B. Casper is a good witch who uses the magick of podcasting to bring awareness about how women are treated within the prison system by sharing her experiences and all of her secrets on her podcast, That Time I Got Arrested. The only thing that is off-limits, is her real name.

• • • Hi B., thanks for being here with us in spirit. We're not going to talk about any of the real secrets that you share on TTIGA today. So, what's your favorite book of all time?

  • Ecotopia by Ernest Callingbach

    • Ooh, I was hoping you would say that! Why?

  • Have you read it?? I think it's a great layout for what's possible and what a post-capitalist economy looks like.

    • I haven't read it, but I am super intrigued. You mentioned it on episode 21 with Collin Bullock and I was spellbound. Is it a fiction story?

  • Yea. Written in 1975 but takes place in the year 2005

    • Ooh, neat. I love fiction that evolves the mind

  • Same. Tom Robbins does that with all of his work

    • I got super excited when you mentioned Tom Robbins on the show. I've never read his stuff, but I've heard really good things from multiple people.

  • Yea, he's the creme de la creme.

    • What makes him your favorite author of all time?

  • What he says and the way he says it is the most influential literature I've ever encountered, reinforcing deeply what I've always known and shedding light on direct resources as to why those things are so real.

    • Are there any other authors that come close to his level of profound writing?

  • Not even close, in my opinion.

    • What's your favorite Robbins novel, and why that one in particular?

  • Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas is my favorite, even though it's like trying to pick a favorite child. Still Life with Woodpecker is a close second. They're my favorite because those were the secrets I needed.

    • I love your way with words.

  • Thanks babe, same to you.

    • Awe :3

    • When did you first start reading? What was the catalyst that made you fall in love with books?

• • My mom used to read to me before bed, but actually, my dad was dyslexic and English was his second language so he was never good at reading. He told me once that when my mom was pregnant, he would pray every night that I wouldn't have the same problems with words as him. What turned out is that I became a ferocious reader and actually put distance between us emotionally because of how hard it was to reach understanding with our different reading levels. Be careful what you wish for is the moral of that story.

    • Dang, that's super intense and pretty heartbreaking. Thank you for being so real.

  • Always bb.

    • So, what makes you excited to read? As in, what part of reading lured you into being its lifelong pal?

  • Well, it's like the closest thing to telepathy that we have currently as humans, but mostly I think words are magic. The right set of words strung together in the right order can change someone's heart or mind or day or life. That's why I love telling jokes so much and doing stand up (even though it's awful and I hate it) but I love it because it's a sensational game where your magic gets an immediate result. Making someone laugh is magic.

    • I was listening to this awesome podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert and she says that it's all about finding which shit sandwich you love to eat, because everything sucks. So it's just about finding what you love even through the sucky shit. I've never read any of her work, but she is very inspiring. Sidetracking from books, when was the first time you did stand-up? It's not commonly thought about, but comedy and writing are one in the same and I love that you have the guts to get up and do it.

  • A year to the day from when I jumped. Jumped 7-28-16. First stand-up set 7-28-17. [WE'RE NOT DISCUSSING SHARED SECRETS HERE SO GO LISTEN TO THE POD] I lovelovelove Liz Gilbert. Read Eat, Pray, Love in prison and have reread that one like six times, not something I normally do.

    • Oh gosh. I am the opposite way. I've read a handful of books lots of times, lol. How many books did you end up reading in prison?

  • Around 260 in 11 months and 3 weeks.

    • That's amazing. I read a book in a day once and felt like my brains were melting, like I watching too much TV. Approximately how long did each book take to read?

  • I'm a fairly quick reader but you also have to remember how much time we have without cell phones or internet, even though I had a TV I would still read about 6 to 8 hours a day. So I'd read 3 to 5 books a week.

    • Oh my gosh! I guess I did do a fair bit more reading when I was in public school [highschool]. But my reading comprehension is a little slower than I'd like to admit, so I would zip through standardized tests and then get stuck on the story problems. [Such a frustrating thing to experience as a writer. What was your favorite book out of those 260?

  • I read Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas at that time, so that one for sure. But also Eat, Pray, Love. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Read a lot of Augustin Burroughs, he's amazing. Love everything Chuck Klosterman ever makes. I don't know! It's too hard to pick favorites because all books are good with specific things.

