The Hustler Files with Lisa Reilly - Stories That Challenge What You Thought You Knew
One in three Americans is justice-impacted, and at The Hustler Files, we’re here to change the conversation. This isn’t just a podcast, it’s storytelling with grit, hope, and purpose. Each episode amplifies voices closest to the system: justice-impacted individuals, reformers, changemakers, and the guardians behind the wall who offer healing and opportunity. These are stories of truth, perspective, and possibility. Some involve real crime and real consequences, but we tell them with care, intention, and respect. Because there’s always a voice that can challenge what you thought you knew.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 27 minutes
- Episodes
- 126
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
MEDICAL AND LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS ARE BREAKING NEW GROUND
In Episode 45, Attorney Ada Lin of Prisoners’ Legal Services in Boston, Massachusetts discussed the need for the pending House and Senate Bill that would allow for a more compassionate release of tho…
MEDICAL PAROLE, WHERE WOULD YOU STAND?
The Medical Parole House and Senate Bill, in Massachusetts, is described as the following: To ensure that the medical parole works as the Legislature originally intended by providing a measure of pub…
THERE IS ALWAYS A BETTER PATH IF YOU LOOK FOR IT
While Stephanie and Corey have vastly different backgrounds and stories, the common thread for both is not only their association with the AISS program at the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, but the…
THE FEAR OF TOO MUCH INJUSTICE
When a legendary lawyer and a legal scholar reveal the structural failures that undermine justice in our criminal courts, the result is an absolute MUST READ aptly named The Fear of Too Much Justice.…
REPRESENTATIVE LINDSAY SABADOSA, A VOICE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NONE
Massachusetts House Representative Lindsay Sabadosa’s path to politics probably started at the age of nine, when she held a protest march over the closing of her beloved town library. Yet it took a …
JUSTIN BROOKS, HERO EXTRAORDINARE IN A BROKEN JUSTICE SYSTEM
Justin Brooks will tell you that, as the Founder of the California Innocence Project, he was just following his passion as a criminal justice attorney to exonerate those who were falsely accused and …
THE BRIAN BANKS STORY, TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY - PART 2
If you were hoping to hear how Brian Banks overcame the adversity and punishment that was thrown at him in Part 1 of our interview, then here it is! You’ll hear how Brian stayed ‘sane’ despite his t…
THE BRIAN BANKS STORY, TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY - PART 1
Here, in part 1 of a 2-part episode, is the heartfelt and triumphant journey of Brian Banks. If you don’t know who Brian Banks is, he’s worth a google. Not only did Brian defy the odds, transitioning…
MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH THOSE CONSIDERED THE WORST OF THE WORST
Joe LaFratta will tell you that he ‘fell into’ what became his specialty during his 30-year career as a United States Probation Officer. To hear his story, there is no doubt that he made a difference…
ONLY SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THOSE WHO SEE GREATNESS WITHIN YOU
Craig Stevens may be a Landscape Architect with a thriving business but he also stands outside his story and unashamedly admits to a 20-plus-year struggle to overcome drugs and alcohol. One of the s…
WE ARE NOT CONDEMNED TO REPEAT OUR FATHER’S MISTAKES
How many times has someone said, ‘I did the best I could with what I had…it’s not like I had a parent manual to follow’. But, in actuality, there is a manual. Since its publication in 1988, A Nurtur…
BEHIND THE WALL THERE IS HOPE
To understand the healing and opportunity behind the wall in the Franklin County Jail in Massachusetts, one must only sit with those who are serving time despite their confinement. The Franklin Co…
A SEASON OF GIVING IS YEAR-ROUND FOR THOSE IN NEED
The quote “To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world” could not be truer than for the Executive Director of the Easthampton, Massachusetts Community Center, Robin Bia…
$50 & A BUS FARE WON'T GET YOU FAR, BUT CHERI GARCIA BELIEVES OTHERWISE
The Dalai Lama defines compassions as “a sensitivity to the suffering of others, with a commitment to do something about it”. Cheri Garcia, a social innovator and Founder of the second chance staffi…
THEY MAY BE DAVID SIZE, BUT THEIR DETERMINATION IS THAT OF GOLIATH
The percentage of women incarcerated is minute in comparison to that of men, but their struggles to overcome the traumas that led them to drug addiction, anger or alcoholism is equal if not greater t…
SETTING THE STAGE FOR EPISODE 33
As a prelude to the upcoming Episode 33, we thought we'd re-air an interview we featured a few months back to set the stage for that future episode. Twenty million Americans struggle with alcohol. F…
TO HELP OTHERS WE MUST FIRST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE JOURNEY ENTAILS
Back at Episode 26, Ed Hayes and Levin Schwartz of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Western Massachusetts stopped by to share some snippets of their work behind the wall, their travels and edu…
WHEN YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA IS LITERALLY UNDER YOUR BED
You might not think incarceration and entrepreneurship have a common thread, but they do. Many who become incarcerated were arrested for illegal activities, for which, an entrepreneurial mindset wa…
ON THE JOB TRAINING IN THE MOST UNLIKELY OF PLACES
It may not be commonplace to find vocational training behind the wall, but more and more jails and prisons are bringing a variety of industries, inside, not only to generate revenue, but also to off…
THE COMMUNITY PROSECUTION MODEL IS GETTING SMARTER & FAIRER
‘To be a transformational leader and coach, you must deeply understand what you are transforming’. This quote by an unknown author was perfectly suited to this week’s conversation with a District At…