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.
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 39 minutes
- Episodes
- 164
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Ear Hustle Presents: Suave
While we work on our next season, launching March 3, we’re excited to introduce you to a new podcast series that we love, and think Ear Hustle fans will too. “Suave,” from Futuro Studios, tells the s…
00:37:18 |
Wed 17 Feb 2021
The Bells
One in five incarcerated people in the U.S. has tested positive for COVID-19, and here in California, more than 100 people have died in prison. In our final episode of Season 6, we hear three stories…
01:00:08 |
Wed 23 Dec 2020
The Trail
In 1990, Leonard attacked a female hiker off a trail along the California coast. Three decades later, we hear the rest of the story, and explore what accountability and survival really look like.
W…
00:52:26 |
Wed 09 Dec 2020
Crew No. 7
Incarcerated people have long played an important role in firefighting in California. Now, in the middle of the state’s worst fire season on record, formerly incarcerated people are poised to play mo…
00:45:26 |
Wed 25 Nov 2020
On Stage in Chicago
Back before the pandemic, Nigel and Earlonne joined Jenn White (WAMU’s 1A, formerly WBEZ) on stage in Chicago for a conversation about how Ear Hustle came to be and some of the show’s most memorable …
01:35:06 |
Wed 11 Nov 2020
Are You Listening?
Incarceration doesn’t just separate a parent from his or her child, it changes that relationship forever, often leaving wounds that may never heal. We talk with kids who have incarcerated parents, as…
00:44:27 |
Wed 21 Oct 2020
The Great Ear Hustle Cook Off
For our first-annual Ear Hustle Cook Off, four formerly-incarcerated people replicate meals they used to make inside their cells, using only the tools and ingredients they would have had access to in…
00:45:37 |
Wed 07 Oct 2020
The Christmas Boxes
Six cubic feet. That’s how much stuff each incarcerated person in California is allowed to have in his or her cell. The few personal objects you keep with you in prison are precious. But what’s left …
00:52:14 |
Wed 23 Sep 2020
The Gray Goose
Being incarcerated doesn’t always mean staying in one place. Ear Hustle kicks off Season Six with stories from inside the vans and buses that carry people to and between prisons.
Thanks to Lt. Sam …
00:51:26 |
Wed 09 Sep 2020
Ear Hustle Extra: Summer Listening
Ear Hustle will be back with new episodes starting September 9. In the meantime, we talk with people experiencing the COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin and other California prisons, firsthand. Plus, w…
00:33:06 |
Wed 22 Jul 2020
Nobody Comes Back
Getting out of prison means freedom, but this liberation often comes with caveats. In our final episode of the season, three formerly incarcerated people describe the unwelcome surprises that were wa…
00:56:17 |
Wed 10 Jun 2020
Tired of Running
Hollywood loves stories about fugitives on the run, but in reality that lifestyle is anything but glamorous, especially for those who get pulled in along the way. One woman reflects back on six years…
00:46:11 |
Wed 27 May 2020
Catch a Kite 5
Every season we answer questions from listeners in our Catch a Kite episode. This time around, formerly incarcerated people lend their experiences and lessons learned to a group of kids currently inc…
00:43:12 |
Wed 13 May 2020
Hold That Space
Four women share their stories of loving incarcerated men, and the challenges they face in maintaining their relationships, staying hopeful about an eventual reunion, and carrying on with their lives…
00:46:24 |
Wed 29 Apr 2020
Sorry Means Nothing
One crime is treated differently than all others, both inside and outside prison. People who commit sex crimes against children are often ostracized, abused by fellow inmates, and deemed beyond rehab…
00:53:00 |
Wed 15 Apr 2020
Us and Them
The relationships between incarcerated people and the correctional officers who guard their prisons are often as bad as you might expect. But sometimes, they’re a lot more complicated.
Find a full l…
00:56:08 |
Wed 01 Apr 2020
Locked Down Again
As the Coronavirus pandemic locks down parts of America and the world, we revisit an episode from 2018 about how the San Quentin community manages a prison lockdown.
During a San Quentin lockdown, …
00:41:32 |
Wed 18 Mar 2020
Myths & Monikers
In prison, almost everyone has a nickname, and whether true or not, nearly every nickname has a story behind it. If that story is good enough, it might just become the stuff of legend.
A heads-up: T…
00:39:35 |
Wed 04 Mar 2020
Ear Hustle Extra: In It for the Long Haul
In honor of the launch of “Over the Road,” Radiotopia’s new show about long-haul trucking, Earlonne and Nigel talk with a formerly incarcerated truck driver about being a woman in a male-dominated pr…
00:11:12 |
Thu 20 Feb 2020
A Message from Ear Hustle
Back in 2016, our podcast network, Radiotopia, made the Ear Hustle dream a reality. In honor of Radiotopia’s annual fundraiser, Nigel and Earlonne dream a little about what other podcasts they might …
00:05:59 |
Wed 27 Nov 2019
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are the property of Ear Hustle & Radiotopia ([email protected]). This content is not affiliated with or endorsed by eachpod.com.