CIW: The Magazine, Issue One

Summary

---

Ear Hustle – "CIW: The Magazine, Issue One"

Airdate: August 12, 2026
Hosts: Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods, Kat
Theme: Launch of the first-ever Ear Hustle Storytelling Workshop at the California Institution for Women (CIW), featuring stories produced by incarcerated women in the inaugural class.

---

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights stories from the first cohort of women at CIW to take part in the Ear Hustle storytelling workshop, led by producer Kat in partnership with Uncuffed and KALW. Over ten months, participants learned interviewing, audio editing, and narrative structure to make their own "magazine-style" stories, blending raw reality, nostalgia, hope, and humor. Four powerful, original mini-documentaries by incarcerated women give listeners an inside view of prison life rarely heard.

---

Key Segments & Stories

Introduction to the Workshop

• [03:17] Kat explains the genesis of the CIW program: "For the last 10 months, I've been working with a group of women at the California Institution for Women who have been taking part in an Ear Hustle storytelling workshop... This is the first cohort of women who have come through."
• Historic milestone: First Ear Hustle project at a women's prison, years in the making.

---

STORY 1: "Losing Memories on New Tablets"

By Natalie Lay Dimola
[05:48–13:22]

Theme: The emotional fallout as incarcerated women face the loss of their personal digital videos and photos due to a changeover in prison tablet providers.

Key Points:

• Tablets are distributed in California prisons, allowing women to receive videos and images from loved ones—vital emotional links to the outside.
• A switch in vendor means the possibility of personal media being erased.
• Women share stories of what's at stake: a sunset over the ocean, a niece's victory in a jiu jitsu tournament, and voice messages from a now-deceased father.

Notable Quotes:

• Natalie (on her father's videos): "When my dad passed, being in prison, I couldn’t have any of his clothes or any of his memorabilias or items. All I had was these videos of his voice and how he looked." [11:10]
• Debbie (on her niece's video): "When I play this video, I feel joy. I see that my daughter is living through my niece, and it's a moment that I have with her and with my daughter at the same time." [09:24]
• Natalie, after losing everything: "The next day, I got my new tablet. When I turned it on, the videos, the pictures, my father's voice, it was all gone. I am so grateful that I recorded the audio for this story. But the image of my father is gone forever." [12:26]

Hosts’ Reflection:

• Earlonne: "I loved hearing all the different textures of the interviews and then hearing people's recordings. It took you out of prison, which I thought was really nice." [13:33]
• Nigel: "I think the blessing of it all is that you have programs like Ear Hustle. They gave her the opportunity to put her father's voice into the story before that tablet came up missing." [14:05]

---

STORY 2: "The Swimming Pool at CIW"

By Kelly Wolf
[15:17–20:56]

Theme: Uncovering the forgotten history of CIW's now-buried swimming pool—a symbol of freedom, change, and loss in prison culture.

Key Points:

• The swimming pool existed from the 1970s until the 1980s—a rarity in American prisons.
• Former lifeguards and longtime inmates recall sunbathing, music, slip-and-slides, homemade bikinis, and a vibrant, communal space.
• Its closure and eventual burial reflect broader trends of resources and privileges being stripped away in prisons.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat (former lifeguard): "It was just a place to gather... There's a lot of protest songs because we were coming away from the Vietnam War... I love the way the sun always hits the water, the way it sparkles. It's gorgeous." [15:39–16:46]
• Linda: "It was something very free world." [20:10]
• Ruby: "They took the normalcy of life. Because in here, there is no normal." [20:26]

Hosts’ Reflection:

• Nigel: "This story definitely reminds me of how over the years, everything gets taken." [21:04]
• Earlonne: "She found good mules to carry the story... They’re super descriptive and bring you right back to the moment of the 70s and 80s." [21:45–22:21]

---

STORY 3: "Finding a Place to Sleep"

By Chyna Worthy
[24:13–28:32]

Theme: The unspoken struggle of cell and bunk rejection—especially for trans women—when entering a new prison environment.

Key Points:

• Safe shelter is promised on paper, but new arrivals often face rejection from potential bunkmates.
• Michelle, a tall trans woman and legislative advocate, recounts her challenging transition to multiple women's facilities, facing exclusion and dehumanizing comments ("the man is here").
• Creating SB132 for trans safety, Michelle ultimately finds community and acceptance—not from administration, but from other incarcerated women over a spades game.

Notable Quotes:

• Michelle: "SB132 was intended for safe housing of trans women where they can program, not have to worry about looking over their shoulder." [27:02]
• Michelle: "A lot of women’s fears is being raped, but the women don’t know that my fears is they fears." [27:51]
• Michelle (on finally being accepted): "Like, I was part of the family. And I sit there that first night playing spades and people getting to know me, and it was fun. It was absolutely fun." [28:20]

Hosts’ Reflection:

• Earlonne: "She took on a huge subject... So that would be my question about this one. I think it's really well done, but there's a lot that doesn't get explored." [29:47]
• Nigel: "She got a cool little topic." [30:18]

---

STORY 4: "Love Letters"

By Bea Marquez
[30:44–36:02]

Theme: The emotional lifeline of love letters—how intimacy, vulnerability, sensuality, and grief are all mediated through ink and paper behind bars.

