What should a second chance ask of someone—and what should it make possible?
Aaron Kinzel joins Brandon Burley for a conversation that holds responsibility and rehabilitation together. Kinzel recounts serious harm in his past, the years he spent incarcerated, and the education and relationships that helped him build a different life. He does not present that history as something a degree erases.
Instead, the conversation asks what communities gain when people leaving prison have the preparation, support, and accountability to become good neighbors.
Taking responsibility without giving up on change
Kinzel describes growing up around violence and incarceration across generations of his family. Those experiences are part of his explanation of how he understood the world as a young person. They are not a claim that the harm he caused did not matter.
Brandon and Aaron return repeatedly to that distinction. Understanding how someone arrived at a destructive decision can help us think about prevention. It does not require denying the people who were put at risk.
The people who saw another possibility
Education gave Kinzel a direction to pursue. Mentorship helped turn that direction into something he could act on. He speaks about people inside the prison system—including correctional staff—who challenged him, took him seriously, and helped him imagine a future beyond the identity attached to his record.
Those relationships also complicated a simple “us versus them” view of the justice system. He describes continuing conversations with people in law enforcement, corrections, and public administration, and learning from people whose backgrounds differed sharply from his own.
From Project Forge Books · Our own product
For readers who want to keep thinking about reentry and public safety, explore Brandon Burley’s Reducing Recidivism: A Comprehensive Guide. The ebook is available through The Redemption Project shop. This is an advertisement for our own book, separate from the guest’s views.
A public-safety question
One of Brandon’s central questions is why someone who primarily cares about victims and public safety should care about education in prison. Kinzel answers by asking listeners to think about who eventually comes home—and what that person has had an opportunity to learn before returning.
The conversation extends beyond one person. Family relationships, employment, community participation, and the example set for children all enter the discussion. Kinzel’s own account connects the opportunity he received with an obligation to contribute.
Where they agree—and where they differ
This is not a conversation in which every question lands on a tidy consensus. Aaron and Brandon discuss forgiveness, responsibility, repeated chances, and the limits of what anyone can do for a person who is not ready to change. Their exchange leaves room for disagreement while continuing to ask what makes a community safer.
In this episode
Aaron’s account of incarceration, responsibility, and change.
Education and mentorship inside prison.
Building relationships across the justice system.
Connecting reentry opportunities with public safety.
Why a record should not be the whole story of a life.
Recorded September 28, 2026. Content note: Includes descriptions of violence, incarceration, and adult language. Personal recollections and opinions are presented as the speakers’ accounts.
What would you want a person returning to your neighborhood to have learned—and what opportunity would you be willing to help create?
I am a retired detective and criminal justice / government educator based in Tennessee. I founded The Redemption Project, as a place to focus on civics, rebuild non-partisan trust, and provide educational and emotional grace while learning about the news. I also have a column in Knox TN Today. My reporting and commentary have also appeared in other outlets including; Governing, The Arizona Capitol Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Police1, among other state and regional outlets.
