Ear Hustle

Over the past two episodes we’ve been hearing about “memory places” at San Quentin: ordinary-seeming spots that become extraordinary through the eyes of people who spent time there. In this extra mini-ep, Nigel and Earlonne take us to their spots, and down Ear Hustle memory lane.    This episode was scored with music by Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. Big thanks to Acting...

In the second part of this two-part series, Nigel reveals to Earlonne the final stops in her memory-tour of San Quentin, culminating in an exploration of the prison’s former death row.  Thanks to Shaka for speaking with us for this episode.  Special thanks to Lt. Guim'Mara Berry for letting Nigel and our inside team explore and record inside East Block.  This episode was scored with music by Earlo...

Nigel — with help from our team inside San Quentin — has been cooking up an episode that her co-host knows nothing about. Without giving too much away, we can tell you that it involves visiting a part of the prison no one on Ear Hustle had seen before … with, of course, a few detours along the way. Part 1 of a two-part series.   Special thanks to Lt. Guim'Mara Berry for letting Nigel and our insid...

Incarcerated people in California can’t vote, but that doesn't mean they aren’t tracking electoral politics as closely as many of us on the outside are. In this episode, Ear Hustle’s inside team reveals the winner of its San Quentin presidential poll, while the outside team travels to the Central California Women’s Facility to see how people there would vote, if they had the opportunity.    You ca...

Wali was on his way to make a life-altering decision when a book made him reconsider. Shaka’s 40 years on death row were shaped by three books picked out for him by a prison librarian. At three California prisons, books and libraries are thriving. Thank you to everyone who talked to us about books for this episode, including: Lanika, Wendy, Tameka, Latoya, Erica, Amy Lynn, Elizabeth, Mariam, Rosa,...

It can be hard to admit, but some people are more comfortable inside prison than out. We meet people who keep coming back and people who’ve stopped trying to go home, and ask: Is being “OK” inside prison a failure? Or just healthy adaptation? Thank you to Reese and Jody at the Central California Women’s Facility, and Vincent, Steve, Cowboy, Kelton, Arendt, Patrick, Robert, and everyone else we spo...

The countdown is on! Earlonne and Nigel give listeners a taste of what’s in store this season: some controversy, some mystery, and (maybe) some laughter. The new season starts September 4. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia , from PRX.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our team inside San Quentin explores the complicated acts of crying and Hula dancing in prison, reports on the joys and sorrows of a new prison clothing policy, pilots a new podcast, and sits down in a gazebo with a surprise guest. It’s a new issue of San Quentin: The Magazine. You can find the first issue of San Quentin: The Magazine here .  This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Dav...

Celebrating our 100th episode last year got the Ear Hustle team thinking about all the stories we’ve told since 2017. Over the next few months, EHers will talk about and listen to some of their favorite episodes from the archives — ones that they feel warrant another look. In this one, Nigel and Bruce revisit “This Place,” originally released in October 2018. The episode explores different ways of...

In this collaboration with the venerable live-storytelling project The Moth, we share one man’s story about using a medical condition to break the isolation of his life in prison, and Earlonne and Nigel catch up with the storyteller to find out what’s happened in his life since getting out. Plus, an expert’s guide to telling a great Moth story.  This is the second of our two-part collaboration wit...

We’re introducing you to one of our favorite recent podcast discoveries. In 1997, a racially motivated attack and its aftermath roiled Chicago. “You Didn’t See Nothin” is a seven-part series that revisits that crime and explores how its impact radiated into many lives, including that of Yohance Lacour, the show’s host. Lacour tells a story that is part memoir and part investigation. We’re sharing...

What’s it like to serve out a prison sentence alongside your mom? At the Central California Women’s Facility, a handful of mom-daughter combos are doing time together — some more harmoniously than others.  We’re grateful to Rosa, Ms. Li, Tina, and Ryan for sharing their stories with us.   This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, Rhashiyd Zinnamon, and David Jassy. Big thanks to Actin...

When he was growing up, gang life gave Larry confidence, purpose, and an identity. But after years behind bars, the affiliation lost its luster. He tells Earlonne about becoming Lala from the East Coast Crips, and the long road back to being Larry. Thanks to Larry Davis for talking to us for this episode. This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Derrell Sadiq Davis, and...

