Piece made for KCRW's 24 2020 Radio Race.

Team Name: Fadio Face

Matthew Schneeman - I submitted before adding my team mates

Jamie Lerner - not registered

Nathan Miller - not registered

Emily Scott - not registered

Subjects:

Marvin Mutch

Paul Redd

[email protected]

Music/Ambi by Matthew Schneeman

The confluence of Spoons poetry, philosophy, and life all come together in this final episode. Spoon and his brother Abe both talk about how their dad effected them and how they've moved on.

Matthew spends six months with a moving company collecting interviews with his (overly) manly coworkers, and Spoon bids us farewell with one last piece of advice, 'When you find your niche embrace it and go full speed with it.'

The penultimate episode.

This one is one of my favorites. Not just because it features my favorite poem Spoon wrote but because Spoon does a great job laying down some of his philosophy.

It was supposed to be a lighter episode, but by letting our guard down it ended up being fairly deep.

In this episode, I visit the blooming of the corpse flower, Spoon describes what time is like in prison, and out, and Spoon talks about losing his friend and mentor earlier this year.

This mini episode starts with Spoon talking about all the famous people he's met and worked with: Samuel Beckett, John Goodman, Gloria Steinem. After we get all that name dropping out of the way we dive into the meat of the episode. Relationships behind bars.

Spoon tells us about his marriages and relationships he's had while in prison. The are obvious physical barriers and difficulties involved, but also the emotional weight Spoon, and the people he's been with, have had to carry.

This episode is about forgiveness ... well, not really. Is it?

Sure, but it's also about the balance of nature. in this episode we talk to someone who saves pigeons from cowboy hats, I hunt a flock of pigeons in Brooklyn, Spoon talks all about growing up hunting pigeons -- and somehow all of this relates to the central theme of balance and forgiveness.

But this episode isn't all non sequiturs. Spoon and Abe directly address todays theme by talking about forgiving their dad who wasn't the greatest dad in the world.

The update to this episode is a section where a friend gives me feedback this episode's feature. Basically, I come off as a bit of a jerk and he tells me so.

A sick snowy owl at Rikers Island, a friendly family of geese at Lancaster State Prison, and the song birds at my grandmas nursing home -- this episode is all about birds.

Spoon tells some charming stories about the birds he has met in prison (and one messed up story), the corporal abuse he suffered growing up, and I (matthew )visit a bird rehab facility and my grandma.

Mini Episode

(This episode has been updated to include an excerpt from a draft for an article Spoon is writing on the coronavirus.)

If you're a fan of this show you're probably worried about Spoon. Why? Because a level two prison is a terrible place to be during a pandemic. Combine dorm settings, hundreds of people sharing a bathroom, and poor health conditions and you get a very vulnerable population.

From a skeptic to an advocate for the prisoners health Spoon went from complaining to me on the phone to being featured on NPRs Reveal with his Uncuffed cohosts. Here's that story.

One thing I didn't didn't understand about prison is that so many things can be taken from you. Not just physical things or obviously freedoms, but also things I take for granted: education programs, visiting rights, the kind of food they serve ...

... and Star Trek.

Spoon loves Star Trek. On this episode Spoon talks about when his TV was taken from him, he reads a poem about space, I visit a queer Star Trek fan club, and Spoon tells us who he'd dress up as at Comic Con.

This episode features Spoons collaborations, both willing and unwilling.

The willing ones are beautiful and inspiring. The unwilling one is a weird story and also inspiring, but for different reasons. It involves Jamie Foxx and a 30 year old poem.

This episode is brief detour in our eight part journey.

Spoon answers questions from fans like: What's your schedule like? Is it hard not being in a gang? One question I don't have tape of, but I was curious about, is: What tv do people watch in the day room? Answer? Mostly sports.