Crosscurrents

What it's like to teach radio in prison

By Marissa Ortega-Welch,

Published May 16, 2018 at 3:40 PM PDT

Reporter Brian Asey with an installation he curated on the history of San Quentin media

Since 2013, KALW News producers have been going into San Quentin State Prison to train incarcerated men to be radio reporters. We air the stories they produce there as San Quentin Radio.

Now, KALW is launching a new program at another institution: California State Prison Solano, in Vacaville.

Hear Crosscurrents host Hana Baba in conversation with Marissa Ortega-Welch, who leads the San Quentin program, and Eli Wirtschafter, who leads the new program at Solano.

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Crosscurrents Education

Marissa Ortega-Welch

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Eli Wirtschafter

Eli is a key member of KALW’s senior leadership team, managing our day-to-day operations so that KALW can deliver high-quality journalism, storytelling, and public service at scale. Eli is a proud graduate of Berkeley High School, UC Berkeley, and most importantly, KALW’s Audio Academy. He served as the director of our Uncuffed prison radio training program from 2019 to 2025, overseeing the launch of the Uncuffed podcast, the Uncuffed Playlist DJ program, our expansion to the California Institution for Women, and our investment in formerly incarcerated leadership.

See stories by Eli Wirtschafter