“Obviously it’s easier said than done, but the plain, really simple, slightly unpleasant, but ultimately actually not-that-bad fact is that you don’t have as much control over your life as you think you do. Accepting that gives a sense of peace that people can’t take away from you.”

Michael is a Chicago man who spent two years in prison. The podcast, produced by Eliza Lambert and Chicago contributor Anne Ford, presents conversations with people who have reentered society after a long, traumatic absence and offer lessons for our own reemergence from isolation.