Key Points:

• Women at CIW describe how letters allow them to communicate what can’t be said aloud, add "spice" to relationships, and offer comfort against loneliness and loss.
• Sensory details—the smell of cigarettes, the feel of lipstick kisses—bring letters to life.
• Bea shares a deeply personal, unsent love letter to her partner Luciano, who passed away while she was incarcerated, intertwined with ritual and cultural grief practices.

Notable Quotes:

• Anonymous: "You can say on a letter which you can't say out loud sometimes... I can communicate best through writing." [31:05]
• Anonymous: "The smell gives you nostalgia... I smelled the letter. I hugged the letter. I kissed the letter. Before I even opened the letter." [32:10]
• Bea: "It’s written in English, Spanish and Nahua, front to back... Well, I kept that glass of water on my window sill for a month... But he still comes. I still feel him." [33:39–35:36]

Hosts’ Reflection:

• Earlonne: "I liked how poppy it was. Very snappy, very lighthearted." [36:02]
• Kat: "I think that was the idea – to create sort of a tapestry." [36:20]
• Nigel: "Being home, I couldn't write a letter probably if my life depended on it. I think maybe it's like a prison thing for me, you know, which is sad." [36:29]

---

Episode Wrap-Up & Looking Forward

Acknowledgments and Hope for the Future

• Kat announces the next round of the storytelling workshop, passing the torch to Ashley Ann Krigbaum.
• Earlonne: "I'm hoping that this last class kicked up enough dust to where it's gonna be a lot of women to want to apply." [37:57]
• The Ear Hustle team expresses admiration and gratitude for the courage and creativity of the CIW participants.

Resources:

• Ear Hustle Workshop Information
• Sign up for "The Lowdown" newsletter for updates on Ear Hustle’s education efforts.

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• "They took the normalcy of life. Because in here, there is no normal." — Ruby, on losing the pool [20:26]
• "All I had was these videos of his voice and how he looked." — Natalie, on precious digital memories [11:10]
• "The man is here." "No, the woman is here." — Michelle, recounting her arrival as a trans woman [26:42]
• "Just hold on. I'm coming home. I’ll be home." — Unsigned love letter at CIW [33:32]

---

Episode Tonality

The tone remains intimate, authentic, sometimes raw, sometimes humorous—a "very real" and empathetic look at prison life. The hosts maintain their signature blend of candor, warmth, and critical reflection throughout, celebrating the women's work while probing deeper issues of loss, adaptation, longing, and connection.

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Workshop backstory – [03:17–05:13]
• Story 1: Tablets & lost memories – [05:48–13:22]
• Story 2: The swimming pool – [15:17–20:56]
• Story 3: Cell rejection & trans experience – [24:13–28:32]
• Story 4: Love letters – [30:44–36:02]
• Reflections & conclusion – [36:02–38:10]

---

This episode is both a powerful statement on creative resiliency and an exciting preview of stories yet to come from women inside CIW. Each segment stands alone, while together they create an unflinching, multidimensional portrait of life, love, and memory behind bars.

Transcript

[Nigel Poor]

Nigel.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yes.

[Nigel Poor]

I see you over there shopping on quints again. I know you really like their clothes, huh?

[Kat]

I do, it's true. And I just bought these really nice lightweight scoop neck tank tops that I'm very excited about taking on my summer

[Earlonne Woods]

trip to Spain because you know, it is going to be effing hot there.

[Nigel Poor]

Okay, you're going because they just won, huh?

[Earlonne Woods]

Exciting.

[Kat]

And you know what? They were only $16 each.

[Nigel Poor]

Well, yeah. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical fact and cut out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality, not brand markup.

[Kat]

And Earlonne, it's not just the clothes. I've actually brought this in to show you because I'm really excited about this new purchase.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Let's see.

Look at this.

[Nigel Poor]

Okay. You pulling it out, the quince bag?

[Kat]

Yes. This beautiful backpack that I got.

[Nigel Poor]

That's nice.

[Earlonne Woods]

Don't you like the color?

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah.

[Kat]

When I bought it, I was like, oh, Earlan's gonna like this color.

[Nigel Poor]

It looks like scuba diving material.

[Kat]

It's made out of this neoprene, so it's this very cool texture and it's not huge. So it's gonna be more my fancy backpack for commuting and maybe even going out at night.

[Nigel Poor]

So that's going to be for your snacks.

[Earlonne Woods]

Yeah, I love it.

[Kat]

You should get the red one. You can match.

[Nigel Poor]

Definitely. From high quality clothing and backpacks to hotel quality bedding and premium cookware, Quint's has got it all.

[Kat]

Upgrade your everyday. Download the Quint's app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com earhustle get free shipping on your orders and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too.

[Nigel Poor]

That's q-u I n c e.com earhustle and earlonne.

[Kat]

Also, the backpack has a little wallet in it.

[Unidentified Speaker]

What?

