Bogotá Prison Pageant, Part II

Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast

Our artists conducted interviews with the women in El Buen Pastor, the national women's prison in Bogotá, Colombia. Every year, the prison hosts a beauty pageant in which each cell block elects its own candidates to represent them - a queen and a queen mother - and they work together to create costumes, floats and dances for the main event, which is kind of like Carnival. Our last Bogotá Prison Pageant episode focused on the High Security section of the prison. The prison is divided into different cell blocks according to crimes committed. This week, we're heading into the General Population at El Buen Pastor to give you an intimate look into these women’s daily lives and their preparation for the pageant. This material was performed and recorded live at 92YTribeca in NY. First up is Ana Lamadrid performing an inmate, followed by our Associate Artist Jenny Morris as a Canadian prisoner. Matt Dellapina performs an interview with Mauricio, a pastor who works with the inmates, and the episode closes out with Flor De Liz Perez as the Queen Mother of Cell Block 9. Interviews for this were conducted by Alejandro Jaramillo Hoyos, Lorena Lopez, and Adriana Osorio. The performances you just heard were directed by Steven Cosson. Thanks for listening.

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