Behind the success of the Prison Radio Association is our dedicated, hardworking staff team who make the world of prison radio in England and Wales tick. Here, we get to know them and spotlight their experience of working for the Prison Radio Association.
Becky is Head of Podcasts – she is the genius behind many of our impactful podcasts, including our multiple award-winning podcast, Life After Prison. Last year our podcast episodes were listened to 267,580 times. Through these public-facing productions we aim to help listeners understand the experience of imprisonment. Becky and team advocate on behalf of those in prison, to encourage understanding and empathy while creating demand for change. Here is what Becky has to say about life at the Prison Radio Association:
How long have you been working at the Prison Radio Association? What were you doing before?
I started working at the Prison Radio Association as Head of Podcasts in January 2022. Before this role, I was running my own independent podcast production company. I started my career in radio and podcasts about 20 years ago, and the first radio documentary I produced was about prison and rehabilitation. Making the doc was the first contact I’d ever had with prison and it opened my eyes to a lot of things, after that I was banging on the door of the Prison Radio Association to work here! I spent a year working as a producer in HMP Brixton many moons ago and then worked as a freelance producer on a lot of Prison Radio Association content, for some time after that.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
My days are quite different as I am working across lots of our podcast projects, so I can be doing anything from: looking at artwork for one podcast one day, discussing a research survey about another podcast the next, and planning social media content for the Life After Prison channels the next. My favourite work days are when I’m in the studio recording Life After Prison with the rest of the team.
What is the best thing about working at the Prison Radio Association?
There are so many brilliant things about working here! Working with such an incredible and inspiring team and getting to hear and see the brilliant work that everyone creates is such a privilege. It’s really lovely to see the feedback that we get from listeners about Life After Prison, and knowing that the show is helping people is incredible. It’s also been amazing to watch the trajectory of Zak and Jules as presenters as the project has grown, from the early days working with them in a tiny studio in Peckham just before we launched to seeing them winning an Audio and Radio Industry Award for Best New Presenters in 2023.
What is something you wish everybody understood about the realities of working in prison?
Well I don’t work inside very much at all any more, but I think there’s a lot of salacious interest in prisons and the people who live in them. I wish that more people understood that most people in prison are just regular people who’ve made a big mistake.
Also, that people living in prison should be allowed access to education, work, support, nutritious food, friendship and contact with their families and none of that makes it a ‘holiday camp.’
What is your favourite podcast or radio show currently?
When I need some light relief, I love My Therapist Ghosted Me! I thought Wondery’s Ghost Story was brilliant.
What is the song that you would use to sum up your time working at the Prison Radio Association?
I really don’t know how to answer that but try ‘Moody’ by Self Esteem, make of that what you will.
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Life After Prison is a podcast developed and created by the Prison Radio Association – a registered charity and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. Life After Prison helps to provide people who have left prison with the resources, the inspiration and the motivation they need to steer their lives away from crime. If you would like to support this work, and enhance the futures of people leaving prison across the UK you can make a donation at prison.radio/donate.
