“ The gospel according to Sanders boils down to the basic notion that everyone has something to say and everyone deserves to be heard. Those who have the tools to express themselves — a population that trends white and affluent — should help those who do not. Sanders’ jailhouse lessons generally started with basic storytelling techniques — he’d ask inmates to tell him a joke and then analyze why it was funny, or read fairy tales aloud and talk about why certain stories last. From there, he’d expand to lofty literary heights. “Brecht does very well in prisons and mental institutions,” he said. “Men behind bars really seem to get the theater of the absurd.
