Colin Asher with Rafael Alvarez: THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

In American popular music, we often glorify rebellious artists and "outlaws." But in The Midnight Special, Colin Asher tells a deeper story about the criminal justice system's impact on our musicians, explored through compelling portraits of five artists whose careers span the twentieth century.

We'll hear from the author, in conversation with Rafael Alvarez, about the project of writing the history of prisons into American music--a story as important as it is overlooked.

Order THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL: THE SECRET Pr*son HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC here!

Colin Asher is the author of the critically acclaimed Never a Lovely So Real. His work has been featured in the Believer, the Baffler, the New Republic, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Rafael Alvarez was born in Baltimore and educated in local Catholic schools. A longtime City Desk reporter for the Baltimore Sun he has worked as a laborer on cargo ships and published a dozen books, most recently Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown. His screen credits include Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire. Alvarez is currently at work on a book about the Rosary. He can be reached via [email protected]