Ear Hustle podcast

Ear 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.

 

#148

From the Vault: Crew No. 7

California relies on incarcerated firefighters to fight fires like the ones that have engu... more

17 Jan 2025

44 MINS

44:48

17 Jan 2025


#147

Revisiting “August 21, 1971”

In the next installment in our “sleeper hits” series, Earlonne listens back to the episode... more

08 Jan 2025

1 HR 20 MINS

1:20:22

08 Jan 2025


#146

Last Memory: Linda

Linda’s mom brought her to a Catholic Mass because she had a sense her daughter was on the... more

11 Dec 2024

38 MINS

38:23

11 Dec 2024


#145

Last Memory: Leisha

Leisha didn't plan on getting pregnant. And she certainly didn't plan on giving birth in p... more

27 Nov 2024

31 MINS

31:54

27 Nov 2024


#144

The Wrong Line of Business

Earlonne's here with his "mystery" episode, and it's a doozy. He tells Nigel a redemption ... more

13 Nov 2024

45 MINS

45:50

13 Nov 2024


#143

My Understanding of This Place: Nigel & Earlonne

Over the past two episodes we’ve been hearing about “memory places” at San Quentin: ordina... more

06 Nov 2024

15 MINS

15:30

06 Nov 2024


#142

My Understanding of This Place, Part 2

In the second part of this two-part series, Nigel reveals to Earlonne the final stops in h... more

30 Oct 2024

42 MINS

42:00

30 Oct 2024


#141

My Understanding of This Place, Part 1

Nigel — with help from our team inside San Quentin — has been cooking up an episode that h... more

16 Oct 2024

48 MINS

48:49

16 Oct 2024


#140

Election!

Incarcerated people in California can’t vote, but that doesn't mean they aren’t tracking e... more

02 Oct 2024

46 MINS

46:43

02 Oct 2024


#139

A Little Streets, a Little Romance, a Little Deception

Wali was on his way to make a life-altering decision when a book made him reconsider. Shak... more

18 Sep 2024

53 MINS

53:09

18 Sep 2024


#138

Comfortable Inside

It can be hard to admit, but some people are more comfortable inside prison than out. We m... more

04 Sep 2024

47 MINS

47:34

04 Sep 2024


#137

Coming Up This Season

The countdown is on! Earlonne and Nigel give listeners a taste of what’s in store this sea... more

29 Aug 2024

04 MINS

04:31

29 Aug 2024


#136

Ear Hustle Extra: San Quentin: The Magazine, Issue 2

Our team inside San Quentin explores the complicated acts of crying and Hula dancing in pr... more

21 Aug 2024

45 MINS

45:57

21 Aug 2024


#135

Ear Hustle Extra: Revisiting “This Place”

Celebrating our 100th episode last year got the Ear Hustle team thinking about all the sto... more

31 Jul 2024

1 HR 09 MINS

1:09:24

31 Jul 2024


#134

Ear Hustle Presents: The Moth

In this collaboration with the venerable live-storytelling project The Moth, we share one ... more

10 Jul 2024

36 MINS

36:04

10 Jul 2024


#133

Ear Hustle Presents: You Didn’t See Nothin

We’re introducing you to one of our favorite recent podcast discoveries. In 1997, a racial... more

26 Jun 2024

33 MINS

33:06

26 Jun 2024


#132

Daughters

What’s it like to serve out a prison sentence alongside your mom? At the Central Californi... more

12 Jun 2024

43 MINS

43:30

12 Jun 2024


#131

Crocasacks

When he was growing up, gang life gave Larry confidence, purpose, and an identity. But aft... more

29 May 2024

49 MINS

49:38

29 May 2024


#130

Catch a Kite Nationwide

For our latest Catch a Kite episode, we’re taking advantage of a new tool: the electronic ... more

15 May 2024

32 MINS

32:21

15 May 2024


#129

Moms

In honor of Mother’s Day, some decidedly un-Hallmark-y stories about incarceration and mot... more

01 May 2024

42 MINS

42:18

01 May 2024


#128

Hope Lacquer

Inside prison, as well as out, some of us cling to stuff and some of us let go. In this ep... more

17 Apr 2024

49 MINS

49:36

17 Apr 2024


#127

Five Mirrors

Twelve years ago, Nigel asked San Quentin resident Greg Eskridge to write a list of everyt... more

03 Apr 2024

44 MINS

44:55

03 Apr 2024


#126

What's Up, Michael Freeman?

A bucolic garden, six kinds of breakfast cereal, and around-the-clock bedside vigil: How o... more

20 Mar 2024

51 MINS

51:18

20 Mar 2024


#125

A Rock Across a Lake

We’ve never based a whole episode on a poem before, but this one, by Sky, took us by surpr... more

06 Mar 2024

28 MINS

28:09

06 Mar 2024


#124

Ear Hustle Extra: A Sneak Peek at "Cellies, with Commentary"

Season 13 is coming soon; in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what’s going on in [Ear Hus... more

14 Feb 2024

11 MINS

11:20

14 Feb 2024


#123

Bunkies

In honor of our 100th episode (!), Ear Hustle revisits our very first one – “Cellies” – th... more

20 Dec 2023

46 MINS

46:22

20 Dec 2023


#122

Shine Some Light

When she was in her 20s, Shanna was the victim of a violent attack. Ten years later, she’s... more

29 Nov 2023

42 MINS

42:19

29 Nov 2023


#121

That World

Nigel and Earlonne visit the largest women's prison in the world, the Central California W... more

15 Nov 2023

47 MINS

47:18

15 Nov 2023