Live Wire with Luke Burbank
Episode: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Annabelle Gurwitch, and Max Gomez
Original Air Date: March 20, 2026

Episode Overview

This energetic episode of Live Wire features in-depth conversations with three dynamic guests: poet and MacArthur Genius Reginald Dwayne Betts, actress and author Annabelle Gurwitch, and singer-songwriter Max Gomez. The central themes are resilience, the transformative power of art and community, and finding joy and meaning in unexpected places. With vulnerability and wit, the episode explores Betts’s journey from incarceration to literary acclaim, Gurwitch’s poignant-yet-comedic experience living with terminal illness, and Gomez’s musical celebration of his New Mexico roots.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Good News Segment

(05:15)

• Elena Passarello shares United Airlines' new hard rule: all sound on personal devices must use headphones.

  • “You could even get kicked off a flight or even barred from the airline if you don't comply with this now official rule.” (05:28)
  • They discuss the unique irritation of hearing strangers’ audible phone content on flights.

• Luke Burbank presents an uplifting update about Punch the monkey, a once-rejected baby macaque now thriving at a Tokyo-area zoo and gaining celebrity attention.

  • “Lisa from Blackpink… visited Punch the other day. So that was like, huge.” (09:11)
  • Notable for how an animal’s story can unite and delight people worldwide.

2. Featured Guest: Reginald Dwayne Betts

(11:30 - 28:28)

Betts’s Poetry and Backstory

• Betts discusses his book Doggerel, centered on dogs but deeply personal and wide-ranging.
  • Origin story: Encouraged by a friend to pursue the dog motif after writing several poems about dogs. “I like to double down on a bad idea. So the next thing I know, I had like 400 poems about dogs.” (12:00)
  • On the significance of pets: “Most people recognize their relationships with their pets as one of the most serious and important relationships they have.” (12:47)
  • Writing as personal necessity, not initial performance or publication.

Creative Process in Italy

• Doggerel was largely written during a castle residency in Italy, a period marked both by depression and re-connection.
  • “It was the most depressing time of my life… But I also was getting reconnected to my body.” (13:57)
  • The act of biking through the countryside, being immersed in unintelligible language, allowed Betts to process his interior world and encounter new sources of inspiration.

On Joy (Live Poem Reading)

• Betts reads “On Joy,” a reflection on hard-won happiness and self-acceptance after experience in prison.
  • “There are not enough words for joy in this language... In prison, a letter is called a kite, as if words alone can gift a man wings.” (15:35-17:18)

Books in Prison: Freedom Reads

• Betts’s organization Freedom Reads builds handcrafted libraries for prisons, making books a communal, transformational presence.

  • “I would put millions of books in a prison... We build libraries in prison. They have handcrafted bookcases 44 inches high, so about waist high. Maple, Oak, walnut, cherry.” (21:44)

• On working with prison administrations:

  • “I was in solitary confinement 45 days before I came home... so I don't have a good working relationship. And we have had no trouble.” (23:43)
  • Emphasizes empathy for corrections staff: “They have high rates of alcoholism. They have high rates of suicide. They have high rates of domestic violence. Nobody grows up and says... ‘I want to be a CO.’” (23:56)

• Challenges in curating the library’s collection:

  • “500 books is a whole world... Sir Walter Riley wrote a history of the world with 500 books. That's why I chose 500 books.” (25:11)

• The impact:

  • “Every time we open up a library, we're helping upwards of 200 people incarcerated and their families and the people that work in prisons where every single library.” (25:07)

Reflection on Imprisonment and Imagination

• The pivotal moment: At age 16, after sentencing, Betts declares, “I’m going to be a writer”—without ever before considering that path.
  • “You get to choose if you speak life and possibility into somebody’s life or if you speak death... when a judge said you can get something out of it if you want, the wild irony is that... I went in a holding cell and was like, I’m gonna be a writer, having never in my life thought of being a writer.” (27:10)

3. Featured Guest: Annabelle Gurwitch

(30:24 - 42:16)

Diagnosis and Immediate Aftermath

• Gurwitch’s stage 4 metastatic lung cancer diagnosis arrives unexpectedly, via a doctor she jokingly suspected had a romantic interest in her.

  • “The entire diagnosis came about because I thought that this very cute Dr. McDreamy guy might have a thing for older women.” (30:56)

• The surreal nature of her discovery during the pandemic.

  • “There are no cars. Okay. First sign of a zombie apocalypse during COVID there were no cars on the freeway...” (32:05)
  • Her son’s presence, mistaken scan readings, and fluctuating hopes.

• Remarkable medical advances allow her to continue living meaningfully far beyond initial prognoses.

