
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.
Latest episodes

Jan 11, 2023 • 28min
Ear Hustle Extra: Sam Quentin
Lieutenant Sam Robinson has been with Ear Hustle since day one. As he retires from his post as Public Information Officer at San Quentin, we pay tribute to the man behind the mic.
Big thanks to Lt. Guim'Mara Berry and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 14, 2022 • 38min
Karen
While she was in jail awaiting her sentence, Karen was housed with a pregnant cellie on the verge of giving birth. At the time, the experience barely registered. It took us a while to understand why.
This episode contains references to suicide. Listener discretion is advised. You can reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is under way! Donate today to support Ear Hustle and help us reach our goal of 1,000 supporters. Thank you. on.prx.org/3NQBrDp
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 30, 2022 • 44min
What’s Dangerous About Trees
If you have to serve prison time, Norway is the place to do it … at least that’s what we’d heard. Incarcerated people in Norway wear their own clothes, cook delicious meals from scratch, and even take short leaves to re-acclimate to society. Are Norway’s prisons all they’re cracked up to be? Ear Hustle takes you inside to find out.
Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is here! Donate today to support Ear Hustle and help us reach our goal of 1,000 supporters. Thank you. on.prx.org/3NQBrDp
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Thanks also to Knut Eric, Joacim, Mina, Martine, and everyone else at Norwegian prison radio Røverradion who helped us out while we were in Norway.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 16, 2022 • 44min
Wishful Thinking
The Ear Hustle music episode returns! We catch up with some guys at San Quentin who are longing for love, and then, for the first time ever, we toss the mic to the ladies at the California Institution for Women.
You can find out more about Musicambia here.
Radiotopia’s fall fundraiser is here! Donate today to support Ear Hustle and help us reach our goal of 1,000 supporters. Thank you! https://on.prx.org/3NQBrDp
Thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson, Lt. Berry, and Warden Ron Broomfield at San Quentin, and to Lt. Newborg, Mr. Mumm, Acting Chief Deputy Lewis, and Acting Warden Core at CIW.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 2, 2022 • 41min
Fences
From 180s and 270s to “just one long-ass hallway,” different kinds of prison architecture leave different marks on the people who live there. In this episode, like the last one, we explore how architecture shapes the experience of incarceration, and how people push back to reclaim space for themselves.
Learn more about the San Francisco Public Library’s 2022 One City One Book, This Is Ear Hustle, at sfpl.org/onecityonebook. And find out how you can watch the main event — Nigel and Earlonne live in conversation with Piper Kerman on November 3 — here.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Oct 19, 2022 • 44min
Pockets
Prisons are built with one thing in mind: surveillance. The architecture is designed to assert control and diminish privacy. But even in these spaces, people find ways to claim just a bit of privacy. In this episode and the next, we explore how individuals adapt to prison architecture. First: carving out pockets of privacy, real and imagined.
Listen to Earlonne guest hosting the podcast Wrongful Conviction here.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Oct 5, 2022 • 54min
Some Darkness and Some Light
Stories from our first-ever international reporting trip! From the nightclubs of Oslo, to Norway’s first in-prison Pride parade, to an incarcerated Danish guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer: Ear Hustle goes abroad, mics on, baby.
Each episode this season will feature new artwork by an incarcerated artist. You can see their illustrations on our website.
Hear the full episode of the “San Quentin Prison Report” that we mention in this episode, here.
Is this your first time listening to Ear Hustle? Are you trying to convince a friend to start listening? For our tenth season, we’ve chosen 10 essential Ear Hustle episodes. Find those here.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sep 21, 2022 • 45min
Actual/Factual
Sam Brown spent 24 years in prison not just denying his crime, but lying about it, over and over again. Finally, he decided to come clean. Would the parole board believe him?
Each episode this season will feature new artwork by an incarcerated artist. You can see their illustrations on our website.
Is this your first time listening to Ear Hustle? Are you trying to convince a friend to start listening? For our tenth season, we’ve chosen 10 essential Ear Hustle episodes. Find those here.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sep 7, 2022 • 36min
The Five Senses
Life in prison can mess with your senses. There are smells you can’t unsmell, and sounds you long to hear. Some tastes you forget about entirely, and some forms of touch are almost too evocative to bear. Five San Quentin residents reflect on the sights, tastes, touch, smells, and sounds of prison life.
Each episode this season will feature new artwork by an incarcerated artist. You can see their illustrations on our website.
Is this your first time listening to Ear Hustle? Are you trying to convince a friend to start listening? For our tenth season, we’ve chosen 10 essential Ear Hustle episodes. Find those here.
As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Aug 24, 2022 • 26min
Ear Hustle Presents: Uncuffed
A special episode from Uncuffed: During the COVID lockdown at San Quentin, Steve and Darren both got unexpected letters that changed their lives.
This is the second episode of the new season of KALW’s Uncuffed, a podcast training program at San Quentin and California State Prison, Solano. They’re in the middle of an emergency fundraiser right now, trying to keep their training and broadcast programs going after their main funder rescinded a grant because of a bureaucratic error.
You can learn more and support Uncuffed’s work here. Uncuffed is a production of KALW public radio in San Francisco.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
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