    • Especially when you've read almost 300 books in less than a year. I've never heard of Augustin Burroughs or Chuck Klosterman, could you familiarize me a little?

  • They both write essays, fiction, and personal memoirs. Very, very different but both equally interesting and with lots to say. Klosterman is a former music journalist that writes a lot of banal observations that he turns into deep metaphors. Burroughs is a former addict/advertising gay guy that has had a similar life to mine [go take a listen] with similar effects. He's real fucking funny.

    • How has the work you've read affected your comedy stylings?

  • I try to be as clever and covert as the people I love. The best jokes sneak up on you with their funny.

    • Too true.

    • In your earlier podcast episodes, you mention that you didn't really get up in front of crowds or write jokes often. When did that change for you? At what point did you realize that you loved the comedy shit sandwich?

• • Lol, I still don't. I have a love/hate relationship with it. But I'm good. SOMETIMES. And I enjoy the challenge, even if it is a struggle.

    • How often are you getting up now? Well, before the shelter in place, lol.

    • And let me just add that I haven't heard your stand-up, but I listen to the podcast almost every day and you're hilarious while talking about deep, serious issues. So I have no doubt that you are excellent at telling jokes.

• • Thank you, not often. The social dynamics of the Chicago comedy scene do not fucking do it for me. I hate them all. They're mean and weird and not fun.

    • Such a shame. Why not move to CA or CO to find a better scene?

  • I will eventually. I love living in Chicago.

    • I get that. I thought I wanted to pursue music, but after going to a couple of open mics I realized that my art has always been writing an that's where my heart is truly happy. I'm SOO glad [that] it's an introvert's game.

  • I wrote a book in prison that everyone keeps asking if I will publish.

    • I think you should.

  • Thanks babe. Someday I will.

    • What is the book you wrote about?

  • A book of letters I wrote to myself of book reviews for all the books I read in prison.

    • Woah, so you reviewed 260 books, in addition to reading them all?

  • 258 total reviews.

  • Read two Harry Potter books I had read a million times before, so [I] didn't review those, each page is a letter to myself I kept in a manila envelope under my mattress. Every time I'd finish a book, I'd write a quick update of what happened in prison that day/week and then review the book. In one of the episodes, I ask if people want me to publish it.

• • • Episode 12. It's one of my favorites. [but go start the series from the beginning!] I love your integrity. Were all the other books you read all new to you then?

  • Yea, I tried to pick all stuff that was new or that I hadn't read in a very long time.

    • Had you intended to review them when you picked them out, or did that thought happen as a result of reading all this while locked up?

  • I was just bored. But the idea was my grandfather's. He wrote me a letter and suggested I do that to pass the time and keep a record of what I was reading. They were really into that kind of mental exercise.

    • I imagine it would keep one sane though.

  • It helped a lot. Something to tether to.

    • Mmmm. That makes a ton of sense. My next question was, 泥id you enjoy it?�but you answered that organically. So instead: What else did you write while you were there?

  • I journaled a lot and I wrote letters to people, I also wrote for the prison newspaper. Never did any kind of journalistic writing so that was entertaining to try. I made a lot of art in prison. I painted and did pastel work and sang/wrote music. Wrote a lot of bad poetry too.

    • Bad poetry is the greatest though, lol. At least you were creating.

  • I had to.

  • I wouldn't have survived any other way.

  • Would have jumped off the railing like those other girls.

• • • Mmm

    • Thank you for that. Honesty is always the best medicine.

    • The reason I continue to write and decided to follow my author path is because I want to help girls and women who are clinging to their realities in any way they can like I did through my abusive relationship and you did in prison.

    • What positive ray of hope can you send to these people who may need advice and don't know where to turn?

• • Always turn inward, everything you want and need you already have inside of yourself, it's just a matter of finding it. Unfortunately it's so stupidly simple it's hard to believe, but a lot of what's helped me is just sitting quietly with my thoughts and breath and feeling that indescribable warmth that comes from connecting with yourself on a deeper level. There is no advice. You're already exactly where you're supposed to be.

    • B. Thank you so much! You are an incredible human with so much to share. I love you and I am so excited to have been able to do this interview.

  • I love you.

  • Thank you.