You may not expect an A-list Hollywood movie producer to spend his Saturday outside a California state prison, but Scott Budnick is waiting for a man he knows well to be released, after 18 years behind bars.

Given recent events around George Floyd and far beyond, this special episode of the a16z Podcast features Shaka Senghor, a leading advocate for criminal justice reform (and bestselling author), and Terry Brown, a former police officer in East Palo Alto (who has since run his own security firms). 

Community groups have pointed out the social costs of the prison system for decades. Now the pandemic has exposed its public-health risks.