I used to use Apple Podcasts as my main source before Spotify started adding podcasts and expanding their offerings. As for the podcast I listened to, I listened to Looking Out by Criminal. Criminal was one of my favorite podcasts for the better part of a year, but then Covid hit and they stopped producing so many episodes, so I stopped listening to them so much. I checked if it was available on Apple Podcasts, and it was, so I listened to the next podcast I hadn’t listened to yet.

Criminal is a podcast about crime in general, from different aspects you might never have thought of. This particular episode talks about life in San Quentin State Prison, one of the most infamous prisons in the US. The episode actually plays one of the first episodes of Ear Hustle, a podcast produced by inmates at San Quentin prison about life inside the prison. It also includes an update since Covid, talking about life in the prison with the crisis.

This particular episode talks about having pets in prison. It’s the main presenters, someone from inside the prison and a volunteer from outside, who go around and ask various inmates different questions about the topic at hand. With this episode, they asked about pets. Pets aren’t allowed in prison, so if someone wants a pet they’d have to hide it really well, or have a really small one. One inmate nicknamed “Rauch” (pronounced Roach) had many different pets, from snails, to frogs, to cockroaches, to birds. The interviewers ask more about his background, how he grew to love animals so much, and some other fun questions about him and his pets.

My favorite part of the pdocast, though, would have to be the presenters asking some inmates what animals they would want to be if they could be one. One said Galapagos turtle because they live so long, another said a penguin because they look like they’re wearing tuxedoes and they’re “the coolest animals ever.”