We hope you have found the series of Coronavirus Chronicle bonus episodes informative and entertaining. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts. Click subscribe — it's free — to receive fresh episodes daily. The Rev. Hannah Atkins Romero, rector of

Bonus: Disaster expert Angela Blanchard on making the Covid crisis visible

Apr 5th, 2020 21m 41s

Today, we're sharing an episode of our new podcast "Coronavirus Chronicle" with Behind the Walls listeners. Previous episodes at available on Apple Podcasts. Houstonians know all about hurricanes: Wind speed, the dirty side, the European model

Editor Steve Riley: Crisis coverage and the virtual newsroom

Apr 1st, 2020 13m 52s

As Houston Chronicle executive editor Steve Riley said recently in a letter to readers: Quite suddenly, your lives have changed. Your health, or the health of someone you love, could be at risk. Your job seems shakier than just days ago. Your c

EDITORIAL: #StayHome

Mar 19th, 2020 7m 49s

Listen to the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board's impassioned plea to Houstonians coping with the coronavirus -- "Stay home!" -- as expressed by editorial board member Monica Rohr. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus/Support the show:

An alias, an armed robbery and a decade on the run

Feb 26th, 2020 27m 48s

Waymond Hall spent ten years of his life on the run from the law. He’d grown up poor, with a father in prison - but seemed poised for a better life until he committed an armed robbery and became a fugitive. But on the DL he rebuilt his life, fo

Talking rats, records and reporting with Pam Colloff, aka 'the best damn writer in Texas'

Dec 23rd, 2019 36m 11s

In her latest year-long investigation, Texas crime writing legend Pamela Colloff delved into the shadowy world of the con artist and jailhouse snitch whose testimony put four men on death row. In this episode, listen in as reporter and podcast

Women, trauma, and the quest for a new jail in Austin

Dec 9th, 2019 25m 2s

For the most part, prisons and jails are built for men. But as much as the carceral system fails them, experts say it might fail women even more. That's why some jails are shifting to a "gender-responsive" model, paying attention to women's nee

Yoga, Buddha and death row: An interview with 'Texas 7' prisoner Patrick Murphy

Nov 11th, 2019 26m 24s

Patrick Murphy is a death row prisoner, one of the notorious Texas 7 - a group of men who escaped from a maximum security unit and ended up killing a cop. In this interview, he talks about his stay, his legal case, his regret and how he became

Someday, you'll be Prison Famous

Oct 4th, 2019 33m 35s

Before he became a big-time honky tonk musician, Texas Joe Bailey did state jail time. He sat down with his guitar and podcast cohosts Keri Blakinger and Lance Lowry to talk about how he ended up in prison, how he turned it around afterward - a

Color, death and progressive prosecutors: Talking criminal justice with Emily Bazelon

Aug 30th, 2019 27m 23s

Keri Blakinger talks with attorney and New York Times Magazine writer Emily Bazelon about progressive prosecutors, and what it means to be one. Can a district attorney who seeks death sentences still be considered progressive? Does progressive

Two days till execution: Death row interview with Larry Swearingen

Aug 20th, 2019 30m 45s

Larry Ray Swearingen, a Texas death row prisoner, is scheduled for execution on Aug. 21, 2019. It's the sixth time the state has tried to put him to death in the two decades since he was convicted of killing Melissa Trotter. So far, he's always

A 'sinking submarine': Two reporters take a deep dive into jail medical care

Jul 24th, 2019 26m 53s

Co-host Keri Blakinger chats with CNN reporters Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken, who just finished investigating the troubled track record of a massive, privatized jail healthcare provider that's been sued for more than 70 inmate deaths.Support

Bill Savoie's Second Chance Story

Jul 19th, 2019 32m 16s

Bill Savoie joins Keri Blakinger to talk about his life before he started practicing law. Once upon a time, the now-respected parole attorney did prison time - and on this episode of Behind the Walls, he talks for the first time about the journ

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way From the Strip Club: A Texas Lege Wrap-up

Jun 5th, 2019 31m 17s

With the Texas legislative session in the rearview mirror, Behind the Walls cohosts Keri Blakinger and Lance Lowry sat down with Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy to talk through the criminal justice wins and (mostly) losses this yea

Blood, buckshot and gunpowder: A year later, a school police officer remembers Santa Fe

May 18th, 2019 30m 42s

One year after ten people - students and teachers - died in the Santa Fe school shooting, campus police officer John Barnes sat down with Keri Blakinger and fellow reporter St. John Barned-Smith to remember the deadly day, and how he survived.S

From Love Triangles to Secret Emails: A Courts Reporter Remembers

May 10th, 2019 34m 36s

After long-time Houston Chronicle courts reporter left the paper last month, he came back to sit down and look back on the highlights from 13 years covering the CJC - including the time he unearthed the emails that forced a DA to resign, and th

Teeth, slavery and the case for independent oversight

Apr 24th, 2019 32m 41s

In this episode of Behind the Walls, cohosts Keri Blakinger and Lance Lowry sat down with Rep. Jarvis Johnson to talk about a bill that would create independent oversight of the troubled Texas prison system. The proposal comes on the heels of a

Dope, lies and no videotape

Apr 10th, 2019 23m 30s

Attorney Mike Doyle represents the family of one of the two people killed in the botched Harding Street drug raid. Here, he talks with Keri Blakinger and her long-time frenemy and fellow reporter St. John Barned-Smith about the failed bust. Doy

Ashes, reform schools, and the worst Disney Channel movies ever

Mar 29th, 2019 21m 2s

As a prison reporter, I get some weird things in the mail: dead cockroaches, paint samples, black mold. But this month I got something a lot darker — ashes. Of an inmate I liked. It left me with a lot of questions. Also in this episode: an inte

Eleven years, 280 executions, one book

Mar 6th, 2019 32m 55s

In the more than a decade she spent working for the Texas prison system, former spokeswoman Michelle Lyons watched more than 200 men and women put to death in Huntsville. She left the department a few years ago in a swirl of controversy, but la

Episode 3: Ever been toilet paper-jacked? No? Then you've never been in prison.

Jan 31st, 2019 15m 37s

Prison-beat reporter Keri Blakinger and former prison union chief Lance Lowry compare notes with Florida Times-Union reporter Ben Conarck. They delve into commissary complaints, video visitation and such in the Sunshine State and see how things

Judge Elsa Alcala: The death penalty in Texas and sticking with the GOP ... it’s complicated

Jan 9th, 2019 46m 23s

In her seven years on the state's highest criminal court, ex-Judge Elsa Alcala became best known as the voice questioning capital punishment, even in the state most enamored of it. In this "Behind the Walls" interview, the recently retired judg

A first night in prison is not like you imagine — or, why do Texas prisoners eat green hot dogs?

Dec 8th, 2018 33m 4s

From the first night in prison to a Thanksgiving spread, join reporter Keri Blakinger and longtime corrections officer Lance Lowry as they talk about life behind bars, untangle stats about the number of so-called “violent” offenders and discuss