"Uncuffed is vulnerable and personal. If you can see the humanity in us, you can see the humanity in everyone."

Uncuffed is KALW's award-winning radio training program and podcast in California prisons.
Learn more and support the program at WeAreUncuffed.org, and listen to the podcast below.

Our podcast: Uncuffed
Our DJ program: The Uncuffed Playlist
Reentry stories: On the Other Side of the Wall

About Uncuffed

Attracting a national and international audience with its powerful storytelling, Uncuffed provides a unique lens into the American carceral system. As of 2025, Uncuffed has worked with over 104 Incarcerated Participants in three California prisons: San Quentin, Solano, and California Institution for Women. It has trained, hired, or collaborated with over 30 people after their prison terms.

Their stories make waves. Uncuffed has reached over 100,000 incarcerated listeners using tablet devices in over 1300 prisons and jails across the US.

At Solano State Prison, Uncuffed runs a radio DJ training program focused on storytelling through music. Participants learn radio hosting, music curation, and audience engagement. They host music radio shows that air on KALW and are available on YouTube.

Uncuffed also provides education and rehabilitation, helping incarcerated participants develop job and reentry skills. Uncuffed alums have gone on to become professional podcasters, documentary filmmakers, organizers, and KALW staff members.

Uncuffed is deeply invested in system-impacted leadership, with six formerly incarcerated people on its staff. Co-founder Greg Eskridge was released from San Quentin in 2024 and was immediately hired by KALW on a leadership track. He now hosts the podcast and serves as the program’s co-director.

Photos of Uncuffed's San Quentin January 2026 Graduation

Building narrative power to challenge mass incarceration

We face a new wave of mass incarceration, powered by rhetoric that dehumanizes anyone with a criminal record. KALW’s Uncuffed combats the silencing of incarcerated people by giving them the mic – connecting, humanizing, and amplifying consistently devalued people in society. We work towards a world where system-impacted people are not merely “inmates”, and where stories about criminal justice necessarily include people who live with the consequences of our legal system every day.

Uncuffed has reached millions of listeners, won journalism awards and earned features in the New York Times, NPR,CBS, and many other outlets. With additional support, Uncuffed can grow our impact and help transform the media ecosystem.

Uncuffed is supported by the California Arts Council, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, The Unlikely Collaborators Foundation, and by individual community members.

Listen to Stories from Uncuffed