Ear Hustle
Ear Hustle & Radiotopia
Ear Hustle & Radiotopia
Ear Hustle
Ear Hustle & Radiotopia
Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

About

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. 

Episodes

  • Meet Ear Hustle
    Ear Hustle brings you the stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it.
  • Cellies
    Finding a roommate can be tough. Finding someone to share a 4' x 9' space with is a whole 'nother story.
  • Misguided Loyalty
    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.
  • Looking Out
    Meet Rauch, a man incarcerated at San Quentin who has figured out how to “look out” for dozens of critters around the place.
  • The SHU
    The hole, the box, solitary confinement… stories from four men who spent years completely isolated in prison.
  • Catch a Kite
    Earlonne and Nigel answer questions mailed in via postcard, aka "kites," from listeners around the world.
  • The Boom Boom Room
    Being married in prison is common. Opportunities to get intimate with your spouse are not.
  • Unwritten
    The color of your skin influences your life on the inside, from sharing food to celebrating birthdays.
  • Left Behind
    How do inmates with profoundly long sentences cope with their realities, and maintain a sense of hope and well-being as the years pass?
  • Gold Coats and OGs
    Dealing with aging and death is never easy. In prison, it's especially challenging.
  • Getting a Date
    There are only a few ways to leave prison: serve your time, get out early on parole... or escape.
  • Ear Hustle Bonus: Songs From S1
    Just in time for the holidays, meet some of the musicians of San Quentin, whose songs were featured in season one.
  • Season two preview
    Coming March 14: Season two of Ear Hustle!
  • Firsts
    “Firsts” in prison can be especially memorable.
  • Dirty Water
    Sex trafficking crimes are hard to talk about. In this episode, Sara and LA share their individual experiences of being “in the life.”
  • The Workaround
    Looking good and feeling good matters just as much on the inside, as on the outside.
  • Thick Glass
    Parenting is never easy, but from prison it's especially challenging.
  • Catch a Kite 2
    You've asked (via postcard) and we have answers!
  • The Row
    Death row is almost like a prison within a prison.
  • Down Low
    Inside San Quentin, if you’re gay you hide it. But if you’re trans you can’t hide it.
  • So Long
    Leaving an organization or community often calls for an exit strategy – even in prison.
  • Season three preview
    Ear Hustle is back September 12! In the meantime, enjoy this preview of season three.
  • Birdbaths and a Lockbox
    On the heels of a summer lockdown, season three of Ear Hustle launches with an episode about... lockdowns.
  • Future on Ice
    Being an immigrant in an American prison can pose unique challenges.
  • This Place
    Built in 1852, San Quentin has its own story to tell.
  • Catch a Kite 3
    Ear Hustle responds to a gang of questions from listeners about daily life in San Quentin.
  • The Big No No
    When you’re incarcerated, falling in love with prison staff or volunteers is prohibited. But... it happens.
  • Prime Real Estate
    Stories of romance, dating, and playing the field in prison.
  • Big News: It's Time
    Earlonne and Nigel got some big news earlier this week, from the office of California Governor Jerry Brown.
  • Bittersweet
    In prison, life’s major milestones usually pass at a distance.
  • P.S. Asking and Giving
    Earlonne meets a fan, Quentin Blue strikes a chord and one last Radiotopia plug.
  • Road Trip
    Bonus episode! Earlonne’s out, and the crew drives to Sacramento to interview the man who made that happen: Governor Jerry Brown.
  • Season four preview
    Ear Hustle is back with season four, starting June 5.
  • Excuse Me on the Tier
    In the Reception Center at San Quentin, guys learn the prison ropes while waiting to find out where they’ll serve time.
  • Respect the Paper
    Hardly anyone writes letters anymore... except in (and to) prison.
  • Kissing the Concrete
    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.
  • I Want the Fairy Tale
    After serving a long prison sentence, it can take a while to get your mack back.
  • Inside Music
    I think we can all agree: It’s high time we devoted a full episode to the music of San Quentin.
  • Snack Money
    Believe it or not, there’s more to prison jobs than pounding out license plates and slinging cafeteria food.
