Pete Earley, Pulitzer Finalist and Author of NO HUMAN CONTACT: Based on personal access to Terrible Tom Silverstein (the most isolated prisoner in US ...

The Release Podcast

Pete Earley is a Pulitzer-finalist, a mental health advocate, a Washington Post journalist turned bestselling author of 15 books including Family of Spies (inside the John walker spy ring), The Hot House (Life inside Leavenworth prison), and Crazy (A father’s search through americas mental health madness). Earley also wrote a series of novels including Duplicity, Treason, and Vengeance along with Newt Gingrich. Diagnosed earlier this year with stage 4 cancer, Earley has become a little philosophical about “whether being with each other is what makes us human”, among other things. Early's latest and accordion to him, final book, is NO HUMAN CONTACT: SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, MAXIMUM SECURITY AND TWO INMATES WHO CHANGED THE SYSTEM. The book was based on the rare access Earlery was granted to notorious inmate Terrible Tom Silverstein. Silverstein was convicted of armed robbery among other things and sentenced to life, rose to become a leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, and then brutally murdered a CO, stabbing him 40 times inside of a federal prison. Convinced that he and another inmate who’d killed a CO on the same day were beyond redemption….the bureau of prisons sentenced Sivlerstein to NO HUMAN CONTACT, which began his stay as the most isolated prisoner in US history. No TV, no magazines, no letters, no phone calls, no window, no hot water, no paper, no pencils, and no darkness to indicate whether it was day or night. Inside of a cell as wide as a king-sized bed, where Silverstein would touch the ceiling. Pete Earley was the only journalist ever granted personal access to Terrible Tom, and the two developed a friendship which lasted for three decades. That kind of experience could draw the philosopher out of any man. On today’s podcast we dig in to the motivations of a journalist, the heart of a murderer, and the nature of humanity. Without ever excusing his actions….Peter and I talk about how Silversteins childhood might have trained the humanity out of him, and whether Earley thinks he ever had a chance at functioning in society at all. The through line in Earley’s work is that he wants to see how other people live, and that has flowed from his work with inmates through his battle to support his bipolar son, to his insights into America’s homeless. Together we consider whether it is the need to connect that is most core to the human condition…or whether it is the need to believe we can be seen. The most surprising part of our interview is not that Early spoke with a mass murderer who reached the same conclusion about love as the late great Elie Weisel. The most surprising part of our interview, for me…is how easy it was to believe that Terrible Tom Silverstein…leader of the Aryan Brotherhood…famed murderer…lifelong criminal…and America’s most isolated prisoner….could turn into a divorce counselor for his visitor, biographer…and eventual friend…Pete Early. You’ve really gotta read NO HUMAN CONTACT.