RADIO SHOW OF THE WEEK.

Byline: - Fred Shuster

``PRISON DIARIES''

What: National Public Radio's ``All Things Considered'' takes a first- person glimpse of life inside penitentiary walls.

Where: KCRW-FM (89.9).

When: 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Jan. 30.

Typical segment: Correction officers tell their stories, including an officer who recalls the day her son walked through the prison gates as an inmate.

Quote: ``The one thing you never hear from prison are the sounds of everyday life,'' said Joe Richman, producer of the series. ``Each week, as the inmates and officers grew more comfortable with the tape recorders (they were given by NPR for the program), their stories became more intimate, revealing and amazing.''

Background: ``Prison Diaries'' takes place inside two correctional facilities: Polk Youth Institution in Butner, N.C., and the Rhode Island Training School (for juveniles) in Cranston, R.I. More than 200 hours of raw tape were edited into five half-hour radio documentaries.

You'll like this if: ... you like NPR's ``This American Life'' at 10 a.m. Saturdays on KCRW.

On the Web:: www.360degrees.org.

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National Public Radio's ``Prison Diaries'' series features a look at inmates' lives, including first-hand accounts from John Mills III, who is serving seven to nine years for armed robbery.