#22 - PIC Abolition and The ‘Riverdale’ Prison Plotline: How Prisons Destroy Communities

Leftist Teen Drama

Maria is joined by guests Liv Christian and Kelly Gilbert to analyze the private prison plotline that colors all of RIVERDALE (2017-2023) season 2 and the top of season 3. Riverdale stumbles into showing how politicians – and the private interests that bankroll them – stoke fear and chaos to inflate actual crime numbers and push for funding for punitive measures like more policing and new prisons. In the process, they destroy the very fabric of their communities. However, resistance exists in real life and in Riverdale. We also trace three separate direct actions the teenage characters engage in to resist various aspects of Hiram Lodge’s plan throughout the prison arc. We cite a lot of Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Mariame Kaba in this abolition episode focused on what it means for a small town to become a prison town.

For this episode, we recommend you first watch or have familiarity with RIVERDALE but especially RIVERDALE Seasons 2 and 3, streaming on Netflix.

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ABOUT US:

MARIA DIPASQUALE (she/her; host/editor) is a Brooklyn-based union communicator and writer who watches too much TV. She splits her free time between devouring teen dramas, creating this podcast, and writing and reading fanfiction. Follow Maria on Twitter @Maria_DiP26, IG @mdzip, and tiktok @marialovesunions.

OLIVIA “LIV” CHRISTIAN (she/her; recurring guest) is a writer and digital marketing specialist living in Los Angeles, CA. She currently works at Essie Justice Group where she creates compelling content rooted in Black feminist abolitionist politic that digitally amplifies the power and lived experiences of women with incarcerated loved ones. When she’s not writing screenplays or creating content, you can find her watching reality tv and hanging on the couch with her cats Rumble and Squeak. IG: yung.scorp twitter: _yungscorp

KELLY GILBERT (she/her; recurring guest) is a student (phd in Twilight), sometimes activist, teen drama aficionado in Brooklyn! Find her IRL every night drinking her sorrows away at Margaritaville, the Jimmy Buffet Experience!

JEFF MCHALE (he/him; producer) is an extremely online guy who plays games, streams sometimes, and loves talking old TV.

CHARLES S. O’LEARY (they/them; art) is a “writer,” “designer,” and “content strategist” based in Brooklyn, NY. A survivor of the 2010s Tumblr wars, leftist media criticism is all they know. To learn about them professionally, visit charles-oleary.biz. To learn about them personally, visit their Instagram at @c.s.0.l.

Maria and Jeff’s good union cats CLARENCE and VINNY may make an appearance and/or be mentioned.

intro song: Stomping the Room by Delicate Beats

All opinions shared on this show are that of individuals and do not represent the views of any organization we may be affiliated with.

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SOURCES DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

• Verso Books, Prisons and Class Warfare: An Interview with Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Clément Petitjean 2 August 2018
• August 2001 New York Times article: Rural Towns Turn to Prisons To Reignite Their Economies
• You’re Wrong About Prison Boom ep
• Ruth Wilson Gilmore Girls: Twitter, Instagram
• Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
• Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
• Essie Justice Group
• Donate to Essie Justice Group

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/PLACES TO PLUG INTO ORGANIZING:

• Get involved with Stop Cop City organizing. You can also specifically get involved with the Cop City Vote.
• Critical Resistance: Get Involved