Chow Time: Stories From Life In Colorado Prisons

Listen to CHOW TIME here on our Inside Wire: Colorado Prison Radio audio archive.

CHOW TIME is the podcast series we produced inside Colorado state prisons. Each episode is a stand-alone long-form narrative journalism work, written, produced, composed, and engineered by Inside Wire producers incarcerated in the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC). The series is characterized by deep, potent questions; surprising dialogue; and rich uses of sound. Experienced as a series, CHOW TIME captures a broad range of complexities, nuances, joys, struggles, and surprises of life in prison in the U.S. 

When Colorado Prison Radio producers completed their first CHOW TIME episode, they fulfilled the final step of their training journey to earn certification from University of Denver in Sound Production and Audio Storytelling.

CHOW TIME has been recognized with the following awards:

  • Sacred Items and CDOC Searches: Cultural Crisis in Colorado Prisons. Produced by Benny Hill (Creek Nation), incarcerated at Limon Correctional Facility. Hill examines an ongoing conflict between Colorado state prison policy and Indigenous cultural practice: what happens when correctional officers conducting mandatory searches disrespect the sacred objects of incarcerated Native American people? “Sacred Items and CDOC Searches” represents a call for accountability and policy change inside Colorado’s state facilities. This episode of Chow Time features voices, drumming, and traditional music by numerous Indigenous residents of Limon Correctional Facility.

  • The Warrior: From the Big Yard to the Barber Shop in Colorado Prisons. Produced by Jody Aguirre, with sound, original music, and engineering by Tyler Nelson, both at Limon Correctional Facility. Jody shares a sweeping, cinematic history of his father’s incarceration… his own… and the solace and hope he’s found in both the Limon barber shop and the Inside Wire studio. This episode of Chow Time features dialogues and original music with numerous residents and staff members from Limon Correctional Facility.

  • Incarcerated Dads. Produced by Herbert Alexander at Limon Correctional Facility. "Incarcerated Dads" offers an intimate dialogue with fathers in prison, questioning how… or whether… they can meet the needs of their kids from inside the walls. It includes a personal take on Herbert's own journey as a father, along with a unique interview with Herbert's son and wife in the Denver area. This episode of Chow Time features original music and scoring by sound producer Tyler Nelson at Limon Correctional Facility.

  • Voices of Denver. Produced, and with original music, by Cynthia Gonzalez at Denver Women's Correctional Facility. Cynthia pulls back the veil on a unique program at Denver’s prisons, the Voices Program, in which incarcerated residents take leadership roles in reviewing and humanizing Department of Corrections policies and regulations. Along the way, Cynthia shares deeply personal glimpses of her own journey in prison. 

  • Puppies in Prison. Produced by Amber Pierce at Denver Women's Correctional Facility (DWCF), with original sound composed by Tiffany McCoy, also at DWCF. Amber takes us behind the scenes in the Prison Trained K-9 Companion Program in the Colorado Department of Corrections. You’ll meet leadership from the program; incarcerated trainers who find purpose and rehabilitation through their work; and, of course, you'll hear some great audio of barking pups. 

  • Screaming in the Silence: The Mental Health Peer Assistant Program. Produced by Anthony "Q" Quintana, Jr. at Limon Correctional Facility (LCF), with sound and music by Tyler Nelson and Joaquin Mares, also at LCF.  Screaming in the Silence invites listeners on a journey into the Colorado Department of Corrections Mental Health Peer Assistant Program. Q takes us across the prison in Limon – from Rec, to the yard, and back to the radio studio – and into powerful stories of how prison residents support each other through mental health challenges. It’s an account that’s both personal to Q and historical for the state of Colorado.


The team of CHOW TIME: Stories From Life In Colorado Prisons includes:
Ryan Conarro | Executive Producer
Seth Ready | Associate Producer