This week on Behind The Lens, more than 170 million people have been under heat alerts across the central United States, the Midwest, the Southeast and the East Coast, with some areas feeling temperatures as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, the largest maximum security prison in the United States, incarcerated men are crammed into overcrowded spaces with no air conditioning, broken fans, and inadequate sanitation, and are asking the state for relief.

And one of the summer’s biggest festivals in New Orleans, Essence Fest, has seen dramatic growth over time. But with that growth comes confusion to some about who it serves, what it represents, and how it operates. According to one writer, the deeper issue isn’t logistics — it’s ideology.

Our guests this week are Lens criminal justice reporter Bernard Smith and Lens photographer and columnist Gus Bennett.

Theme music by Podington Bear. Additional music Mahalia Jackson, Keep Your Hand on the Plow.

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