  • Life Shows Up
    Getting a job post-incarceration, with a criminal record trailing you, is all kinds of challenging.
  • Catch a Kite 4
    By now an Ear Hustle tradition, this season’s “Catch a Kite” episode tackles questions and shares theme remixes from listeners around the world.
  • Chicken on the Bone
    Receiving a death sentence in California doesn’t always mean you’ve reached the end of the road.
  • Tell Christy I Loved Her
    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.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Antwan Williams, Journeyist
    Ear Hustle team update: Antwan is out!
  • A Message from Ear Hustle
    Our network, Radiotopia, lets producers like us dream big.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: In It for the Long Haul
    A formerly incarcerated woman tells Earlonne and Nigel about the joys and dangers of being a commercial truck driver.
  • Myths & Monikers
    Gator, Razor, Kill Switch, Mother Dearest — Ear Hustle is back with the stories and legends behind prison nicknames.
  • Locked Down Again
    As lockdowns loom worldwide, we revisit and update a 2018 episode all about surviving prison lockdowns.
  • Us and Them
    Relationships between incarcerated people and correctional officers are… complicated.
  • Sorry Means Nothing
    One crime is treated differently than all others, both inside and outside of prison.
  • Hold That Space
    Four women share stories of trying to love across prison walls.
  • Catch a Kite 5
    Ear Hustle answers questions from kids incarcerated at a juvenile facility in Madison, Wisconsin.
  • Tired of Running
    Running from the law to avoid incarceration can become its own kind of prison.
  • Nobody Comes Back
    Some people walk out of prison and straight into a whole new type of incarceration.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Summer Listening
    Ear Hustle isn’t the only podcast out there telling stories of life in prison and post-incarceration.
  • The Gray Goose
    Stories from when you’re locked up and on the road.
  • The Christmas Boxes
    Stories about the things you keep with you in prison and the stuff you leave behind
  • The Great Ear Hustle Cook Off
    Four formerly-incarcerated contestants put their cooking skills to the test.
  • Are You Listening?
    When a parent is incarcerated, the relationship with their kid is changed forever.
  • On Stage in Chicago
    Nigel and Earlonne sit down with 1A’s Jenn White and WBEZ for one of our favorite on-stage events ever.
  • Crew No. 7
    In the middle of California’s worst fire season on record, we meet a few formerly incarcerated people training to become firefighters.
  • The Trail
    In the wake of a violent crime, a perpetrator and victim ask what accountability and survival really look like.
  • The Bells
    Stories from the COVID outbreak in California’s prisons
  • Ear Hustle Presents: Suave
    Introducing “Suave,” a podcast series about the system that sentences juveniles to life in prison, told through one man’s story.
  • Sugarbutt's a Snail
    Three Ear Hustlers, revisited
  • Hot Trash
    Stories from prison visiting rooms
  • Marcel and Angie
    Two stories about being a transgender person, in prison.
  • Lifer Bakery
    A small Israeli bakery in San Francisco has become a lifeline for people just out of prison.
  • Catch a Kite 6
    Listeners have questions; our team found answers. Catch a Kite is back!
  • The Whole Shabang
    Stories from the pages of the prison catalogs.
  • Cracked Windshield
    Cops, citizens, and the power of empathy.
  • Home for Me Is Really a Memory
    How do you live a meaningful life when nearly all of it is spent behind bars?
  • Ear Hustle Presents: Life Jolt
    Introducing Life Jolt, a new podcast series about the experiences of currently and formerly incarcerated women in Ontario, Canada.
  • Coming Soon: 50 Years After George Jackson
    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.
  • August 21, 1971
    The 50-year legacy of San Quentin’s deadliest day.
  • Do It Movin’
    Stories about bail, bail bonds, and the strange purgatory of waiting to get locked up.
  • Stormy Monday
    The Ear Hustle music episode returns!
  • Taxx Is Tripping
    “The definition of bonnaroo is to elevate the evolution of everything in existence.”