[Alison Stewart]

Yep.

[Nigel Poor]

You just in love over there.

[Kat]

This episode is sponsored by Better Help.

[Nigel Poor]

You've heard us talk about Better Help quite a few times, but we haven't talked about how much people love this service when they use it.

[Kat]

You can check it out for yourself when you go [e-mail] reviews. You are seeing some of the latest

[Earlonne Woods]

reviews that have just come in and

[Kat]

Earlonne, I often wonder, like, how old are reviews? You know?

[Nigel Poor]

Right.

[Kat]

So this gives me confidence to know

[Earlonne Woods]

that I'm seeing up to the minute feedback.

[Nigel Poor]

More than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally and the average live therapy session was rated with 4.9 out of 5. Stars. That's based on over 1.7 million reviews.

[Kat]

And BetterHelp makes it easy to get started. Answer a few questions, get matched with a therapist based on your needs, and switch therapists at any time if it's

[Earlonne Woods]

not the right fit.

[Nigel Poor]

See the reviews, see what stands out, and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com earhustle that's BetterH E-L-P.com earhustle

[Pat]

I'm Amy Goodman, host of Democracy now. And this episode of Ear Hustle contains language that may not be appropriate for all listeners. Discretion is advised.

[Nigel Poor]

What's up, Kat?

[Unidentified Speaker]

Hey, Kat.

[Kat]

Hey, you guys. How's it going?

[Kelly Wolf]

Good.

[Nigel Poor]

So we have invited you back into the studio to share something you've been working on for a while, Kat.

[Kat]

That's right. For the last 10 months, I've been working with a group of women at the California Institution for Women who have been taking part part in an Ear Hustle storytelling workshop. You know, I joined Ear Hustle back in the summer of 2024 to start this program. And this is the first cohort of women who have come through.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Right.

[Earlonne Woods]

I mean, we've been working earlonne on this idea for how many years?

[Nigel Poor]

I don't know. Since I was in jail.

[Earlonne Woods]

Oh, my God. So since 2018, we've been like, when are we going to start a program at a women's prison?

[Nigel Poor]

Yes.

[Earlonne Woods]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nigel Poor]

You know, we wanted to do a storytelling project within the women's prison where they learn how to do storytelling, you know, Ear Hustle style.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Right.

[Earlonne Woods]

All the basics.

[Kat]

And to do this, we actually had to build a studio.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Right, right.

[Kat]

You know, because there was no recording studio there. So we hooked up with another audio training program called Uncuffed, which is a collaboration with the public radio station KALW. And when was it? In the summer of 2024.

[Nigel Poor]

2025.

[Kat]

2025, exactly. We finally started the program.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah. And Kat, you joined us to kick things off. So she started teach in the program.

[Earlonne Woods]

Yeah. Four women.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yep.

[Earlonne Woods]

I mean, we are starting small. We're gonna get a little bit bigger, but it's a start.

[Kat]

That's right. Yeah, that's right. And we took them through this 10 month long curriculum. We did a ton of stuff. We did interviewing. We did writing for the ear. You know, it's really different than writing for the page. We did story structure, thinking about how to structure a compelling narrative. They wrote scripts and then they actually edited the audio themselves in pro tools. And all of this was leading up to their final Project which was to produce a magazine story like we've done at San Quentin. These are short reported stories about stuff that's going on at the prison.

[Nigel Poor]

That's what's up.

[Kat]

So today we're gonna hear four stories. The first one is from Natalie Lay d'. Amola, and her story has to do with the new tablets that were recently rolled out at California prisons.

Yeah, Earlonne.

[Earlonne Woods]

I mean, you know this.

[Kat]

All the guys inside San Quentin have them too. And the newer ones are pretty slick. They actually look like iPads.

[Nigel Poor]

They just like the people on the streets now.

[Kat]

Exactly.

[Earlonne Woods]

For better or worse, right?

[Kat]

That's so true. And there is a pretty big trade off with these new tablets. And that's what Natalie's story is about.

[Natalie Lay Dimola]

The sunset is orange. The waves just are crashing and you hear the seagulls. It feels like the seagulls are just roaming around your head. Sunsets going down in front of your eyes. To me, you can't get better than that. And you're in it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

This is Cuba. She is describing a video that her friend recorded when she got out of prison of the sun setting over the ocean. Cuba is what we call a long termer. Basically she has a sentence of 10 or more years, but she's not a lifer. And the video that her friend sent her of the sunset is one of the things that's helping her get through her time. She could just hit the play button and free her mind.

[Natalie Lay Dimola]

It means more than money, more than a mansion. I usually play it once a week, sometimes a little bit more. If I get down and I sit on the bunk and just close my eyes and envision being at night at the ocean. So it takes you somewhere else emotionally, which is good Sometimes

[Unidentified Speaker]

In California prison, everyone gets a free tablet. It's our version of an iPad on the streets where our loved ones could send us videos and pictures like the one that Cuba's friend sent her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But when I talked to Cuba earlier this year, we had just found out that we would be getting new tablets because California was transitioning from an old company to a new company. And the rumor on the yard was that our personal photos and videos might not transition to our new tablets and we might lose them.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Memories go away and we're getting older, so my memory's not that good.

