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.

 

#151

Spark Plug

Spark Plug wanted a life straight out of a Hollywood movie: Live fast and die a legend. Bu... more

05 Mar 2025

49 MINS

49:42

05 Mar 2025


#150

New Episodes Start Next Week!

The Ear Hustle team has been hard at work on a whole batch of new stories from San Quentin... more

26 Feb 2025

05 MINS

05:46

26 Feb 2025


#149

Revisiting “Camp Grace”

Next up in our “sleeper hits” series, our editor Amy listens back to “Camp Grace,” a 2021 ... more

12 Feb 2025

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:57

12 Feb 2025


#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