Audio podcast Uncuffed won multiple awards in 2025, including the prestigious Grand Award, at the New York Festival Radio Awards.

“To share our stories and have them be successful and then win awards is definitely validation. As if the public is honoring our stories,” said resident facilitator Matthew Sheppard.

Over the years organizations like San Francisco Press Club, Media for a Just Society, Solutions Journalism Network, and Public Media Journalism Awards have recognized the audio stories produced in UnCuffed. For more than a decade residents in the programs within the walls of San Quentin, Central Institute for Women, and Soledad have been recognized and won 19 awards.

Sheppard said Season 4 of the podcast resonated with so many because the theme was going home. Formerly incarcerated resident facilitator Greg Eskridge told his journey of paroling after nearly three decades in prison. Sheppard said hearing about what home looked like for others and where individuals found home in unexpected places was relatable.

Many graduates of the program have said sharing stories that highlight vulnerability, compassion, and bravery has helped them to connect with their lived-experiences. Two of the six graduates paroled shortly after the culmination of the class and Sheppard is on his way home.

“After going through that journey together and learning what it is like to produce award winning content and develop a good work ethic, I am hopeful about the job opportunities that are ahead of me,” Shepard said.

The Award winning organization has been a launching pad for careers in media and changing the narrative about people in prison. Recently Eskridge was promoted to UnCuffed Director.

“Learning to produce and edit isn’t just technical training, it’s agency. When someone inside produces their own story, they’re not just sharing their story, they’re shaping perspective. They’re participating in civic life in a way that the system often tries to deny them,” Eskridge said.

Longtime Senior Editor Ninna Gaensler Debs, and Senior Producer Angela Johnston come into San Quentin weekly with a mission to give a voice to the incarcerated through an audio podcast training program. This gives the participants an opportunity to express their humanity, develop job skills, and inspire change.

“What we really appreciate is that the stories that were selected as finalists or winners clearly showed the impact of incarcerated storytelling on the wider media landscape,” Ninna Gaensler Debs said.

Uncuffed looks to a future in the Media Center that allows the incarcerated storytellers to deepen their vulnerability and accountability rather than just expand. The infrastructure is strengthened through high level training while offering clear pathways for leadership once released.  They learned how to navigate Pro Tools computer software and how to edit and develop stories on their own.

Ultimately, the goal is sustainability, building a model that proves incarcerated people can produce work of real journalistic and cultural value and that society is better when everyone is heard.

“When incarcerated people are given the tools to produce, edit, and tell their own stories, it shifts the narrative from being spoken about to speaking for themselves,” Eskridge said.

2025 Awards: 

• Grand Award New York Festival Radio Awards
• Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California, Community Journalism (radio/audio/podcast — small division): (2025)
• Anthem Awards, Human & Civil Rights: Awareness category, Gold Winner (2025)
• Signal Awards, Activism, Public Service & Social Impact, Gold Winner (2025)
• New York Festival Radio Awards Finalist, Documentary, Social Issues (2025)
• Webby Award – Best Documentary Podcast (Individual Episode) Finalist (2025)