-they-didnt-even-lock-the-cell-doors-there-105257

Out in the cold? The experiences of foreign national prisoners in Iceland's open prisons: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756061623000526?via%3Dihub

Cell Block Studios: https://www.port.ac.uk/collaborate/coworking-and-office-space/cell-block-studios

Previous episodes...

In the latest series of the Life Solved podcast we discuss water habits, how the greatest row on Earth is helping to map the state of our seas, architecture's role in saving our planet, the unstoppable evolution of the English language, and life on the inside.