Shows / Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Randall Via, known as Red Onion Randy, is currently incarcerated at Buckingham Correctional Center in Virginia. From inside prison, Randy shares honest, unfiltered conversations about daily life behind bars, prison culture, personal growth, accountability, and survival.
The Red Onion Randy Podcast gives listeners a rare, first-hand look at incarceration through storytelling, reflection, and real talk from someone living it every day.
Episodes
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Gimme the Chicken Tray! (Hilarious)
Randy tells a story of a showdown between Headbuster, a 6'2" gangbanger, and the rookie CO serving dinner trays on the tier. The ensuing standoff is resolved…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Damn Nightmare
Twenty-two years into his sentence of life without the possibility of parole, Randy feels the walls of his cell closing in around him, his resilience at…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Red Onion Lullaby
Randy describes the many difficulties that Red Onion inmates face in getting a good night's sleep. A mix of noise, excessive light, physical discomfort and…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Anger, Boredom and Fantasy
The mind-numbing boredom of life in solitary can lead to a corrosive, all-consuming anger. Randy describes how he saved himself through the power of his…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Groundhog Day
In response to listeners' requests, Randy describes his cell and goes on to detail a typical day in his life, most of which is spent in a cell that's smaller…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
The Child Molester
In 2006, Randy was sent to Sussex 1 State Prison outside Richmond Virginia, where the state holds its death row prisoners. Deeply unhappy in his new home…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
True Blood
Randy talks about his work “slinging ink” -- the art of tattooing -- a practice that can form strong and enduring bonds between inmates. To see examples of…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Solitary - Final Years Part 2
Randy describes Red Onion’s SAM (Secure Allied Management)– and SIP (Secure Integrated Pod), two high security accommodation programs that prepare prisoners…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Solitary - Final Years Part 1
In the first of this two-part story of his journey from solitary back to Red Onion’s general population, Randy describes the painful process of looking at…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Don't Shake the Spoon
Randy answers listener David's question about food in supermax, recalling the time when discontent about the quality and quantity of food led to a group…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
I Ain’t Heard from You in a While...
In this episode, Randy answers listeners’ questions. Paula wants to know how other prisoners and corrections officers have reacted to the podcast. Dianna asks…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Q&A: The Thing That Kept Me From Going Insane
Randy answers listeners’ questions about the prison’s step down program and the psychological impact of solitary confinement.Red Onion Randy features the life…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
From Solitary to Gen Pop and Back Again
After spending five years in administrative segregation -- solitary confinement -- Randy successfully completes Red Onion’s “step down” program, earning the…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
A Walk in the Woods
In his years in solitary confinement, Randy developed an extraordinary power – the ability to travel in time and space through the power of imagination. As he…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
The Choice We Make
Randy recalls his discovery of the Wheel of Time series by fantasy fiction writer Robert Jordan and the life-changing epiphany he experienced while reading…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Covid-19 comes to Red Onion
Randy reports that inmates working in the kitchen have tested positive for Covid-19. For the moment, the outbreak appears to be under control. Since a new…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Basically a Torture Chamber
After slashing the throat of another inmate in the rec yard at Sussex 1 State Prison Randy is sent to Red Onion State Prison, where he is kept in solitary…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Strike First
Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of sexual assault and extreme physical violence.When gang leader LA threatens to rape Randy, Randy reacts…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
No Gettin' Punked Once
After being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the twenty-year-old Randy is sent to Buckingham Correctional Center, a state prison…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
The Scary Thing
In jail awaiting trial, Randy has a fistfight with a correctional officer. It ends when a second officer, “The Undertaker”, intervenes. After being convicted…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
That Evil Black Cloud
Unemployed, hopeless and adrift, Randall embarks on another crime spree. This time burglary and car theft ends in armed robbery and murder.Red Onion Randy…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
My Teenage Years
Randy describes truanting from high school, his drift into crime, and a first encounter with the Virginia Department of Corrections at the Beaumont Juvenile…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Childhood
Randy describes his dirt poor childhood in Earlysville, Virginia, living in a trailer with his mother, two brothers and an abusive father who subjected him to…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Loneliness and Friendship
In this episode, Randy introduces his buddy Frank and describes the importance of friendship in facing the soul-crushing loneliness of prison.Documentary…
- Red Onion Randy - Life in a Supermax Prison
Welcome to my Podcast
Randall Via -- Red Onion Randy introduces himself and his podcast.Red Onion Randy, featuring Randall Via, is directed and produced by Michael Garbutt. Website…