In this episode of Prison Radio, we discuss the disturbing history of Social Therapy Unit programs in Oak Ridge Psychiatric Hospital (now renamed Waypoint), which is part of the maximum-security super-jail located in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Afterwards, we read Xinachtli’s (Nahuatl, meaning “seed”) essay, “On Opening America’s Prison Gates and Freeing Dragons”, published in the 2025 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar.
You can purchase a copy of the calendar in-person at 75 Queen st., Kingston, Ontario, during Blue Heron Books open hours (Monday 3-7pm; Thursdays 5-7pm) or during AKA Autonomous Social Center events. You can also purchase the calendar online via Left Wing Books (here).
Prison Radio & Calls from Home airs every second Wednesday at 7pm on CFRC, 101.9fm in and around Kingston and online at cfrc.ca. Prison Radio features interviews and analysis focused on prisons, abolition, and related topics. Calls from Home serves as a connection platform linking local incarcerated people, and friends, family, and loved ones on the outside. Folks can call, email or mail-in messages and requests anytime before the show, and we will read or play messages and song requests live on-air. To leave a message or send a request for the next Calls from Home episode, call 613-917-1390, or email cfrcprisonradio@riseup.net. You can also mail-in your messages to:
Calls From Home / Prison Radio
CFRC Radio
62 Fifth Field Company Lane
Lower Carruthers Hall
Queens University
Kingston ON
K7L 3N6
Songs from this episode include:
“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
“MK Ultra Blues” by William Elliott Whitmore
“Pomawsuwinuwok Wanakiyawolotuwok” by Jeremy Dutcher
“Let’s Go” by Big Freedia
and a very short snippet from “Futuretroneofuedalism” by Tarek Funk
Show notes
– “Steve Smith’s Bad Trip” episode of The Nighttime Podcast
– F-Ward (1971) documentary (found on Youtube)
– “What Happens When You Turn a Psychopath into a Therapist?” by Lynn Burgess, CBC
– Court file from Barker v. Barker, 2020 (available here)
– The Hucker Report (1985) (available via Internet Archive)
– CBC coverage, “Bad Trip” (found on Youtube)
– CBC coverage, “The Secrets of Oak Ridge” (found on Youtube)
– Report to the Commissioner of Penitentiaries no. 45; Ontario Ombudsman report 1976