  • Counting Lines
    Three stories about surviving the intense isolation and disorientation of imprisonment in a foreign country.
  • Yard of Dreams
    The promise of sports starting up post-pandemic brings new people, new possibilities, and new heartbreak onto the fields of San Quentin.
  • Tray, Tumbler, Spork
    Behind the scenes of the 30-Day Ear Hustle Challenge.
  • Camp Grace
    The roses and thorns of being a dad from prison.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: Written Off
    Introducing Written Off, a podcast featuring formerly incarcerated young writers.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: A Call from Sacramento
    Our inside colleague Rahsaan “New York” Thomas’ prison sentence has been commuted by California Governor Gavin Newsom. What does that mean for him?
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Making Trouble
    Stories about trying to get what you want, inside prison.
  • 15 Minutes
    Life lived through 15-minute phone calls.
  • Boots and Max
    Falling in love, in prison.
  • Is Your Name Alfredo?
    The mysteries behind San Quentin’s epic murals.
  • Gabrieleen Silver Queen
    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.
  • What Is This?
    What’s it like to go years, even decades, without intimate physical contact with another person?
  • Catch a Kite 7
    Incarcerated men are from Mars; incarcerated women are from Venus.
  • Last Memory: Michael
    Michael’s last memory before going to prison is set in a parking lot in Bakersfield, California.
  • Last Memory: Ryan and Earlonne
    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.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: My Mother Made Me
    In My Mother Made Me, the new series from Radiotopia Presents, a mother and son consider what each has learned from the other.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: Uncuffed
    From the show "Uncuffed": Two unexpected letters arrive at San Quentin.
  • The Five Senses
    Life in prison sure can mess with your senses.
  • Actual/Factual
    Lots of people lie about their crimes. Sam kept lying, for 23 years.
  • Some Darkness and Some Light
    Postcards from our first-ever international reporting trip.
  • Pockets
    Privacy is a glimmer of freedom.
  • Fences
    The architecture of prison shapes how you do your time.
  • Wishful Thinking
    The music episode is back!
  • What’s Dangerous About Trees
    Ear Hustle goes inside Norway’s famed prisons.
  • Karen
    An interview takes an unexpected turn.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Sam Quentin
    Ear Hustle says goodbye to dear friend and “approver” extraordinaire, Lieutenant Sam Robinson.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Welcome Home, New York
    We meet Rahsaan “New York” Thomas at the gates of San Quentin.
  • Dream On
    How does incarceration shape your dreams?
  • OGs Got Hella Tricks
    Change is hard.
  • Saber-Toothed Cat
    What 46 years in prison will do to a man.
  • Do You Know Who I Am?
    A new law shakes things up for trans men and trans women in prison.
  • Catch a Kite 8
    Residents of the California Institution for Women answer listeners’ questions about life inside a women’s prison.
  • Abundant and Passionate Trash
    The Ear Hustle Trash Challenge
  • The Preacher
    How can you tell if someone’s really changed?
  • Articles of Hustle
    Is there such a thing as a prison uniform? An Ear Hustle collab explores.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Pride Month Special
    Stories about LGBTQ life behind bars.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: Violation
    While we're at work on Season 12, we bring you an episode from one of our favorite new shows.
  • 12 Hours on the Yard
    Sunup to sundown on San Quentin Prison’s lower yard.
  • Once You're in the Ocean, You're Going Everywhere
    Older residents at a women’s prison grapple with their regrets and dreams for the future.
  • Transitional
    Where you live when you’re fresh out of prison.
  • San Quentin: The Magazine
    Five stories from our new producing team inside San Quentin
  • Do You Think There Are Ghosts Here?
    Three stories of the paranormal, from San Quentin and the California Institution for Women.
  • That World
    Five stories from the Central California Women’s Facility.
  • Shine Some Light
    A violent crime and its aftermath.
  • Bunkies
    Ear Hustle turns 100!
  • Ear Hustle Extra: A Sneak Peek at "Cellies, with Commentary"
    Nigel and Earlonne look back at their first episode.
  • A Rock Across a Lake
    The many things you long for from prison and the compromises you’re willing to make.
