Emotional, Engaging, Intimate
"Gina's Story" MUST be heard by anybody and everybody who cares about civil rights, human rights and, for that matter, the viability of the U.S. Constitution. How this young woman's life and health snow-balled out of control while imprisoned in a California jail is so disturbing and heart-breaking that I find myself in disbelief that this sort of thing is possible... and maybe even common... in this country.
Of course, then I remember what has been going on for quite some time in the halls of power at every level of our government, and I feel foolish for being so surprised.
For listeners, the family interviews for "Gina's Story" are so deeply personal and the storyline so tightly assembled and produced that you are swept up into this strange and awful odyssey completely. Lulled by the excellent use of deftly-crafted, emotion-driven music, it's a shock to find that 30 minutes passed so quickly.
I was driving my car while listening to Part II of this family's descent into the prison system -- a system we all support, whether we choose to think about it or not. By the story's end, I had tears in my eyes and I wanted to somehow bring about change. That's what makes great storytelling great. And that's what makes great radio great.
Make sure to start with Part I. It's an hour you will not forget.
J.B. Dixon
San Francisco, CA
April 4, 2008
This is the second of a three-part series, 'A Crisis of Care,' a look inside California's prison health care system. We'll hear how a state-sanctioned life sentence became a death sentence as told by loved ones.
