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Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

Ear Hustle is prison slang for eavesdropping, and that’s what listening to the show feels like: a raw, often funny, and always surprising peek into the reality of life inside prison. 

Hosts Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods co-created the show that launched in 2017 while Earlonne was incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, where Nigel was a volunteer teaching photography. Since Earlonne’s release in 2018, the show has expanded to include stories from prisons across the state, including the California Institution for Women, as well as stories about getting out of prison and starting over, post-incarceration.

From finding romance, to grappling with a life sentence, to trying to parent via 15-minute phone calls, Ear Hustle stories deliver what This American Life host Ira Glass calls a “"very real” and “untragic” take on prison life. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent listener-supported podcasts. Discover audio with vision at radiotopia.fm and learn more about Ear Hustle at earhustlesq.com.

Ear Hustle

Two people are connected by a terrible crime, committed over 30 years ago. What do we owe the people we hurt, and how long does that debt endure? 

Subscribe to Ear Hustle Plus! In the feed this week: Earlonne and Nigel get a reading from San Quentin village's resident Mayan astrologer and clairvoyant. And coming up: Nigel takes EH+ subscribers on a mysterious "friend date." Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 
 
This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods. 

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show. 

Thanks also to R. Hosea Collins at the Calvary Baptist Church of Hawthorne and Commissioner Robert Barton and the California Board of Parole. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Whole Night Was for Nothing

A psychic. An RV park. A one-room post office. San Quentin's prison gets all the headlines, but just over the wall, there's a whole other world to explore. 

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods. 

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show. 

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On the Margins

Rumors of a prison swimming pool, losing cherished memories to new technology, the right to housing in prison, and different ways of looking at a letter: Our first class of storytellers at the California Institution for Women dives deep into these subjects in the inaugural issue of CIW: The Magazine. 

This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Darrell Sadiq Davis, and Earlonne Woods. 

Thanks to Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and PIO Avina at the California Institution for Women for supporting our work at CIW. 

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

CIW: The Magazine, Issue One

Nigel reexamines the fourth episode in our Last Memory series, from December of 2024. Linda’s mom brought her to a Catholic Mass because she had a sense her daughter was on the verge of something, and needed help. Thirty-seven years into her prison sentence, Linda wonders what would have happened if she had listened to her mom, and Nigel and Earlonne visit the same chapel to see the place through Linda’s memory. 

Last Memory: Michael
Last Memory: Ryan and Earlonne
Last Memory: Leisha

This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Davis, Antwan Williams, Fernando Arruda, David Jassy, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods.

Big thanks to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Revisiting "Last Memory: Linda"

Could telling Sadiq and Demarion’s story actually make things worse between them? And were we right to be concerned that SQ's public information officer wouldn't sign off on a story about penis modification? For our latest editorial roundtable, the outside team sits down to discuss two recent episodes: “Bag of Skittles” and “Over and Over and Over and Over.” 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Behind the Scenes: “Bag of Skittles” and “Over and Over and Over and Over”

Earlonne relistens to the final episode of Ear Hustle’s first season, about one official and one unofficial way to get out of prison. 

Steve, Danny, Phillip, and Ron are all trying to make their way out of prison. In our final episode of the season, these men share their stories of going through the parole hearing process, and contemplate life on the outside after being incarcerated for decades.

Big thanks to Steve Wilson for telling his story, and to Danny Plunket, Phillip Melendez, and Ron Self for sharing their parole board experiences. In revisiting this episode, we tried to reach Steve, but the phone number we have for him doesn’t work. Steve, if you’re out there, let us hear from you! 

Music used in this episode was contributed by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, E. “Phil” Phillips, and Earlonne Woods.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Revisiting "Getting a Date"

Even though they share a difficult past, Sadiq and Demarion had never met in person, and it was probably best that it stayed that way. When an event at San Quentin brought them together, Demarion faced an agonizing choice. 

This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Davis, Demarion English, David Jassy, and Antwan Williams. 

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; and Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women for their support of the show. 

Help us reach 1,000 donors by June 30. Make your gift today at earhustlesq.com/donate. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Over and Over and Over and Over

At North Kern State Prison, incarcerated people are being trained to do what staff cannot: provide peer support, whether it’s with addiction, cellie drama, or just adjusting to prison life. Nigel and Earlonne pay a couple visits, and hit some walls along the way. 

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Dwight Krisman, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. 

Big thanks to PIO Lt. Huckleberry and Warden Hixon at North Kern State Prison, as well as PIO Lt. Vogel and Warden De La Cruz at the Central California Women’s Facility, for allowing us to spend time with their peer-support programs. 

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women for their support of the show. 

Ear Hustle is on the East Coast! Get your tickets at earhustlesq.com/tour. 

Help us reach 1,000 donors by June 30. Make your gift today at earhustlesq.com/donate. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Tricks of the Trade

From obsessive body-building to extreme tattoos and other transformations: stories about the ways people in prison think about and try to change their bodies. Plus: “the California body,” explained. 

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Dwight Krisman, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. 

Big thanks to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show. 

Ear Hustle is coming to the East Coast! Get your tickets at earhustlesq.com/tour. 

Help us reach 1,000 donors by June 30. Make your gift today at earhustlesq.com/donate. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Bag of Skittles

Nigel says no matter where you are, everyone has a story to tell about a hug: good, bad, or awkward. Earlonne isn’t buying it. 

Thanks to Alonzo, Deonza, Harmon, Maurice, Ralph, Carlos, Michael, and Rocky for speaking to us on the yard at San Quentin. 

This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Earlonne Woods, Derell Sadiq Davis, and Bruce Wallace.

Big thanks to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is coming to the East Coast! Get your tickets at earhustlesq.com/tour. 

Help us reach 1,000 donors by June 30. Make your gift today at earhustlesq.com/donate.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Corny-Ass Episode

Ear Hustle’s eighth season launches on September 8th with a dramatic account of one of the most notorious days in San Quentin’s history: August 21st, 1971. By sundown, three guards and three incarcerated people lay dead. Fifty years later, the events of that day remain intensely contested, and emotions raw. We break down what happened, and why it still matters today.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Coming Soon: 50 Years After George Jackson

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