The twists and turns of Conrad Black's very public life have long fascinated Canadians. Years before he became Lord Black of Crossharbour, long before he relinquished his Canadian citizenship to accept a British peerage, his thoughts on the state of the world had garnered a large and often critical audience.

So when he was put on trial in the U.S. for actions he took while at the head of a publishing empire, his travails became lead copy in the very papers he used to control.

The former media baron's subsequent rough-and-tumble journey through the U.S. justice system formally came to an end earlier this month with his release from a Florida prison after serving the bulk of a 42-month sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice.

Now, in a wide-ranging and exclusive interview with the CBC's Peter Mansbridge, Black talks at length about that journey.

CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge talks to Conrad Black a few days after Black was released from a Florida prison. (Hans Vanderzande/CBC)

Black offers his thoughts on freedom, on the intricacies of his actual release on May 4 (what he calls an "odd day"), on his timetable for regaining Canadian citizenship, on his life behind bars ("tedious and outrageous"), on the whole idea of prison for non-violent offenders ("an absolutely catastrophic misjudgment"), and on what he calls the "notorious vagaries of American justice."

He even offers some tidbits about his plans for the future — a comeback which he says is "already underway."

It's vintage Conrad Black and you can see it all here.