Illustration by Rachel Goodwin

 

In this all-new, all-New York series, Ear Hustle embeds with two innovative programs aimed at kids and young people caught up in the criminal justice system.

In the first five episodes of the series, we bring listeners into the Crossroads Youth Detention Facility in Brooklyn, where a program called Drama Club teaches improvisational theater techniques as a way to build connection and conflict-resolution skills. Nigel and Earlonne spend a year at Crossroads, following a cohort of Drama Club participants and graduates.

For the final episode of the season, we take the train uptown to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Twice a month, the museum closes its doors to the public, and opens them to a select group of parents and their children. Moms and dads, bussed over from Riker’s Island in chains, are uncuffed upon arrival at the museum. Wearing regular, non-prison clothes, they’re reunited with their kids for a rare, emotional, and often bittersweet visit outside prison walls.

 
 
 

TRAILER

Introducing our six-part series about kids who are involved, one way or another, in New York City’s criminal justice system. We’re calling it “The Loop.” Here’s a sneak peek.

 
 
 

Ep. 1: The Five Rules of Drama Club

In the first episode of Ear Hustle’s all-new, all-New-York series, Nigel and Earlonne head to Brooklyn to hang out with incarcerated kids and staff at the Crossroads Juvenile Center. For Earlonne, it’s a trip down memory lane. For Nigel, it’s a crash course in interviewing teenagers. For listeners, it’s a window into the world of incarcerated young people and an innovative program called Drama Club.

Big thanks to …

  • Joanne Smith-Darden, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Ruth T. Koehler Endowed Professor in Children's Services, Michigan State University and Co-Director, SPARK Lab

  • Heather McCauley, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Michigan State University and Co-Director, SPARK Lab

  • Adam Brown, Associate Professor, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York

  • The Drama Club team — including Josie Whittlesey, Cesar Rosado, Tiffany “Tiny” Cruz, Abby Pierce, Sophie Jones, and Ashley Adams

  • Nancy Ginsberg, Aylese Kanze, and Commissioner Danhauser at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services

  • Leslie Bushara, Chief Program Officer, and Dava Schub, Chief Executive Officer & Museum Director at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan

  • And the following individuals at the New York City Department of Correction:

    • Patrick Gallahue, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information

    • Annais Morales, Press Secretary

    • Latima Johnson, Press Officer

    • Anne Penson, Executive Director of Reintegration Services

    • Douglas Shore, Director of Reintegration Services

    • Jessica Medard, Executive Director of Facility Programs (RNDC)

    • Betty Melecio, Executive Director of Facility Programs (OBCC)