A video podcast discussing America’s criminal justice system.
Hosted and produced by Matt Duhamel, Solitary Nation Podcast brought together people with lived experience, researchers, advocates, professionals, and other voices for conversations about incarceration and its impact far beyond prison walls.
Solitary Nation featured conversations about incarceration, reentry, stigma, family, mental health, resilience, and life after prison.
FEATURED EPISODES
Across three seasons produced over two years, Solitary Nation featured conversations about incarceration, reentry, stigma, family, mental health, advocacy, social rejection, and rebuilding.
These episodes are only a small sample from the series and do not represent every guest, subject, or conversation featured during the podcast’s run.
Family Perspective
One of the most personal episodes in the series featured Chloe, who spoke about her father’s arrest, incarceration, and sex-offense registration status, and how those circumstances affected her own teenage years.
The conversation brought attention to the way incarceration and registration can affect children and families alongside the person directly involved in the justice system.
Motivational Speaker & Comedian
Frank King joined Matt Duhamel for a candid conversation about depression, suicidal thoughts, and the mental-health challenges people can experience following incarceration.
The conversation balanced a difficult subject with King’s background in comedy, bringing moments of humor and humanity into an otherwise serious discussion.
National Fatherhood Initiative
Erik Vecere joined the series to discuss what correctional facilities can do to help incarcerated fathers maintain and strengthen relationships with their children.
The episode also explored the National Fatherhood Initiative’s InsideOut Dad program and the role family connection can play during incarceration and reentry.
Endurance Athlete, Author & Survivor
Charlie Engle spoke with Matt about addiction, serving 16 months in federal prison, rebuilding his life, and continuing to push himself through extraordinary endurance challenges.
His story included a 111-day run across the Sahara Desert and six countries — a conversation about recovery, consequence, resilience, and continuing forward.
Legal Advocate
Janice Bellucci joined Matt for a conversation about advocacy, legal issues, sex-offense registration laws, and the long-term effects those policies can have on individuals and families.
Purdue University
Matt spoke with Dr. Kipling Williams about social ostracism, rejection, and exclusion, and how those experiences can relate to people whose lives have been affected by incarceration.
The discussion examined the social consequences that can continue long after someone returns to the community.
SOLITARY NATION ARCHIVE
Solitary Nation ended in 2018 and is no longer in active production. Archived episodes remain available, preserving an earlier chapter of Metamora Films’ criminal justice storytelling.
Listen to the Archive on Spotify
Solitary Nation Podcast brought together lived experience, personal journeys, professional expertise, advocacy, research, and family perspectives.
Solitary Nation looked beyond incarceration itself to the lives, relationships, identities, and communities shaped by the criminal justice system.
Some guests shared deeply personal journeys. Others brought professional experience, research, advocacy, or specialized knowledge. Family members also spoke about what it means to live alongside the consequences of incarceration.
Stories about addiction, incarceration, recovery, identity, survival, rebuilding, and the difficult process of moving forward.
Conversations about children, parents, fatherhood, family separation, reconnection, and the ripple effects of incarceration on people beyond the individual serving the sentence.
Social rejection, ostracism, registration, public judgment, and the barriers people can encounter when trying to return to their communities and rebuild.
Researchers, advocates, program leaders, legal professionals, and others working within or around the justice system brought additional context to the personal stories featured throughout the series.
THE APPROACH“Some guests brought professional expertise. Others brought lived experience. Many brought both.”
The series explored the criminal justice system through the people living with its consequences — not only the sentence itself.
STORIES THAT CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS
Metamora Films works with organizations, advocates, educators, filmmakers, and people with lived experience to develop documentaries and social-impact media built around meaningful stories.