History with Phil: The Tucker Telephone and the American penal system

The Tucker Telephone is a notorious example of a modern torture device used in the United States during the 20th century, specifically in the Arkansas prison system. Despite its benign-sounding name, the Tucker Telephone was a brutal tool of punishment and control, designed to inflict intense physical pain through electric shock. It was named after the Tucker State Prison Farm, located near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where it was reportedly developed and used extensively during the 1960s.

The device itself was a modified version of an old-fashioned crank telephone, typically the type used in rural areas or military field communications. These phones worked by generating electricity through a hand-cranked magneto to send a signal. In the case of the Tucker Telephone, this electricity was not us