  • What's Up, Michael Freeman?
    Facing the end of life at a prison hospice.
  • Five Mirrors
    Nigel surprises Earlonne with a story about one of their long-time colleagues inside San Quentin.
  • Hope Lacquer
    Give the objects some respect.
  • Moms
    Let’s give the moms their due.
  • Catch a Kite Nationwide
    Incarcerated people around the country answer listener questions about life in prison.
  • Crocasacks
    An OG Crip talks about leaving the life behind.
  • Daughters
    Facing a long-term prison sentence … with your mom.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: You Didn’t See Nothin
    A 1997 hate crime and its long aftermath.
  • Ear Hustle Presents: The Moth
    A true story, told live.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: Revisiting “This Place”
    An episode from the vaults makes San Quentin the main character.
  • Ear Hustle Extra: San Quentin: The Magazine, Issue 2
    What’s new in SQ.
  • Coming Up This Season
    A little preview of the upcoming season.
  • Comfortable Inside
    What does it mean to be comfortable inside prison?
  • A Little Streets, a Little Romance, a Little Deception
    What books can do in prison.
  • Election!
    If San Quentin could vote.
  • My Understanding of This Place, Part 1
    Nigel takes Earlonne on a mystery tour of San Quentin.
  • My Understanding of This Place, Part 2
    The final stops of Nigel’s San Quentin mystery tour.
  • My Understanding of This Place: Nigel & Earlonne
    Nigel and Earlonne’s San Quentin memory places.
  • The Wrong Line of Business
    We’re sorry, Julie.
  • Last Memory: Leisha
    Two red lines and the Philosopher of 7-Eleven.
  • Last Memory: Linda
    The day before she committed her crime, Linda went to Mass with her mother.
  • Revisiting “August 21, 1971”
    Earlonne looks back at one of his favorite episodes.
  • From the Vault: Crew No. 7
    The terrible fires in SoCal have us thinking about incarcerated firefighters and dusting off this episode from the archives.
  • Revisiting “Camp Grace”
    The roses and thorns of being a dad from prison.
  • New Episodes Start Next Week!
    New stories from inside, headed your way starting March 5
  • Spark Plug
    A former bank robber looks back on his glory days.
  • Super Fun Birthday Story
    Plus: The world premiere of the Ear Hustle Birthday Song
  • Slam That Door
    What remains of San Quentin's death row
  • Different Sides of the Earth
    Life on California’s only death row for women
  • Why Doesn't Ear Hustle Talk About People's Crimes?
    The team responds to recent listener feedback.
  • Bell Pepper
    Earlonne’s back with another “mystery” episode — and a new co-host.
  • No Other Word for It
    There’s no manual for being a DUI offender in prison.
  • Revisiting "Cracked Windshield"
    Cops, citizens, and the power of empathy.
  • I See the Castle
    The photos we keep
  • 30 Days
    Some days, Tam feels like he’s gonna lose his sh*t.
  • Revisiting “12 Hours on the Yard”
    Sunup to sundown on San Quentin Prison’s lower yard.
  • San Quentin: The Magazine, Issue 3
    What’s going at San Quentin these days?
  • Revisiting “Future on Ice”
    Immigrants in prison, 2018
  • Ear Hustle Live! 2023
    Ear Hustle, live in Los Angeles
  • Catch a Kite: On Tour
    Women incarcerated in Ohio and Oklahoma answer listeners' questions about life inside prison.
  • Starting Next Week: The Loop
    A year spent with kids caught up in New York City’s criminal justice system
  • The Loop Ep. 1: The Five Rules of Drama Club
    Zip zap zop
  • The Loop Ep. 2: Who What Where
    The unwritten rules of Crossroads
  • The Loop Ep. 3: No Violence
    When fights break out at Crossroads
  • The Loop Ep. 4: Where’s the Conflict?
    Life on Crossroads’ girls unit
  • The Loop Ep. 5: Yes, And ...
    Kaysha's story
  • The Loop Ep. 6: Make Your Partner Look Good
    An afternoon off Rikers