Between The Lines: The Pod' With Ivana Rojas

Between The Lines Enterprises LLC
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by Ivana Rojas, Between The Lines takes audiences behind the walls of the correctional facilities for a raw and unfiltered look at the true duality of human nature. We sit down directly with individuals serving time for severe offenses to uncover a profound reality, introducing you to some of the most deeply introspective minds you will ever hear. By sharing these untold stories of accountability and survival, we prove that genuine rehabilitation is possible and that a person is always more than their worst mistake. This podcast is not just an interview show; it is a blueprint for overcoming massive odds and a community for anyone fighting to rebuild their life from rock bottom. It is time to take the pen back, change the narrative, and read between the lines.

  1. 5d ago

    #32 - He Made One Wrong Turn… Then Got Life Without Parole

    Curtis Cummings is serving life without parole. He says the night that changed his life started with one wrong turn. After leaving a club, Curtis missed his turn, ended up near a gas station, and says a confrontation escalated into a decision that changed everything. Years later, Curtis says he is sober, grounded in his faith, working as a teacher’s assistant, helping others with their GED, and trying to become a different man. In this full interview, Curtis opens up about gang life, fatherhood, sobriety, faith, accountability, and what he would say to his younger self before one night changed the rest of his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. Sep 21

    #31 - He Was a Heroin Addict for 25 Years… Now He Helps Others Recover

    Shawn Espinoza is serving 32 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Shawn opens up about growing up in Long Beach, feeling abandoned as a teenager, running away from home, joining a street gang, and searching for the love and validation he felt he was missing. For years, Shawn says that validation came from the streets, gangs, drugs, and prison. He was addicted to heroin for 25 years. Shawn says his life began to change four years ago when he got sober in prison. After hearing his mother’s voice in his head telling him to get off drugs and focus, he started going to recovery groups, surrounded himself with people in the program, and began rebuilding his life one day at a time. Today, Shawn is a state-certified substance abuse disorder counselor and relapse prevention specialist. He says sobriety changed everything — his mindset, his faith, his relationships, his purpose, and the way he sees freedom. In this interview, Shawn also shares how becoming a husband and stepfather gave him a new sense of responsibility and purpose. He talks about remorse, the impact of violence on families, the loss of his own brother, and the moment he finally understood the ripple effect of his actions. Now, Shawn says he wants to use his story to help others before they make the same mistakes. His dream is to build Redeemed Recovery, a nonprofit focused on mentoring youth, supporting recovery, and helping people find a better path. This is a story about addiction, gang life, prison, sobriety, fatherhood, faith, redemption, and the power of a second chance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. Sep 14

    #30 - He Sold Drugs to His Own Mom at 6 Years Old

    Raul Olvera has been incarcerated for 27 years. In this episode of Between the Lines, Raul opens up about growing up in Watts and Compton, being raised by his grandmother, and being exposed to drugs, crime, and instability at an age when most kids are still learning how to be children. Raul says his grandmother had him selling cocaine from a window when he was only six or seven years old. One day, the person who came to buy from him was his own mother. As he got older, Raul says that environment shaped the path he followed. He became involved in robberies, stealing cars, and eventually a robbery that led to a life without parole sentence. But Raul’s story does not stop there. Even after coming to prison, Raul says he continued the same lifestyle, selling drugs inside for years. In 2017, he was stabbed 29 times in the yard. His wife was told he had been killed. When he survived, she confronted him with a question that changed the direction of his life: what was he still trying to prove? From that point forward, Raul says he began to change. Today, Raul is a state licensed drug and alcohol counselor. He says learning about addiction helped him understand his mother, his childhood, and the cycle he had been part of for most of his life. Now, instead of selling drugs, Raul spends his days talking to others about recovery and trying to help people change. This is a story about childhood trauma, addiction, crime, accountability, survival, family, counseling, and the belief that even someone serving life can still become someone different. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. Aug 31

    #29 - He Was a College Football Star… Then Got 103 Years to Life

    Anthony Knowles grew up in Pasadena, California, with talent, support, and real opportunity. He played college football, became an All-American at Pasadena City College, went on to Troy University, earned a degree, and once dreamed of playing in the NFL. But Anthony says even while he was succeeding in sports, he was still holding onto the wrong crowd, drinking, gang life, and a mindset that eventually cost him everything. Anthony first went to prison at 23 and served 12 years. When he came home, he says he thought he had become “a better criminal” instead of a better man. Two years later, he was convicted in a third-strike armed robbery case and sentenced to 103 years, four months to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Anthony opens up about growing up with an absent father, being the “black sheep” of a successful family, choosing the streets despite having a future, and the hopelessness that came with receiving a sentence of more than 100 years to life. But Anthony’s story does not end there. After years on level four yards, he began seeing men with life sentences come home, return to prison to teach classes, and help others believe change was possible. Through programs like UnCommon Law, ARC, Critical Insight, emotional intelligence, and the rehabilitation culture around him, Anthony says he finally began to believe there was still hope. Now, he works as a chaplain clerk, supports other men on the yard, and says he wants his family to know his change is genuine. This is a story about wasted potential, accountability, family heartbreak, prison, hopelessness, rehabilitation, and the possibility of redemption. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. Aug 24

