Redemption Radio

Annette Scott is my yoga teacher! I came to yoga unwittingly, when my life was at a low point, and I felt I had struck bottom. More than any other yoga instructor, Annette showed me how to feel this discomfort, learn to breathe and be present through my feelings and then take the practice of yoga off the mat into real life. Beyond physical exercise, yoga is a practice that shows us how to maintain compassion for others, and for our...

Rev. Justin LaRosa is my pastor! When I got released from prison in 2018, Justin was one of the first people I turned to who became an important part of my support system. As Director of the Portico (the downtown Tampa location of Hyde Park United Methodist Church), Justin is a faith advisor for many souls and has walked with me throughout my journey to criminal justice reform. This episode will showcase an intimate conversation be...

Charles Neal is a corrections officer with the Oregon Department of Corrections. Morgan Godvin is a returning citizen working as an advocate, academic, journalist, and content creator. Together, Charles and Morgan have founded the Humane Justice Foundation, a coalition of people with lived experience from inside the criminal justice system, including victims, law enforcement, prisoners and everyday citizens. Humane Justice Foundati...

Ray Coker is one of my best friends.  When I got cancer, Ray was among the inner circle who nursed me back to health.  We walked together once a week, helping and supporting each other through life’s challenges.  Ray was the guy I asked to drive me to prison on the day I self-surrendered.

In this episode, Ray and Thad share the story of their journey to federal prison in Jesup, GA.  Ray explains what it felt like to drop o...

Mary O’Connor is the incoming Chief of the City of Tampa Police Department, one of the nation’s top 50 police departments.  She is the second female Chief of Police in the department’s history. Chief O’Connor served TPD for 22 years, rising to the level of assistant chief, before retiring to become a national consultant and trainer to the FBI, DOJ and other law enforcement agencies.  In February 2022, Chief O’Connor was selected by...

Jhody Polk spent seven years in Florida prison for a series of violent offenses committed in her early 20’s.  While in jail, she learned to undo much of the societal conditioning imposed upon her from growing up in East Gainsville.  Now more than seven years following her release, Jhody has transformed herself into a leading community activist, public speaker and leader for peace and justice.

Jhody is the Founder of LEAH,...

Neil Volz is Deputy Director of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the group that successfully passed Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to 1+ million returning citizens in Florida.  Today, FRRC provides jobs and pathways to formerly incarcerated people, advocating for policy changes to help returning citizens achieve full community restoration. In this episode, Neil and Thad discuss common themes in their stories, including t...

Rep. Andrew Learned (D-59) is a military veteran and small business owner who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2020. He won election by 1,270 votes in a closely divided district. Nearing the end of the 2022 legislative session, Rep. Learned reviews his experience as a legislator assigned to the House committees with oversight responsibility for criminal justice issues.  Thad Bereday and Rep. Learned discuss th...

Lawrence Bartley is a journalist and contributor to The Marshall Project, a non-profit online news publication devoted entirely to coverage of the criminal justice system.  Bartley is founder and director of “News Inside,” the print version of The Marshall Project distributed throughout the USA to hundreds of prisons and jails, and he is the host and executive producer of “Inside Story,” the Marshall Project’s video series on YouTu...

Through 12 years in public service, Florida Senator Jeff Brandes (R-24, Pinellas) forged a reputation as the state’s leading advocate for criminal justice reform. Known as a maverick, Brandes was chairman of the powerful senate Judiciary Committee, with oversight over the Florida Department of Corrections. Brandes has visited dozens of prisons throughout the state, working on every important criminal justice issue facing the legisl...

Andrew Warren is the elected State Attorney for Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County). Since his election in 2017 and re-election in 2020, State Attorney Warren has been called “the face of criminal justice reform in Tampa” and is widely regarded as a smart, progressive county prosecutor. A rising star in Florida, Warren was recently selected to lead the Democratic Party’s Safety & Justice Task Force, promoting ...

Sarah Couture is Florida State Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC), a national advocacy center dedicated to solving the unjust imposition of fines and fees in the criminal legal system.  Sarah describes how fines and fees perpetuate a poverty-to-prison pipeline, reinforcing a cycle of recidivism and dependency that forces people to make unfair choices about driving and compliance with court-ordered payment schemes....

Carrie Boyd is a former policy director for the SPLC Action Fund, the legislative division of the Southern Policy Law Center.  For over 50 years, the SPLC has been the premier civil rights law firm in the south, particularly Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The SPLC Action Fund works with coalition partners to combat systemic oppression, poverty, and structural racism; issues suppressing communities of color. ...

Representative Fentrice Driskell represents the 63rd Congressional District (Hillsborough County) in Florida’s House of Representatives. She serves as Democratic Policy Chair, the third-ranking leader of the Florida House Democratic Caucus, which she is set to lead during  the 2024-2026 legislative term.  Upon ascension, she will be the first black woman to serve as leader of the House Democratic Caucus.  In this episode, Rep. Dris...

Robert Blount is president of Abe Brown Ministries, based in Tampa, FL, and is a seasoned advocate in working with ex-offenders reentering society from the criminal justice system.  In this episode, Robert shares the challenges faced by so-called “returning citizens” and examines why and how the criminal justice system is broken.  Drawing from his experience in the faith community, Robert offers inspiring insights for ways to re-th...

In the inaugural episode of Redemption Radio, host Thad Bereday shares his personal journey through the criminal justice system. Thad started his career as a high-flying lawyer working inside the executive suite of a Fortune 500 company, based in Tampa, FL. Thad’s career crashed to earth when the company was raided by 200 government agents, setting off a decade long saga of Thad attempting to defend himself against federal criminal...