Stay Free Forever

Stay Free Forever is a monthly podcast aimed at helping people, especially those who are currently and formerly justice-involved, to remain free and avoid incarceration or re-incarceration. We do this by talking about replacing risky thinking and behavior with sound, positive pro-social choices. Each discussion is guided by former corrections and parole officer Clifford Fewel, a journalist, writer, speaker and owner of the cognitive behavioral education company Stay Free Forever LLC.

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Episodes

Monday Jun 09, 2025

Citing documented cases that speak to a century-old system gone wrong, Claudia Rowe of Seattle points to the plight of teens set up to fail by that system, new and better ways to keep families together or, at very least, place more  accountability on the states that call all the shots.

Wednesday Jun 04, 2025

Straight talk from a Black historian who draws parallels and lessons for any oppressed community seeking to adapt and thrive, starting one at a time...

Tuesday Apr 15, 2025

Sixty-four percent of us have lived through "adverse childhood experiences," a clinical term for really bad stuff. For the prison population, that jumps to 98 percent. Drawing from her own life, counselor Crystal Nelson explains where it comes from, why it matters, what to do about it, and how her own "Rising Phoenix" non-profit will help.

Tuesday Mar 04, 2025

At first convinced that the Domestic Violence and Anger Management courses were not what she needed or deserved, a 37-year-old single mom and EMT comes to terms with her anger, her past, her abuser and her family. Effort, thought, Arapahoe culture, a devoted aunt and an emotionally mature 10-year-old daughter combine forces for the win.

Wednesday Feb 05, 2025

Court-ordered to complete the SFF Personal Responsibility eLearning course after a freak ATV accident, medical student Rae Gresham recalls the flip and its aftermath. Along the way, we hear about the good and bad of foster care, the ABCs of dropping toxic friendships, nicotine-food-video game addictions, and the heart-to-heart wisdom of Taylor Swift.

Saturday Jun 08, 2024

Once-happy family man recalls how an unexpected divorce and unimpeded self-indulgence led him to spend a third of his life behind razor-wire fences. Corkey Mullendore discusses bad choices, lucky breaks and the hard-earned wisdom that led him to where he says he is now: one stumble away from "an unmarked grave" in prison.

Wednesday Jan 31, 2024

Interview from the Twin Towers Correction Facility in LA with the leader of a successful  movement to help and treat severely mentally ill patients, while also restoring and truly rehabilitating lifers and other convicted felon volunteers by permitting them to serve in a meaningful way

Monday Dec 11, 2023

Artist and blacksmith Steve Fontanini confronts years of addiction to smokeless tobacco and explains how he keeps it from controlling him.

Sunday Nov 19, 2023

Judge Bo Zeerip discusses the challenges of being a County Court Judge in Delta, Colorado, and offers specific advice — to attorneys and their clients — as to how to appear and behave in court.  He shares how his Christian faith informs and influences his decision-making as he attempts to do justice, make room for mercy, and run an efficient courtroom, all the while looking out for the rights of people who are innocent until proven guilty.

Saturday Oct 28, 2023

15-year-old Northern Arapaho Tanksi (tungk-SHEE) Duran shares her thoughts on bullying, teen suicide, friendship, hip-hop and learning from the elders.

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Stay Free Forever

Whenever a person is let out of jail or prison, what they typically hear from staff is the admonition, "Don't come back!".  When I worked as a corrections and programs officer in state prison, I always said, "Stay free forever!". I believe in the power of positive thinking and in the power of words. 

This podcast reveals specific ways to stay free forever as told by women and men who are doing just that. And you must  know it's a process, not an event.  Or, I may chat with a judge or a teacher or other professional who believes in peoples' abilities to correct their own thinking, right their own ships and walk a new path that is clearly different from the one that took them to incarceration in the first place.

Please join us each month as we seek to spread the good word about all the ways one can choose to adapt and thrive. It can be done despite all of the judgment, obstacles, loneliness, temptations and envy, yes, envy, that face the person who steps away from the shadows of their former risky thinking and behaviors and into the blue skies and sunlight of freedom on one's own new terms. 

 

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