    #28 - He Left for a Quick Store Run… Then Got 34 Years to Life

    Dion King is serving 34 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Dion opens up about growing up in Los Angeles, playing basketball, struggling with anger, spending time in juvenile hall and group homes, and eventually becoming involved in gang life. But the most emotional part of Dion’s story centers on his son. On Halloween night in 2016, Dion says he left his son’s birthday celebration to go to the store. His son was wearing a Batman costume. Dion told him, “I’ll be right back.” That was the last time he saw him in person. Dion says the decision he made that night changed everything. He was convicted of two counts of premeditated attempted murder and sentenced to 34 years to life. He says his son is now 12 years old, and he has not seen him in about eight years. In this interview, Dion talks about anger, fatherhood, faith, prison, leaving gang life behind, learning self-control, and trying to become the man he believes God created him to be. He also shares how basketball still gives him a feeling of freedom inside prison — and how playing on the court reminded him there is still something better ahead. This is a story about anger, consequences, fatherhood, faith, accountability, and the long road toward becoming a different man. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. Aug 17

    #27 - One Moment of Disrespect Led to Life in Prison

    Jose Mendez was 19 years old when one decision changed everything. He says he was carrying years of pain from his father leaving, a deep wound around betrayal, and an obsession with disrespect that he did not know how to control. Today, Jose is serving 50 years to life. In this full interview, he opens up about growing up in the Bay Area, joining gang life at 13, taking accountability for the life he took, forgiving his father, and trying to build a legacy connected to something good. This is a story about anger, father wounds, accountability, forgiveness, and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. Aug 10

    #26 - He Got 63 Years to Life for a Crime He Says He Didn’t Commit

    Edward Roy was 21 years old when he was sentenced to 63 years to life. In this episode of Between the Lines, Edward opens up about growing up in Compton, playing football, getting pulled into the streets, and the choices that made him a familiar face in his neighborhood. But Edward says the case he is serving time for is different. He says he was not at the scene of the crime he was convicted for. According to Edward, he knew the people involved, but he was not there when it happened. He says his conviction was built on witness identification, with no DNA, no camera footage, no gunshot residue, no weapon, and no physical evidence tying him to the crime. Edward is clear about one thing: he says he is wrongfully convicted, but not innocent of the lifestyle that put him in a position to be accused. Since being incarcerated, Edward says he has worked to change his thinking, step away from gang life, take accountability for the choices he did make, and become a better father, husband, brother, and man. One of the most emotional parts of this interview is Edward talking about losing his mother while in prison. Before she passed, she always told him to never stop fighting and to make his way home. Now, that is the promise he is trying to keep. This is a story about Compton, fatherhood, wrongful conviction, accountability, grief, resilience, and the fight to come home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. Aug 3

    #25 - He Spent 21 Years in Solitary Confinement Before Everything Changed

    Timothy Cook has been incarcerated for 35 years. When asked about his tattoo that says, “Hell Awaits.” He says that at the time, that phrase represented the way he saw himself, his future, and the world around him. Growing up in Ventura, Timothy says he was exposed to poverty, domestic violence, racism, street life, addiction, and trauma from an early age. By his teenage years, he was already in the streets, using violence as a way to survive, control his environment, and protect himself from fear. In prison, that mindset continued. Timothy says he spent 21 years in the SHU, struggled with heroin addiction for decades, and became known for drugs, violence, and power. He says he had no real plan to change — until God, sobriety, his wife, programming, and learning about trauma gave him the clarity to finally see himself differently. Now, after decades behind bars, Timothy says he is clean, married, learning emotional intelligence, participating in programs, and trying to help others understand that change is possible. This is a story about trauma, addiction, prison, accountability, faith, recovery, grace, and the long road toward becoming someone new. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Hosted by Ivana Rojas, Between The Lines takes audiences behind the walls of the correctional facilities for a raw and unfiltered look at the true duality of human nature. We sit down directly with individuals serving time for severe offenses to uncover a profound reality, introducing you to some of the most deeply introspective minds you will ever hear. By sharing these untold stories of accountability and survival, we prove that genuine rehabilitation is possible and that a person is always more than their worst mistake. This podcast is not just an interview show; it is a blueprint for overcoming massive odds and a community for anyone fighting to rebuild their life from rock bottom. It is time to take the pen back, change the narrative, and read between the lines.

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