This is Debbie. She has been incarcerated for 21 years.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The video that she's afraid of losing

[Unidentified Speaker]

is of her 12 year old niece named Mia winning a jiu jitsu tournament.

She looks excited, hear everybody screaming and laughing and making noises and Everything. She has this look like, I did it, I did it. She walks up to the stage, to the first spot. She looks up to the sky. She lifts up her medals, put her two fingers to her lips, and dedicates this to my daughter, her cousin, because this is the day my daughter passed as well.

Debbie's daughter Desiree had been killed on the same day nearly 20 years earlier.

I was in a horrible domestic relationship for five years. I thought that was love. Ultimately, it took my daughter's life. She was five when she died.

Debbie's niece Mia, never got to meet her cousin Desiree. But Debbie said that Mia started doing

[Narrator/Reporter]

jiu jitsu because of her.

[Unidentified Speaker]

My brother wanted to make sure that she knew how to protect herself and to make sure that that story never repeated itself and to break that cycle of abuse.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And what did it mean for you that you seen in the video her, like, showing a sign, that gesture, that this is for her cousin?

[Unidentified Speaker]

They didn't forget about her. When I play this video, I feel joy. I see that my daughter is living through my niece, and it's a moment that I have with her and with my daughter at the same time.

[Narrator/Reporter]

If I told you these weren't gonna be transferred and the content was gone forever, how would you feel?

[Unidentified Speaker]

Where would I go to help me to overcome a day or just help me pass through that moment? I will not have that. It's gonna be devastating for me.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A few months after I talked to Debbie, we still hadn't transitioned to the new tablets. We were just waiting, worrying if we were going to lose our videos and when this actually would happen. Then one day, I remember coming in from work and seeing the new company installing the new equipment. I knew it was real then, that the transition was going to happen and it would be soon.

[Unidentified Speaker]

My stomach dropped because I knew that I had my own videos to lose of my father, Dr. Angel Dimola, who died a couple years ago in 2023.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When I was growing up, I really didn't talk to my father. And then when I got to prison, he started sending me videos of him saying he loved me. He said all the words that I always wanted to hear.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Hello, my daughter, Natalie. I love you. And I am very anxious waiting for the day that we'll be together. Have a happy day and see you later. Bye, sweetie.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When my dad passed, being in prison, I couldn't have any of his clothes or any of his memorabilias or items. All I had was these videos of his voice and how he looked. So on the last day before the tablet Switched over. I remember sitting in my room, just playing these videos of my dad over and over again so that I would never forget his voice and that he loved me.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Hi, Natalie.

[Nigel Poor]

How are you doing?

[Unidentified Speaker]

I'm doing pretty well. And I wish you be out of that place pretty soon. Hello, Natalie. I have a dream that for Christmas we're together. Hola, Nathalie. How are you doing, my baby? I'm doing fine. I am just waiting my turn to see the doctor. Happy birthday. I wish you the best and to have many. Happy birthday in the future. Happy birthday, mi amo.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The next day, I got my new tablet. When I turned it on, the videos, the pictures, my father's voice, it was all gone. I am so grateful that I recorded the audio for this story. But the image of my father is gone forever. I wasn't the only one that experienced this great loss. Cuba lost a moment of serenity, a moment of peace, a moment just to look back and get out a hard time. Debbie lost a moment that connected her to her daughter and her niece at the same time.

[Unidentified Speaker]

And we are just the first prison.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Soon the new tablets will be in every prison in the state of California and they will experience the loss that we have.

[Unidentified Speaker]

This is Natalie Lay Dimola reporting for the CIW magazine.

See you later. Bye, sweetie.

[Kat]

What do you guys think?

[Nigel Poor]

What you think, Nige?

[Earlonne Woods]

I loved hearing all the different textures of the interviews and then hearing people's recordings. It took you out of prison, which I thought was really nice. And you could imagine what it did for the people who received those. Yeah, I thought that was really cool.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah. I lost one of my phones the other day, and I was thinking about all the pictures that was on the phone, and I was saying to myself, I didn't back that phone up.

[Earlonne Woods]

Well, that's one of the. I love when stories have a connection between inside and outside. So it's something people on the outside can relate to as well. Definitely.

[Nigel Poor]

And when I finally found that phone, I uploaded all those pictures onto my computer just in case, so I. I can dig it for, you know, people that's inside, you know, that's losing all these memories because they, you know, probably got a life sentence, been gone a long time, and they get these videos that are very precious to them, you know, And I think the blessing of it all is that you have programs like Ear Hustle. They gave her the opportunity to put her father's voice into the story before that tablet came up missing. So that's dope right there. Yeah, I think overall, I think she did. Cool.

