Ear Hustle
Ear Hustle & RadiotopiaEar Hustle
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 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.
Earlonne looks back at one of his favorite episodes.
Plus: The world premiere of the Ear Hustle Birthday Song
A former bank robber looks back on his glory days.
New stories from inside, headed your way starting March 5
The roses and thorns of being a dad from prison.
The terrible fires in SoCal have us thinking about incarcerated firefighters and dusting off this episode from the archives.
The day before she committed her crime, Linda went to Mass with her mother.
Two red lines and the Philosopher of 7-Eleven.
We’re sorry, Julie.
Nigel and Earlonne’s San Quentin memory places.
The final stops of Nigel’s San Quentin mystery tour.
Nigel takes Earlonne on a mystery tour of San Quentin.
If San Quentin could vote.
What books can do in prison.
What does it mean to be comfortable inside prison?
A little preview of the upcoming season.
What’s new in SQ.
An episode from the vaults makes San Quentin the main character.
A true story, told live.
A 1997 hate crime and its long aftermath.
Facing a long-term prison sentence … with your mom.
An OG Crip talks about leaving the life behind.
Incarcerated people around the country answer listener questions about life in prison.
Let’s give the moms their due.
Give the objects some respect.
Nigel surprises Earlonne with a story about one of their long-time colleagues inside San Quentin.
Facing the end of life at a prison hospice.
The many things you long for from prison and the compromises you’re willing to make.
Nigel and Earlonne look back at their first episode.
Ear Hustle turns 100!
A violent crime and its aftermath.
Five stories from the Central California Women’s Facility.
Three stories of the paranormal, from San Quentin and the California Institution for Women.
Five stories from our new producing team inside San Quentin
Where you live when you’re fresh out of prison.
Older residents at a women’s prison grapple with their regrets and dreams for the future.
Sunup to sundown on San Quentin Prison’s lower yard.
While we're at work on Season 12, we bring you an episode from one of our favorite new shows.
Stories about LGBTQ life behind bars.
Is there such a thing as a prison uniform? An Ear Hustle collab explores.
How can you tell if someone’s really changed?
The Ear Hustle Trash Challenge
Residents of the California Institution for Women answer listeners’ questions about life inside a women’s prison.
A new law shakes things up for trans men and trans women in prison.
What 46 years in prison will do to a man.
Change is hard.
How does incarceration shape your dreams?
We meet Rahsaan “New York” Thomas at the gates of San Quentin.
Ear Hustle says goodbye to dear friend and “approver” extraordinaire, Lieutenant Sam Robinson.
An interview takes an unexpected turn.
Ear Hustle goes inside Norway’s famed prisons.
The music episode is back!
The architecture of prison shapes how you do your time.
Privacy is a glimmer of freedom.
Postcards from our first-ever international reporting trip.
Lots of people lie about their crimes. Sam kept lying, for 23 years.
Life in prison sure can mess with your senses.
From the show "Uncuffed": Two unexpected letters arrive at San Quentin.
In My Mother Made Me, the new series from Radiotopia Presents, a mother and son consider what each has learned from the other.
From a booth at Applebee’s and the corner of Firmona and Marine Avenues in Lawndale, Ryan and Earlonne share memories of their final moments before heading to prison.
Michael’s last memory before going to prison is set in a parking lot in Bakersfield, California.
Incarcerated men are from Mars; incarcerated women are from Venus.
What’s it like to go years, even decades, without intimate physical contact with another person?
In a remote part of Northern California, a prison town is losing its oldest prison. Ear Hustle took a road trip to hear how Susanvillers are reacting to the news.
The mysteries behind San Quentin’s epic murals.
Falling in love, in prison.
Life lived through 15-minute phone calls.
Stories about trying to get what you want, inside prison.
Our inside colleague Rahsaan “New York” Thomas’ prison sentence has been commuted by California Governor Gavin Newsom. What does that mean for him?
Introducing Written Off, a podcast featuring formerly incarcerated young writers.
The roses and thorns of being a dad from prison.
Behind the scenes of the 30-Day Ear Hustle Challenge.
The promise of sports starting up post-pandemic brings new people, new possibilities, and new heartbreak onto the fields of San Quentin.
Three stories about surviving the intense isolation and disorientation of imprisonment in a foreign country.
“The definition of bonnaroo is to elevate the evolution of everything in existence.”
The Ear Hustle music episode returns!
Stories about bail, bail bonds, and the strange purgatory of waiting to get locked up.
The 50-year legacy of San Quentin’s deadliest day.
Season eight of Ear Hustle kicks off Sept 8th with the story of one of the most notorious days in San Quentin’s history: August 21st, 1971.
Introducing Life Jolt, a new podcast series about the experiences of currently and formerly incarcerated women in Ontario, Canada.
How do you live a meaningful life when nearly all of it is spent behind bars?
Cops, citizens, and the power of empathy.
Stories from the pages of the prison catalogs.
Listeners have questions; our team found answers. Catch a Kite is back!
A small Israeli bakery in San Francisco has become a lifeline for people just out of prison.
Two stories about being a transgender person, in prison.
Stories from prison visiting rooms
Three Ear Hustlers, revisited
Introducing “Suave,” a podcast series about the system that sentences juveniles to life in prison, told through one man’s story.
Stories from the COVID outbreak in California’s prisons
In the wake of a violent crime, a perpetrator and victim ask what accountability and survival really look like.
