The Fire Girls blast their sirens to salute Amika as she is released from prison after seven years. She has no career, no home, no money, and teenage children who have been waiting for their mom to return. But the hardest part of regaining her freedom, would be believing that she is worthy.

This episode contains graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here.

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman.

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 22

As wildland fires burn hotter and stronger across California, Amika and the incarcerated firefighters are put in extreme danger. At a massive, out of control fire, Amika must defy orders for the sake of the women on her crew.

This episode contains graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here.

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman.

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 21

Amika and the Fire Girls are called to the scene of a terrible crash to rescue the passengers from the wreckage. Amika realizes the driver of the car is intoxicated. While saving his life, she reckons with lives lost and the harsh future awaiting the young patient. Back at the firehouse, Amika’s crew are called out to a Christmas Eve emergency. 

This episode contains strong language and graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here. 

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman. 

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.  

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 20

At the firehouse, Amika plans a drop – a secret plan to sneak forbidden cell phones to her friends still on the inside. She begins to worry she might get caught. And then she’s called to an emergency involving one of her jailers.

This episode contains strong language and graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here. 

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman. 

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.  

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 19

Amika is thrown in the hole for forty days. Locked in a windowless cell, she can hear the women through the walls losing their sanity. To protect herself, Amika must shut down all connections with everyone she loves: her cellies, her mom, and even her kids. The world looks dark until she sees a small light that may illuminate a path to her new life when she gets a call from the firehouse.   

This episode contains strong language and graphic imagery. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here. 

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman. 

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.  

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 18

How did Amika Mota go from a midwife and mother of three to a prisoner inside one of the largest women's prisons on Earth? 

Handcuffed to a hospital bed, awaiting trial, Amika tries to come to grips with the tragic crash that cost one man his life and took her away from her children. Inside the Chowchilla prison walls, she faces the "green cops" and the threat of solitary confinement. Outside the walls sits Firehouse Five, the home of the legendary crew of incarcerated firefighters called the Fire Girls.

This episode contains descriptions of a car crash & strong language. Sensitive listeners please be advised. 

Thank you, Amika Mota, for sharing your story with us!

Fire Escape, the 6-part series is dropping weekly on the Snap Judgment podcast feed. You can access the bonus episodes here. 

Fire Escape is a production of Snap Studios at KQED, made in partnership with Audible (previously Wondery). This series was created, written and produced by Anna Sussman. 

Snap Senior story editors: Mark Ristich and Nancy López. Director of Production: Marisa Dodge. Original music by Renzo Gorrio and Doug Stuart. Doug Stuart also created the theme song. Sound design and engineering by Miles Lassi.  

Audible senior story editor: Phyllis Fletcher. Development producer: Eliza Mills. Senior Producers: Clare Chambers, Lauren Dee and Mandy Gorenstein. Managing Producer: Sarah Mathis. Executive producers: Glynn Washington, Mark Ristich, Marshall Lewy, Morgan Jones, George Lavender and Jen Sargent.

Special thanks to Adizah Eghan, Kathryn Styer Martínez, Pat Mesiti-Miller, Allison MacAdam, Catherine Winter and the San Francisco Fire Department.

Season 17 - Episode 17

Strapped in a harness, on the edge of a mountain, the snow bridge lets out a hollow crack as it gives way. The story of two climbers whose fates are intertwined by a length of rope.

Big thanks to Jim Davidson for sharing his story!

Jim wrote a book with Kevin Vaughan about surviving the fall on Mt. Rainier, called The Ledge. He also wrote a book about his experiences during and after the Nepal earthquake called The Next Everest. Check them out!

Produced by Justin Kramon, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot. 

Snap Classic - Season 17 - Episode 16

Snap+ is the new subscription membership program from Snap Judgment. You’ll get an ad-free stream, special behind-the-scenes features, and even some virtual hangs with Glynn. Bonus episodes will drop every month. 

Join us! Sign up at Supercast. 

A musical prodigy from Kansas becomes a renowned race woman in Chicago, a tabloid sensation in Harlem, and a musical force the world over. These are the many lives and loves of one of the most famous women of the era: Nora Holt. Starring Nichole Hill, Natalie Tulloch, and Christabel Nsiah-Buadi.

This incredible story comes to us from Our Ancestors Were Messy, a show about our ancestors and all their drama. 

It dives into the gossip, scandals, and pop culture that made headlines and then history in pre-Civil Rights Era America. Host Nichole Hill takes her guests through the story of an ancestor in search of opportunity, adventure, love, and a way to beat Jim Crow. Along the way, these ancestors make messes that land them in the gossip columns of Black newspapers.

Listen to Our Ancestors Were Messy on any podcast platform! Or follow along on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.

This story was written and produced by Nichole Hill. Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller with additional music by Mellat Makeda.

Season 17 - Episode 15

Zaki is in Kabul running an indie newspaper called The Etilaatroz. The Taliban are approaching the city, and the entire newsroom is on edge. But the question in Zaki’s mind is, “How do we save the paper?” Plus, a story from a journalist who decides what belongs in her bag.

Last Paper Standing

This story contains graphic imagery, sensitive listeners please be advised.

Thank you to Zaki Daryabi for sharing your story with Snap! Extra thanks to Luft Ali Sultani and the entire team at Etilaatroz.

If you want to learn more about Etilaatroz and their journey to cover the news, visit their website or watch a documentary about their days in Kabul on Youtube for free.

Produced by Shaina Shealy, edited by Nancy Lopez, original score by Renzo Gorrio.

Lost Baggage

Fatima decides what belongs in her bag. 

Thank you Fatima for sharing your story! You can see her reporting from Afghanistan on topics like women’s rights and education in The New York Times.

Season 17 - Episode 14

What if you invented something the whole world knows but someone else took the credit? This week on Snap, we uncover the story of Krazy George, a shy wood-shop teacher turned professional cheerleader, who sparked a phenomenon from the stands of the Oakland Coliseum.

A huge thank you to the man, the myth, the legend… Krazy George Henderson for sharing your story.

At 80 years young, George is still banging his drum for the Spartans at his alma mater, San Jose State. He also just celebrated his 50th season cheering professionally for the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

To read more about the life and times of George, check out his memoir “Still Krazy After All These Cheers” 

Produced by Bo Walsh, edited by Anna Sussman, original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, artwork by Teo Ducot.

Season 17 - Episode 13