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Reginald Dwayne Betts

Chronological feed of everything captured from Reginald Dwayne Betts.

podcast_episode / 1d ago

Politics and Prose Presents: Reginald Dwayne Betts — Doggerel: Poems

<p></p><p>Reginald Dwayne Betts is our foremost chronicler of the ways prison shapes and transforms American life. In Doggerel, Betts examines this subject through a more prosaic--but equally rich--lens: dogs. He reminds us that, as our lives are broken and put back together, the only witness often barks instead of talks. In these poems, which touch on companionship in its many forms, Betts seamlessly and skillfully deploys the pantoum, ghazal, and canzone, in conversation with artists such as Freddie Gibbs and Lil Wayne.</p><p>Simultaneously philosophical and playful, Doggerel is a meditation on family, falling in love, fri...

podcast_episode / 1d ago

The PlayFull Podcast with Kristine Michie: Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the World: Liberation through Reading & Writing: The Language of Justice with Reginald Dwayne Betts

<p >In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with poet, lawyer, and advocate Reginald Dwayne Betts to explore how joy, words, and access to stories fuel liberation and resilience in social justice work. Through conversations about his books, MacArthur Fellowship, and Freedom Reads (the nonprofit he started that brings brand new “Freedom Edition” books and custom bookcases into prisons), Betts invites listeners to rethink how language, joy, and serious work intertwine. From personal growth through grief to designing spaces that bring books and beauty into prisons, this episode underscores how imagination and care can reshape systems and...