Catch a Kite: On Tour

Ear Hustle

Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.9 • 21.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What textures do you miss in prison? How is menopause handled behind bars? What makes you feel dignified? These are just some of the questions we collected from listeners on our live tour this summer through the South and Midwest. But instead of taking these questions back to California, we got them answered on the road.

Thank you to everyone we talked to in Oklahoma: Angelica, Dusti, Sharee, Ashe, Victoria, Crystal, Jax, Christina, Brittany, Jasmine, Tabitha, Michelle W., and Michelle K. at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center; and Angel, Rocky, Angie, Felicia, Courtney, Shenice, Rebekah, Jamie, Raye, Phina, and Geneva at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center. A big thank you to Ellen, Jordan, Lisa, and Melissa from Poetic Justice, and Kay Thompson at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, for making our visit possible.

Thank you also to the women we spoke to at the Ohio Reformatory for Women: Erica, Beth, Cheryl, Alyssa, Iyshia, Michelle, and Michelle. And another big thank you to Tara Nickle and Warden Maldonado at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, and visual artist Kirsta Benedetti for bringing us to ORW.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, and Earlonne Woods.

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their ongoing support of the show.

Don’t miss our six-part series, The Loop, about kids and incarceration in NYC. In your Ear Hustle feeds starting October 8.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I am Kirsta with Life is Precious Program.
0:08.0	In this episode of Ear Hustle contains language and content that may not be appropriate for all listeners.
0:15.0	Discretion is advised. Hey, Nodz. Hey, E. What is in that little box you have over there?
0:38.2	It's our box full of kites.
0:40.4	And I'm going to tell listeners about how this catch-a-kite episode is going to work today.
0:44.8	Please do, Erlon.
0:45.9	So, while we were just on our live tour in August through the South and Midwest,
0:50.5	we asked people in the audience to give us questions that they would like to have answered about life in prison.
0:55.5	And we collected them in this box here, our little kite box.
0:59.6	Exactly.
1:00.3	It might not look like much.
1:01.4	It's just a see-through plastic box, but inside there are treasures.
1:05.6	Mm-hmm.
1:06.8	And it's cool seeing all those different handwrites.
1:09.8	I can read most of them, which is a blessing. That's right, Dr. Poor. Normally with our Catch a Kite episodes, we would take these questions back to St. Quentin or to the California Institution for Women and ask people to answer them. Right. But we figured since we got these questions on the road, we should also try to get them answered on the
1:28.2	road. I'm Erlon Woods. And I'm Nigel Poore. This is Ear Hustle from PRX's Radiotopia.
1:39.7	One of the coolest things we got to do on our live show tour was visit three women's prison.
1:45.5	It was amazing. One in Ohio, just outside of Columbus, called the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
1:52.6	The other two were in Oklahoma, the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center near Tulsa and the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center not far from Oklahoma City. It was such an amazing experience. It was. You know, we've been in some women's prisons out in California, but this was the first outside of California. Yes, yes. And while we were there, we did a few things. We taught a workshop, we did some interviews, and we performed a live show. That was monumental.
2:18.3	First time ever, in a prison.
2:21.0	I mean, at San Quentin, you know, there's so many outside people coming in all the time.
2:26.3	Yeah, I mean, the Warriors come in there.
	...

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