Society & Culture

Suave

by Futuro Media

Explicit Society & CultureTrue Crime

About the show

Maria Hinojosa follows her friend David Luis 'Suave' Gonzalez, sentenced to life as a teenager, through his resentencing and first months out of prison.

Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting The U.S is the only country in the world that allows minors to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Approximately 2,500 juveniles have been effectively sentenced to die in prison — considered “irredeemable” by the state for crimes committed when they were just teenagers. One of them was David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez, who entered prison at 17 expecting to leave in a coffin. Suave tells the story of what happens when your whole world is a prison cell, and you suddenly get a second chance at life. It’s the story of one man’s incarceration and redemption and an unusual relationship between a journalist and a source. Selected as an Apple Podcasts Series Essential. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest episodes

NEW PODCAST ALERT: Reaching Out

September 23, 2026 · 37 min

Hailed by Ira Glass as the “best new show I’ve heard in years,” and winner of the Audio Memoir Award of the Tribeca Film Festival, Reaching Out is a story about fathers, sons, and the distance between them. The story begins on the eve of…
Released To Die: Episode 3

June 30, 2026 · 30 min

Now months out of prison, Frank Ross is juggling health issues and trying to adapt to life at the healthcare facility. He has good days and bad, as he struggles with cognitive decline. Then, an issue with his mandated GPS monitor suddenly…
Released To Die: Episode 2

June 30, 2026 · 31 min

Michie, an incarcerated woman serving a life sentence at a Pennsylvania prison, learned early on that she needed to advocate for her own health behind bars. Over the decades and as she grew older, she says she witnessed many friends grow…
Released To Die: Episode 1

June 30, 2026 · 30 min

Frank Ross was sentenced to die in prison – but after decades behind bars, he faces a new shot at freedom. At 93-years-old, Frank Ross is struggling with serious health issues. He’s able to secure a medical transfer to live out his final…
33 Years Later, Suave’s Long-Lost Mixtape

September 24, 2025 · 32 min

Suave has been named an Apple Podcasts Series Essential and to celebrate we wanted to bring to the main feed one of our exclusive Futuro+ bonus episodes. In season one, Suave told host Julieta Martinelli about a mixtape he recorded inside…
Patience - Ep. 7

May 27, 2025 · 37 min

In the final episode of Season 2, Suave and the team visit a location in the Bronx with deep significance to Suave— a place where you can say his journey towards freedom began. As Suave takes inventory of the past, and the challenges of…
A Homecoming - Ep. 6

May 20, 2025 · 39 min

After the crisis he’s been going through, Suave could use a change of scenery, so the whole team decides to go on a trip to Puerto Rico. It’s Suave’s first time back since he was a child to the island where his mother was born and raised…
Let The Chips Fall - Ep. 5

May 13, 2025 · 36 min

An unexpected event turns Suave’s world on its head, and Suave seems ready to throw it all away. He feels violated, and it triggers a response from Suave we’ve never seen before. As he grows increasingly agitated and isolated from everyone…