[Kat]

Yeah, definitely. I know. I love how newsworthy this story was. I was really impressed by that. And Natalie had a really strong vision for this story from the beginning, and she really, really saw it through. Alrighty. So up next, we have another story. This one is from Kelly Wolf. And Kelly had heard this rumor about a surprising piece of caw's history, and she really wanted to get to the bottom of it. So she brought in some OGs, some ladies who've been incarcerated there since the 70s and 80s, to see what she could find out. Here's Kelly.

[Kelly Wolf]

When I first got to the California Institution for Women, I was walking the yard and I saw this cemented outline, and I was curious to what it was. It turned out back in the 1970s, this prison actually had something I never would have dreamed could exist in a prison.

[Nigel Poor]

A swimming pool.

[Pat]

It was just a place to gather, and the people that were there loved it. My name is Pat. I got to CIW in 1971, and I was a lifeguard at the pool, just as anybody would do at the beach. People, if they were using the pool, were in bathing suits, and they would be in the water or swimming or sunbathing. Everybody was using Bain du Soleil, CN Ski, Coppertone. No one knew there was skin cancer. We were all smoking cigarettes, didn't know there was lung cancer. At that time. There was like roller skates, and they'd bring out a radio and we'd be listening to music, or someone would bring a guitar and sit around. That was a lot of guitar playing at that time. There's a lot of protest songs because we were coming away from the Vietnam War. Everything was on the rise, and the music seemed to sing right with it. A lot of people just sit around with friends, watching the sunset on the water. I love the way the sun always hits the water, the way it sparkles. It's gorgeous.

[Kelly Wolf]

In the 80s, the prison decided to drain the pool. What was the mood after it closed?

[Pat]

For people that enjoyed swimming, I'm sure they missed it like I did, but most people, it just like everything else, things just started getting shut down. Things just get taken, gone, just like they do now. Nobody does much or nothing. We just adapt.

[Kelly Wolf]

When I asked the question, why was the pool closed? I got different answers. One person said, because of aids. Another person said, because of safety and security. And another person said, because there is too much urination in the pool. But even after it was drained, women still hung around the pool as if there was water still in it.

[Linda]

Sometimes there'd be so many people in the backyard with our big beach towels that you couldn't see the grass.

[Kelly Wolf]

This is Linda. She arrived at CIW in the early 80s.

[Linda]

We found other ways to sunbathe and to hose off in the backyard. So there were other ways to. To cool off in, other ways to enjoy ourselves, enjoy one another without the pool actually being filled and used.

[Kelly Wolf]

Ruby arrived at CIW around the same time as Linda.

[Ruby]

When I came, we did slip and slides in the backyards. We even utilized the clothing bins, and we would all take water from the faucets and we would pour it into these bins, and we would all be in there in the hot spring, laying out in the backyard, laughing, arms and legs everywhere, just like kids, you know.

[Kelly Wolf]

Can you describe to me what your bathing suit looked like that you wore?

[Pat]

It's just a one piece. And being a lifeguard, that's kind of what you want to. You don't want to worry so much about what you're wearing. If you're jumping in, you don't want to pop out.

[Linda]

The bathing suits that I had were what were fashionable at that time. And one of them was a French cut bikini. And when I think back now almost 40 years, like, oh, my goodness, I'm

[Nigel Poor]

that, like in here.

[Ruby]

I had this great teal green one, and it was a two piece, and it was very small. I was very small then too, because we couldn't always afford stuff to lay out with. We would make our own bikinis with a sewing machine because we were allowed sewing machines back then. We would make full top. It was just like a little triangle with ties around the neck and the back, just like you would have on the streets, just homemade. And people who couldn't afford sunscreen or tanning lotion. We would use butter from the kitchen. And, I mean, we smelled horrific by the end of the day. But, you know, you do what you do.

[Kelly Wolf]

So do you remember specifically the last time you got to wear your bikini?

[Ruby]

I actually was in Latham. There were probably about maybe 15 of us. We were all out in the backyard, and we had a staff who came out and she told us, take off all those contraband bathing suits and give them to me. And you know, there's no more of this and I want you inside. So it just kind of slowly, you know, melted away like everything else in here.

[Kelly Wolf]

Eventually, the prison decided it was time to fill in the pool. They piled a bunch of dirt in there and cemented over it.

[Linda]

I remember the day that they came and filled it in. And I do have A recollection of that day feeling very sad, like we were losing something. Even though it was empty, it was still very comforting because it was something very free world.

[Ruby]

And I think that's what they took more than anything. They took the normalcy of life. Because in here, there is no normal.

[Pat]

This is a place of loss. It hurts, but everything hurts. I mean, I've. You know, I've lost everything here, plus my life, doing time. So it's like it just is just another piece, another brick in the wall

[Kelly Wolf]

for the CIW magazine. This is Kelly Wolf.

[Nigel Poor]

When I first went to jail, it was in 88. Duke Magin was the governor, right? And as the administrations came in, more shit got took, this got took, that got took. And I'm sure the swimming pool got took. When I was in the youth thought we still had a swimming pool, but I guarantee you that swimming pool gone by now, right? I've never seen them bring shit back, you know what I'm saying? This story definitely reminds me of how over the years, everything gets taken.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Right?