  • “I thought I was going to die within possibly months, but here I am five years later, stabilized because of science.” (33:47)

Carpe Diem and Personal Revolution

• In what she thought would be her final months, Gurwitch begins to take dramatic risks (“carpe diem”):

  • “My fingerprints disappeared. It was a side effect of the medication. I emailed friends and said, who needs someone murdered?... And then I attempted to steal a painting from the wall of the hospital where I’m treated...” (34:33-35:19)
  • Explores dating, including a failed attempt at “cancer dating,” only to find a site full of people with the Cancer astrological sign.

• Discovers love and companionship anew with Jeremy, her boyfriend who invites her on a whirlwind, low-budget heavy metal band tour as their merch girl.

  • “I said yes to this trip. And then he tells me, ‘You can come tag along on this low rent van tour if you'll agree to sell merch.’” (37:37-38:06)

Gift of Indifference and Ordinary Joy

• Reflects on the band tour: the young musicians’ indifference is its own gift; it allows her to just “be” again.
  • “Their indifference turned out to be the greatest gift for me. Because what I realized that had been, you know, cancer had taken from me was the ability to be ordinary...” (39:09)
  • “I sold $1,400 of their merch, and they gave me the gift of indifference. And I changed my approach. I let go... I realized you can car pay too much diem.” (40:24)

Philosophical Takeaways

• Adopts the French philosopher Georges Perec’s idea of finding beauty in “infraordinary” daily life.
  • Community is crucial: “I made these regular dates. I started taking ukulele lessons with two of my friends. You know, I really reject that phrase. You know, cancer can be a teacher. Because anything cancer has to teach me, I'd like to learn in a different way.” (41:39)

4. Featured Music: Max Gomez

(45:28 - 53:43)

Backstory and Musical Philosophy

• Hailing from Taos, New Mexico, Gomez brings heartfelt country-blues with storytelling flair.
  • “You know, we did think maybe, maybe this is a road trip record. You know, those are kind of like my favorite records.” (46:04-46:13)
  • Jokes about being known as a “one album artist”—now, at last, a “two album artist” with Memory Mountain.

Live Performance - “New Mexico”

• Performs a crowd-pleasing, John Prine-esque singalong about his home state, mixing protest humor, local pride, and true stories.
  • Highlights misunderstandings about New Mexico’s U.S. status: “She said, ‘Although you speak good English, I cannot let you through because for international travelers only. Passports will do.’ I said, it ain't new and it ain't Mexico.” (final verse of song ~51:30s)
  • Warm audience engagement and wry, self-deprecating humor.

Memorable Quotes and Audience Response

• “If you get there, there ought to be no passports to show. Not in New Mexico, USA.” (52:48)
• “My guitar solo I brought all the way from New Mexico for you.” (song)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Reginald Dwayne Betts:

  • “In prison, a letter is called a kite, as if words alone can gift a man wings.” (15:35)
  • On prison libraries: “If you only do it inside of the cell, then it doesn’t become a locus of community. It doesn’t become a symbol.” (21:44)
  • On transformation: “You get to choose if you speak life and possibility into somebody’s life or if you speak death.” (27:10)

• Annabelle Gurwitch:

  • “I attempted to steal a painting from the wall of the hospital where I’m treated … What’s the worst that can happen? Like a life sentence?” (34:33–35:18)
  • “Anything cancer has to teach me, I’d like to learn in a different way.” (41:39)

• Max Gomez:

  • “I stand before you today and I’m speaking to you out there in radio land. A two album artist.” (46:39)
  • “If you get [to New Mexico], there ought to be no passports to show. Not in New Mexico, USA.” (52:48)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Best News of the Week: 05:15 – 09:11
• Reginald Duane Betts Interview & Poetry Reading: 11:30 – 28:28
  • On writing Doggerel: 12:00 – 13:37
  • Poem “On Joy”: 15:35 – 17:23
  • Prison libraries & Freedom Reads: 18:57 – 26:34
• Annabelle Gurwitch Interview: 30:24 – 42:16
  • Diagnosis story: 30:56 – 33:47
  • Carpe diem misadventures: 34:33 – 38:06
  • Philosophical reframing: 40:24 – 41:39
• Max Gomez Interview & Live Song (“New Mexico”): 45:28 – 53:43

Final Thoughts

This episode of Live Wire reverberates with wisdom, wit, and vulnerability. From Betts’s indelible poetry and mission to humanize incarceration, to Gurwitch’s life-affirming gallows humor and advocacy for ordinary joys, to Gomez’s soulful, inviting performance, the show invites listeners to find beauty in resilience, connection, and self-expression—even (perhaps especially) amid profound adversity.