In Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics (Seal Books, 2021), Keeda J. Haynes pulls back the veil on what happens in the criminal legal system. In a series of events, Haynes went from working as a correctional officer in a local jail to serving time in federal prison for a crime she did not commit. Having later completed law school and served as a public defender, Haynes has the unique perspective of experiencing the system from several personal viewpoints, including that of running for Congress. In the latest episode of PEN America’s Works of Justice podcast, PEN America Postgraduate Fellow Emma Stammen talks with Haynes about what inspired her to share this compelling story, working in the legal system after her incarceration, and the experience of revisiting her time in prison 18 years later.