In the middle of California’s worst fire season on record, we meet a few formerly incarcerated people training to become firefighters.
Nigel and Earlonne sit down with 1A’s Jenn White and WBEZ for one of our favorite on-stage events ever.
When a parent is incarcerated, the relationship with their kid is changed forever.
Four formerly-incarcerated contestants put their cooking skills to the test.
Stories about the things you keep with you in prison and the stuff you leave behind
Stories from when you’re locked up and on the road.
Ear Hustle isn’t the only podcast out there telling stories of life in prison and post-incarceration.
Some people walk out of prison and straight into a whole new type of incarceration.
Running from the law to avoid incarceration can become its own kind of prison.
Ear Hustle answers questions from kids incarcerated at a juvenile facility in Madison, Wisconsin.
Four women share stories of trying to love across prison walls.
One crime is treated differently than all others, both inside and outside of prison.
Relationships between incarcerated people and correctional officers are… complicated.
As lockdowns loom worldwide, we revisit and update a 2018 episode all about surviving prison lockdowns.
Gator, Razor, Kill Switch, Mother Dearest — Ear Hustle is back with the stories and legends behind prison nicknames.
A formerly incarcerated woman tells Earlonne and Nigel about the joys and dangers of being a commercial truck driver.
Our network, Radiotopia, lets producers like us dream big.
Ear Hustle team update: Antwan is out!
The violent encounter in 1997 between Tom, a cop, and Jason, a teenager in a gang, was inevitable. The decades-long aftermath was anything but.
Receiving a death sentence in California doesn’t always mean you’ve reached the end of the road.
By now an Ear Hustle tradition, this season’s “Catch a Kite” episode tackles questions and shares theme remixes from listeners around the world.
Getting a job post-incarceration, with a criminal record trailing you, is all kinds of challenging.
Believe it or not, there’s more to prison jobs than pounding out license plates and slinging cafeteria food.
I think we can all agree: It’s high time we devoted a full episode to the music of San Quentin.
After serving a long prison sentence, it can take a while to get your mack back.
Everyone in prison dreams about the moment they’ll get out, but it’s the days, weeks and months after that make or break you.
Hardly anyone writes letters anymore... except in (and to) prison.
In the Reception Center at San Quentin, guys learn the prison ropes while waiting to find out where they’ll serve time.
Ear Hustle is back with season four, starting June 5.
Bonus episode! Earlonne’s out, and the crew drives to Sacramento to interview the man who made that happen: Governor Jerry Brown.
Earlonne meets a fan, Quentin Blue strikes a chord and one last Radiotopia plug.
In prison, life’s major milestones usually pass at a distance.
Earlonne and Nigel got some big news earlier this week, from the office of California Governor Jerry Brown.
Stories of romance, dating, and playing the field in prison.
When you’re incarcerated, falling in love with prison staff or volunteers is prohibited. But... it happens.
Ear Hustle responds to a gang of questions from listeners about daily life in San Quentin.
Built in 1852, San Quentin has its own story to tell.
Being an immigrant in an American prison can pose unique challenges.
On the heels of a summer lockdown, season three of Ear Hustle launches with an episode about... lockdowns.
Ear Hustle is back September 12! In the meantime, enjoy this preview of season three.
Leaving an organization or community often calls for an exit strategy – even in prison.
Inside San Quentin, if you’re gay you hide it. But if you’re trans you can’t hide it.
Death row is almost like a prison within a prison.
You've asked (via postcard) and we have answers!
Parenting is never easy, but from prison it's especially challenging.
Looking good and feeling good matters just as much on the inside, as on the outside.
Sex trafficking crimes are hard to talk about. In this episode, Sara and LA share their individual experiences of being “in the life.”
“Firsts” in prison can be especially memorable.
Coming March 14: Season two of Ear Hustle!
Just in time for the holidays, meet some of the musicians of San Quentin, whose songs were featured in season one.
There are only a few ways to leave prison: serve your time, get out early on parole... or escape.
Dealing with aging and death is never easy. In prison, it's especially challenging.
How do inmates with profoundly long sentences cope with their realities, and maintain a sense of hope and well-being as the years pass?
The color of your skin influences your life on the inside, from sharing food to celebrating birthdays.
Being married in prison is common. Opportunities to get intimate with your spouse are not.
Earlonne and Nigel answer questions mailed in via postcard, aka "kites," from listeners around the world.
The hole, the box, solitary confinement… stories from four men who spent years completely isolated in prison.
Meet Rauch, a man incarcerated at San Quentin who has figured out how to “look out” for dozens of critters around the place.
While the perceived thrill and glamour of gang life are often too strong to resist, the hard consequences of this seduction can last a lifetime.
Finding a roommate can be tough. Finding someone to share a 4' x 9' space with is a whole 'nother story.
Ear Hustle brings you the stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it.
Revisiting “August 21, 1971”
January 8, 20251hr 20min
In the next installment in our “sleeper hits” series, Earlonne listens back to the episode “August 21, 1971,” about George Jackson and one of the most significant days in San Quentin’s history. E talks about why this was an essential story for Ear Hustle to tell, why it was a tricky one to tackle, and reflects on his personal connections to this history and its long aftermath.
Mentioned in the episode:
Episode 61: August 21, 1971 Day of the Gun documentary from Bay Area news station KRON4
Freedom Archives’ 99 Books project
Ear Hustle interview with Angela Davis
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.