[Kat]

Kelly really wanted to do a story about the history of ciw, and so I think Kelly did a really good job of, like, narrowing in on this one thing, the pool. We couldn't believe there had been a swimming pool at ciw.

[Unidentified Speaker]

I was.

[Kat]

I was shocked.

[Unidentified Speaker]

I know.

[Earlonne Woods]

I remember when Kelly proposed this story, and I was so intrigued that she noticed that architectural detail. And it told me that she's someone who's really observant and looking outside of herself, which I really appreciate. And she did something that we always talk about. She found good mules to carry the story, particularly pat. All of them are super descriptive and bring you right back to the moment of the 70s and 80s. You can see things through their description. Tells me that she's sensitive to how people speak. I also like, and I don't know which speaker it was describing all the different bathing suits. Ruby.

[Kat]

Ruby.

[Earlonne Woods]

That they're wearing. So you really get a sense of the time. She did a great job.

[Nigel Poor]

Indeed. Well, we're going to take a quick break, and then we'll be back with more stories from the California Institution for Women.

[Alison Stewart]

On all of it with me, Alison Stewart will talk about art, music, theater, literature, history, food. Well, all of It. Hear in depth, insightful interviews with authors like Zadie Smith, musicians like Steve Earle, actors like Kate Winslet and beyond. You never know who you'll hear next on All of it, but it's always worth listening. That's all of it available wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kat]

Listeners do you want even more Ear

[Nigel Poor]

Hustle and even fewer ads like zero, zilch, nothing, Nada.

[Kat]

If so, subscribe to Ear Hustle Plus.

[Nigel Poor]

Ear Hustle plus subscribers get access to ad free episodes and bonus episodes.

[Kat]

Our Ear Hustle plus episodes are really fun. Subscribers can find out what's happening with people they've heard on previous episodes, and they can also send in questions for us to answer.

[Nigel Poor]

And me and Nigel get to sit here and chop it up with our producer Bruce and just talk about whatever.

[Kat]

If you want to hear more of that, subscribe to ear [e-mail] or directly in Apple Podcasts.

[Nigel Poor]

And thanks for supporting the show. We appreciate y'.

[Unidentified Speaker]

All.

[Nigel Poor]

And send in some provocative questions.

[Kat]

Spicy questions.

All right, well, up next we have a story from China Worthy. And her story is about how it feels when your celly or your bunky in prison rejects you.

[Earlonne Woods]

Tough one.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Here in prison, one of the things that's guaranteed is shelter somewhere to live, at least on paper. But in reality, that's not always how it works.

I basically was sitting in the day room for hours trying to figure out where I was gonna go and what I was gonna do. I didn't know the first step to even find a room.

Take Alison, for example. She's new to prison, what we like to call a first timer. And when she first arrives here, the bunkies she'd been assigned to flat out told her to get lost.

She came to me, she said, I'm not accepting no bunkies. I'm like, okay, well this is the room they put me in. And she like, well, I'm not accepting no bunkies. She was aggressive. I was aggressive too. Like we both was like a standoff type thing, basically.

How did you feel in that moment?

Sad.

Lonely. Like just a whole lot of mixed emotions.

In Alison's case, she was able to stay the night after a tense standoff, and they both avoided a write up. Alison's experience is a common one. It happens to a lot of women when they arrive.

[Michelle]

I was nervous pulling up sacwfish, like, wow, my heart's beating fast, looking around like, are they gonna accept me?

[Unidentified Speaker]

So when Michelle arrived at the Central California Women's Facility in 2021, she knew she would have a hard time blending in. For one, Michelle is really tall and she's got a tough exterior too, but it doesn't match her personality.

[Michelle]

If a person get to know me, they'll know I'm just that. You're no giant. I'm not a mean hearted person. At all.

[Unidentified Speaker]

So when Michelle got off the bus at ccwf, she, like, gave herself a pep talk.

[Michelle]

Hey, just be yourself. Be yourself. Everything will be fine.

[Unidentified Speaker]

But as she walked into the unit, she was greeted with these words, the man is here.

[Michelle]

And that just, like, took me back for a minute. Like, no, the woman is here.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Michelle is one of the first trans women in California to be transferred from a men's prison to a women's prison. In fact, Michelle says she helped write the Senate bill, SB132, that made transfers like hers possible.

[Michelle]

SB132 was intended for safe housing of trans women where they can program, not have to worry about looking over their shoulder.

[Unidentified Speaker]

That's why Michelle wanted to come to ccwf, to find safe housing. But for a while, she couldn't find anywhere to live. No one would take her in.

[Michelle]

I went to maybe four different rooms before I was accepted into a room. Just bouncing from room to room, room to room.

[Unidentified Speaker]

So the first four rooms that you landed in off the bat ejected you?

[Michelle]

I didn't even land in them.

[Pat]

Hmm.

[Michelle]

Just refusals.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Michelle could understand why some women might fear living with her. It's the same fear she had when she was in the men's prison.

[Michelle]

So a lot of women's fears is being raped, but the women don't know that my fears is they fears.

