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Rahsaan “New York” Thomas is the co-host and co-producer of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated podcast “Ear Hustle” and the co-founder of Empowerment Avenue Writer’s Cohort. Thomas is also a contributing writer for The Marshall Project and San Quentin News.

An illustration shows a Black man next to a Black power symbol in a blue graduation cap and gown, holding an orange diploma cover, as paper cranes fly around him.
Life Inside September 2, 2022
My Wild and Winding Path to a College Degree Behind Bars
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas was proud to finally earn his associate’s degree in San Quentin State Prison. But repeated COVID-19 lockdowns turned his graduation ceremony into a two-year ordeal.
By
The Language Project April 13, 2021
How I Convinced My Incarcerated Peers to Make Language a Priority
Rahsaan Thomas, an imprisoned journalist, has long fought to change the way outside media describe people in prison. One of his toughest crowds? His fellow reporters.
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The Language Project April 12, 2021
The Language Project
Rethinking the words journalists use to talk about people who are currently or previously incarcerated.
By The Marshall Project
Life Inside December 18, 2020
A Question of Violence
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas is barred from COVID-related release from San Quentin because his 20-year-old crime was violent. GoFundMe cancelled his legal defense campaign for the same reason. Here’s what it’s like to live with the scarlet letter V.
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Rahsaan Thomas at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California, in 2014.
Life Inside September 26, 2019
I Host a Popular Podcast. I’m Also in Prison.
“I’m hungry to make meaning out of destruction.”
By
Life Inside January 22, 2016
How I Experience Female Contact in Prison
On being pent up.
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Life Inside May 19, 2015
A Lifer’s Retirement Plan
Most of us get out old and broke. Not me.
By
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