Reformed N' Reel

About Reformed N' Reel

Reformed N' Reel is a weekly conversation bringing together voices from every corner of the community to talk about corrections, reentry, and reform in Idaho's prison system. Hosted by Mario Hernandez, a formerly incarcerated and fully reformed individual who now leads a reentry-focused nonprofit called Learning How 2 Live, and Wayne Birt, Program Director and Production Manager of Radio Boise. Wayne brings the perspective of an average citizen, and considers himself a curious moderator seeking to understand the system from the outside looking in. Together, Mario and Wayne sit down and talk with a wide range of guests: formerly incarcerated people, social justice advocates, charity foundation leaders, and even directors from the Idaho Department of Correction. Reformed N' Real brings all different perspectives together to better understand the correctional system and how it affects us all.

Publisher

Mario Hernandez & Wayne Birt

Category

business · government · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Nov 2025

Latest episode

28 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

28 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Oct 2026

   She Got Sober for Her Daughter, Then Built 11 Houses for Women Coming Home

   Send us Fan Mail Jenny Ricks has been clean and sober for 22 years. She quit cold turkey the day she found out she was pregnant with her first daughter. Today she runs Safe Release, 11 sober-living houses in Boise that can house up to 118 women at a time, many of them just out of prison. Jenny grew up in addiction, in a string of juvenile facilities, and she never went to prison herself. In this conversation she tells Mario and Wayne how she got started. A parole officer kept asking her to o...

2. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Taco Truck Love Story: Steven & Katie on Prison, Addiction, and Starting Over

   Send us Fan Mail Steven Rendon and Katie Howard grew up in very different homes and ended up in the same place: prison. Today they're a couple, they both have good jobs, and they say they're happier than they've ever been. Steven talks about an abusive childhood, losing his mother at eight, and being tried as an adult at 16. He went on to spend more than 25 years in prison. Katie talks about growing up in a loving, stable family and still falling into addiction as a teenager. She has been in...

3. 

   10 Sept 2026

   You never know when it will happen to you. Fentynal taking our people lives....

   Send us Fan Mail Mario and Wayne sit down and talk about Haley Miller, Mario's cousin who he just lost to a fentynal overdose. Reformed and REEL is about people getting out of incarceration and discussing how the community around them feels and treats them. This personal journey is the story of hundreds of thousands of Americans and people around the world. Lets talk about it! Support the show

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact Reformed N' Reel

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.