[Unidentified Speaker]

In 2022, Michelle transferred here to California's smaller women's prison, the California Institution for women. She says on her first day in her new housing unit, she met some women playing cards. They said, hey, you want to play?

[Michelle]

Like, I was part of the family. And I sit there that first night playing spades and people getting to know me, and it was fun. It was absolutely fun.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Even though she feels more at home here, Michelle still hasn't had to find a roommate. For now, she lives alone. For the CIW magazine. This is Chyna worthy.

[Nigel Poor]

Okay. So, Nigel, how did you think about Chyna's story?

[Earlonne Woods]

Well, I really like her voice. She has a very pleasing voice to listen to. And I like how she opened it, that everyone's guaranteed shelter and somewhere to live. And so it just. It opens in an intriguing way when all of a sudden, you hear that. What? That isn't even guaranteed in prison.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Mm.

[Nigel Poor]

I was put in that situation when I was in San Quentin. I was in one cell. I got moved out of that cell for some reason, and they moved me to this other dude's cell on the first tier, and dude was like, I ain't supposed to have no celly, you know, and da, da, da, da. And. And then I kept telling him, hey, your problem with them, not me. I'm coming where they say go. So if you got a problem, take that problem up with them. I'm finna move my shit in here. You go take that shit up with them. You know what I'm saying? But it. Do people get this? This is mine. You know what I'm saying? They get that shit.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yeah.

[Earlonne Woods]

I would say she took on a huge subject. It's ambitious for how, I don't know, like a three minute story or four minute story. So that would be my question about this one. I think it's really well done, but there's a lot that doesn't get explored. So I would like to know, what does the administration do in this situation. Was there anyone coming to Michelle's help or she had to figure this out on her own. Were there any other, like, women who were helping her? So that's. I'd be curious. I would say this is a super ambitious story and that's great that she took on such a tough topic.

[Nigel Poor]

She did cool.

[Natalie Lay Dimola]

She did cool.

[Nigel Poor]

She got a cool little topic.

[Kat]

And finally, to close things out, we have a story from Bea Marquez. And I know we did an Ear Hustle episode last season about letters that listeners wrote into the show. Well, this one is also about letters that Bea and some of her friends really look forward to writing and to receiving.

[Bea Marquez]

How does it make you feel when you get a love letter?

[Unidentified Speaker]

It makes me feel great. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel loved. It makes me feel missed.

[Bea Marquez]

Hi, my name's Bea. And recently I asked some women I know here at ciw, China, Jackpot and Amber just how they feel about love letters.

[Unidentified Speaker]

You can say on a letter, which you can't say out loud sometimes because

I can say it without being scared of being judged. I don't know, it's just like how I can communicate best is through writing.

They can add spice to a relationship. If you're in a relationship, you know, you're able to be free and goofy and quirky and if you're into that kind of stuff, it can lead to role playing perhaps.

[Bea Marquez]

Tell me about your honey.

[Unidentified Speaker]

It's unlike any relationship I've ever been in. And it's comfort. Like I don't feel insecure in it. It's just like nothing else.

[Bea Marquez]

Say you got a love letter from your honey today. How would it make you feel?

[Unidentified Speaker]

It would just be so exciting to open it, to read it. The thought that's put into it there's something about a letter, opening it, getting it, seeing these words, the smell that's on the letter, like. Like if you have a grandma that smokes, right? That that smell reminds you of her, right? But, like, when you get the letter, because she could have been smoking that cigarette and you get a visual, like, she was probably smoking the cigarette or it was somewhere in the living room where she smokes. And that smell gives you nostalgia.

I smelled the letter. I hugged the letter. I kissed the letter. Before I even opened the letter, I

was like, oh, my God.

You wrote me.

I love it.

[Bea Marquez]

I thought it was gonna smell like love. What does love smell like?

[Unidentified Speaker]

I don't know, but I can taste it damn near.

[Bea Marquez]

What does it taste? I would like you to pretend you're writing him a letter right now. Basically say it out loud. Like, I don't know if you would start as Dear Nick.

[Unidentified Speaker]

No, I write love bug. I actually start every one of my letters with love bug. I would put I love you, daddy. You're the best. Plus, I might say something nasty. I don't know.

Shit.

This is the best it's gonna get for right now.

Okay, So I have this thing where I do Alphabet, and whatever the letter of the Alphabet is, is what I want to do that day.

[Bea Marquez]

What's your favorite letter of the Alphabet?

[Pat]

F. What does F stand for?

[Unidentified Speaker]

Can't say it on air.

[Bea Marquez]

Thinking about your honey right now. If you were to write like, dear honey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, what would it say?

[Unidentified Speaker]

I guess it would say that I think I'm gonna struggle with you leaving, but I need her to have faith in me. I'm gonna cry.

[Bea Marquez]

How would you end it?

[Unidentified Speaker]

P S. Just hold on. I'm coming home. I'll be home.

