This is the story of John Spence, a Gros Ventre/Sioux elder who uses equine therapy to heal Native youth. Made in collaboration with The Imprint, Uncle John is part of the multimedia project Healing the Children of Horse Nations and was co-produced by Nancy Marie Spears. See grayareapodcast.com for detailed show notes and links.

ELDERS | Episode 1 Uncle John was first posted on April 2, 2024 at 10:45 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

Season 3 is on the way!

Here’s the trailer for Gray Area Podcast, Season 3: ELDERS, including a sneak preview of Episode 1, Uncle John.

Premiers April 3, 2024. Uncle John is produced by Julie Reynolds, Nancy Marie Spears and Mara J. Reynolds, published in partnership with The Imprint and Voices of Monterey Bay.

More details, plus all our previous episodes, show notes and newsletter signup are on our website, GrayAreaPodcast.com.

ELDERS | Episode 0 Trailer was first posted on March 22, 2024 at 4:43 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

In our final episode, Gilbert settles into a new home while he continues to work on solutions to violence and injustice. Then, just as he gets comfortable with his new normal, he ends up in a place he thought he’d left for good.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 10 Full Circle was first posted on January 2, 2023 at 8:09 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

It’s 2020. Just as Gilbert is adjusting to his new world outside prison, that world shuts down. Gilbert goes online during a year of joy and sorrow, until he and Marlena take to the streets to honor Manny. Soon, there’s a new development in the case of the deputy who killed him.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 9 Lockdown was first posted on December 27, 2022 at 3:37 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

Free at last, Gilbert has to find his way through a world that’s changed dramatically over the 21 years he’s been in prison. Though he feels joy reuniting with loved ones, he also panics over the littlest things. Yet he sees this new world in ways the rest of us might take for granted.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 8 A New World was first posted on December 21, 2022 at 1:24 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

California lawmakers start paying attention to what neuroscientists are saying about the adolescent brain. Changes in the law now mean Gilbert suddenly has a chance for parole — years before he thought he would.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 7 Freedom Calls was first posted on December 15, 2022 at 11:38 am.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

SPECIAL EPISODE – Gilbert grew up in the shadow of the LA County Sheriff’s Department — ever since the day he was taken from home in a deputy’s patrol car at eight years old. This investigation looks at the darker side of that department’s legacy, and digs into a culture of criminality by law enforcement that still haunts the region today.

Warning: This episode contains detailed descriptions of violence.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 6 Under Color of Law was first posted on December 10, 2022 at 1:59 pm.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

Gilbert’s penpal Rebecca flies to California from Texas so they can meet face to face. Even though Gilbert might not come home for years or even decades, a small piece of string in the prison visiting room changes the course of their relationship. But then a phone call to After Life producer Julie Reynolds Martinez shatters Gilbert’s world.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 5 Heart Strings was first posted on December 5, 2022 at 6:59 am.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

Gilbert’s younger brother Manny, who is also in prison, isn’t doing well. He’s deeply involved in prison gang “politics” and has spent years in the SHU — full-time solitary confinement. It’s taking a severe toll on Manny’s mental health. Saddened but knowing how dangerous isolation can be, Gilbert decides to do something about his own loneliness. He puts his name and picture on a prison penpal site, and wonders if anyone will write back.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 4 The Penpal was first posted on November 30, 2022 at 7:00 am.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

Gilbert realizes he has a lot to learn when he meets a man who changes his outlook on the world. As he struggles to stay close to his young daughter in prison visiting rooms, he also discovers he has a gift for working with “at-risk” kids. Soon he and a handful of incarcerated men are starting to change not only themselves but the entire California prison system.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 3 Career Change was first posted on November 28, 2022 at 7:00 am.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]

It’s the late 1990s. Although no one was injured in the shoot-out he took part in, Gilbert is sentenced to 24 years to life in prison under California’s strict gang sentencing laws. While he technically has a shot at parole, almost no one with “life” in their sentence goes home, and he expects to die behind the walls. As he starts his term, Gilbert has to decide if he’ll play along with prison gang “politics” or find a way to stay —somehow, some way — in his 3-year-old daughter’s life.

Produced by Julie Reynolds Martinez, Mara J. Reynolds and Gilbert Bao. For detailed show notes, visit grayarepodcast.com.

AFTER LIFE | Episode 2 Doing Life was first posted on November 23, 2022 at 7:00 am.©2017 "Voices of Monterey Bay". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at [email protected]