For our latest Catch a Kite episode, we’re taking advantage of a new tool: the electronic tablets that recently became available in 400+ jails and prisons across the nation. Using their tablets, incarcerated Ear Hustlers from around the country responded to listener questions, including: What do people in prison hide from their families? And what’s something that you can only learn from being in p...

In honor of Mother’s Day, some decidedly un-Hallmark-y stories about incarceration and motherhood.  Thanks to Mary Behun, Reggie, and Kat for speaking with us for this episode.  This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Fernando Arruda, Dwight Krizman, Rhashiyd Zinnamon, and Earlonne Woods.  Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and...

Inside prison, as well as out, some of us cling to stuff and some of us let go. In this episode: two cell-block neighbors engage in a gentle dispute, Tony attempts to Marie Kondo his future from inside prison, and Mesro won’t have his keepsakes disrespected. Thanks to our colleagues and collaborators inside San Quentin — Carrington, Mesro, Sadiq, and Tony — for talking to us about their stuff, and...

Twelve years ago, Nigel asked San Quentin resident Greg Eskridge to write a list of everything he owned in prison. That much, Earlonne remembers. The rest of this episode is a surprise gift, from one Ear Hustle host to another.  Thanks to Greg Eskridge for speaking and sharing his lists with us. You can hear more of Greg on the podcast Uncuffed , a podcast training program based in San Quentin and...

A bucolic garden, six kinds of breakfast cereal, and around-the-clock bedside vigil: How one California prison is trying to mitigate the fears and unknowns of dying inside prison. Thanks to Joseph Bick, Michele DiTomas, Terrance Harris, Allan Hickman, Gerard Hite, Jerry Judson, Keith Knauf, Alan Krenitsky, Kenneth Langill, Jeff Maria, Earl Miller, Michael Powell, and Frederick Roberts for speaking...

We’ve never based a whole episode on a poem before, but this one, by Sky, took us by surprise. It’s both a record of longing for all the things she can’t do in prison — sleep in a teepee, have a cookie jar, touch a rabbit — and a way of doing those things in her mind.  Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Acting Warden Williams and Lt. Newborg at the Cal...

Season 13 is coming soon; in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what’s going on in Ear Hustle Plus , our new subscription feed. In this excerpt, Nigel and Earlonne listen back to their very first episode, “ Cellies ,” and chat with executive producer Bruce Wallace about what life was like behind the scenes when Ear Hustle first stepped into the world, what’s changed since then, and the question in...

In honor of our 100th episode (!), Ear Hustle revisits our very first one – “Cellies” – this time with a twist: Residents of the California Institution for Women tell us stories about “bunkies,” the good, the bad, and the…complicated. Big thanks to Acting Warden Oak Smith and Lt. Guim'Mara Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Acting Warden Molly Hill and Lt. William Newborg at the California Ins...

When she was in her 20s, Shanna was the victim of a violent attack. Ten years later, she’s ready to talk about the experience and the “full-time job” of recovery. Big thanks to Acting Warden Oak Smith and Lt. Guim'Mara Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Acting Warden Molly Hill and Lt. William Newborg at the California Institution for Women for their support of the show. Can’t get enough Ear H...

Nigel and Earlonne visit the largest women's prison in the world, the Central California Women's Facility, and speak to five people about building a life in a tough environment, and calling that place home. Special thanks to Warden Anissa De La Cruz and Lt. Monique Williams for welcoming us to CCWF. Thanks also to Acting Warden Oak Smith and Lt. Guim'Mara Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Act...

Can a prison be haunted? And why are good ghost stories — inside or outside of prison — so hard to come by? The Ear Hustle team goes ghost hunting at San Quentin and the California Institution for Women. We’re going on the road! Check out our upcoming tour dates at earhustlesq.com/tour . Can’t get enough Ear Hustle? Sign up for Ear Hustle Plus, our new subscription service. You'll get ad-free epis...

If San Quentin were a magazine, what would it sound like? Ear Hustle’s new team inside – Sadiq, Steve, Tam, and the Two Tonys – delivers audio stories hot off the press, from the institution’s popcorn craze to its new tablets and those weird-looking gazebos out on the yard. Big thanks to Acting Warden Oak Smith and Lt. Guim'Mara Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Acting Warden Molly Hill and L...