[Bea Marquez]

My name's BEA, I'm at CIW and I have a 25 year sentence. I have the last love letter that I wrote to my man. I didn't get to send it to him because he passed away on September 6th. And I was going through my things and I recently found even has my lips on it. So I kissed the corner of the paper with my brown lipstick. And it's written in English, Spanish and Nahua, front to back. Luciano. Hola, mi amorencito. In English, I said, hi, my love, my handsome papi chulo, my soulmate. I love you very much. I can't wait to make you dance with me. You're going to dance with me. I don't care what you say. I can't wait to burn sage with you, to sweat with you to climb the pyramids together. I can't wait. I will meet you tonight in our dreams, like we do every night. Good night, mi amor. I love you, papi. My forever love. Siempre tuya porvida tu novia. You know, in my culture, when someone dies, we cut our hair and we sacrifice it to the fire to help them go on their way. And we put a glass of water and a snack for them next to our window seal so they can come. And while they're figuring out and not being lost, they have something there. Well, I kept that glass of water on my window sill for a month. And you're not supposed to do that, but I wanted. I was being selfish, but I finally like, let him. Let him, let him go, you know? But he still comes. I still feel him. I have a journal that I write to. I write to him like once a month, basically. And it's kind of like helps me grieve, rest in peace and power. Luciano Chano Rivera. Mi hermoso, amorencito. This is Bea for the CIW magazine.

[Earlonne Woods]

I liked how poppy it was. Very snappy, very lighthearted.

[Kat]

I was curious that the.

[Earlonne Woods]

I know at the top they say the names, but then you don't know who's speaking. So they all kind of blend together, which I think is fine. But I was wondering if that was a conscious decision to not really identify people and let them all just sort of be like women getting letters.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yeah.

[Kat]

I think that was the idea to create sort of a tapestry. Yeah.

[Nigel Poor]

You know, letters probably prior to the tablets.

[Kat]

Yeah.

[Nigel Poor]

Was the thing. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like. Like letters was sometimes your only communication. You know, you have a whole process that you get your mind into when you get. Receive a letter. You know, whether it's sitting down, if you used to smoke cigarettes, rolling a cigarette to smoke, making a shot of coffee to drink. It's just a whole like little stuff ceremony you might have. Being home. I couldn't write a letter probably if my life depended on it. I think maybe it's like a prison thing for me, you know, which is sad, you know?

[Kelly Wolf]

No, I think.

[Earlonne Woods]

But I think most people outside are too lazy to write letters now because everyone wants a text.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yeah.

[Earlonne Woods]

Or a voice memo.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah. So it's good to hear about letters. Bea did good. That was a nice story from old Bea Cat, you know. Definitely. Thanks for working with these women. Get they skills set up to par. We gonna miss you. I know they gonna miss you. So we definitely appreciate your contribution to the program in ciw.

[Kat]

Thank you. Thank you. That means so much to me. It was truly, truly my pleasure. And I want to give a big shout out to Natalie, Kelly, China, and Bea for all the hard work they put into these stories. And if you guys are listening, which I hope you are, you should all be really, really proud.

[Michelle]

Yeah.

[Earlonne Woods]

And we are actually getting ready to

[Kat]

launch the next workshop at ciw, which is incredible.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yeah.

[Kat]

We're handing the program over to the wonderful Ashley Ann Krigbaum. And pretty soon she and Earlonne are gonna start interviewing women for our next cohort.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah, you know, that's on my calendar to go down there and start our interview process. And I'm hoping that this last class kicked up enough dust to where it's gonna be a lot of women to want to apply. Yeah. Yeah.

[Unidentified Speaker]

It'd be great.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah.

[Earlonne Woods]

Thanks, Kat.

[Kat]

That was great.

[Earlonne Woods]

Real fun to do together.

[Kat]

Thanks, you guys.

[Nigel Poor]

Music for this episode is by David Josse, Antwan Williams, Darrell Siddiq Davis, and me. Thanks to Acton Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Pio Avena at the California Institution for Women for supporting our work at ciw.

[Earlonne Woods]

Hi, my name is Lieutenant Avena. I'm the public Information officer at the California Institution for Women and I approve this episode. And if you want to learn more about our storytelling workshop at California Institution for Women, you can read all about it on our website.

[Kat]

It's earhustlesq.com workshop CIW, a/dinner-fancy, fancy.

[Earlonne Woods]

And also we've got a bunch of plans in the works to expand our education educational efforts.

[Kat]

And the place to follow that is

[Earlonne Woods]

in our newsletter, the Lowdown, which is

[Kat]

where we talk about all the cool

[Earlonne Woods]

stuff that Ear Hustle is up to.

[Nigel Poor]

Yeah. So if you haven't subscribed to our newsletter, the Lowdown, please do. Because not only do you know, we talk about our episodes, we talk about all the cool stuff that Ear Hustle do outside of making an episode.

[Earlonne Woods]

Exactly.

[Kat]

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia from prx, a network of independent,

[Earlonne Woods]

creator owned, listener supported podcasts.

[Nigel Poor]

Discover audio with vision at Radiotopia fm.

[Kat]

I'm Nigel Poor.

[Nigel Poor]

I'm Earlonne Woods. Thanks for listening. Radiotopia

[Earlonne Woods]

from prx.