Podcast spotlight: "Motive" Season 4

WBEZ has released Season 4 of its investigative "Motive" podcast.

• Hosted by reporter Shannon Heffernan, this season explores Illinois prisons.

The origin: "It started with a tip about a man who died at Western Illinois Correctional Center. We were told he was beaten by guards and began to investigate," Heffernan tells Axios.

• "But the deeper we got into the story, the more we realized this was not just about one case — there had been allegations of abuse for years."

The goal: Look beyond a few bad apples "to talk about the whole orchard — like what parts of the prison system created conditions where this could happen?"

• "That set our team off on a year's long journey, that landed us in some unexpected places: small-town parades, local political races, and a trove of emails between prison guards."

Biggest surprise: "Something called the prison sweepstakes, where small towns in Illinois competed in the '80s and '90s to 'win' prisons, and the jobs that come with them."

Heffernan's hope: "That people with a lot of different views on incarceration and crime will listen to these stories," and learn that prisons don't have to be this way.

🎧 Meanwhile, Heffernan says she is currently listening to the "Believe Her" podcast.

• "I also really loved 'Somebody' from the Invisible Institute."