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Ear Hustle — Documentary
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:

13 to 29 Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

Jack spent 35 years in a security housing unit, aka "the hole," and he’s got some stories to tell.

You can hear more about Jack's story on the PBS documentary The Strike.

Subscribe to Ear Hustle Plus! Last week, Nigel took Ear Plustlers on a mysterious "friend date." On our next Plus episode, Nigel and Earlonne talk to the Drexel University researcher who brought "Little Scandinavia" to a Pennsylvania prison. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Tam Nguyen, and Earlonne Woods.

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Acting Warden Chanelo and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

An Announcement from Nigel and Earlonne Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

E and Nyge would like a quick word.

Sign up for Ear Hustle Plus at earhustlesq.com/plus.

(Supercast subscribers: Keep an eye on your email for instructions on how to set up your new EH+ feed.)

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Catch a Kite: On the Road Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

We solicited questions about life in prison from audience members at our live shows. Then, we took those questions into a couple prisons we'd never been to before — Folsom State Prison in California, and SCI Chester in Pennsylvania — and got answers.

Subscribe to Ear Hustle Plus! Next week, Nigel takes EH+ subscribers on a mysterious "friend date." And coming up: a conversation with the Drexel University researcher who brought "Little Scandinavia" to a Pennsylvania prison. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Big thanks to the folks at SCI Chester in Pennsylvania, and Folsom State Prison in California, for showing us around and answering Catch a Kite questions for this episode.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, and Derrell Sadiq Davis.

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

From "Examined: The Backfire Effect" Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

Here's a preview from the new season of Examined, a podcast from Pushkin Industries that looks at the realities of incarceration from the perspective of a wrongful conviction. This season: The Backfire Effect. Nearly 40 years ago, in the parking lot of a community college in Michigan, a 20-year-old student was shot dead in broad daylight. The police quickly found their suspect. But there was a problem: The man said he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. And he could prove it.

Journalist Josie Duffy Rice talks with eyewitnesses, investigators, and local reporters to unravel a story of judicial apathy and expedience. The Backfire Effect asks whether the system had already made up its mind about the suspect before it ever got to the facts. Find Examined: The Backfire Effect wherever you get podcasts, and hear the entire season, ad-free, right now by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Examined show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

This is a sponsored feed drop.

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The Whole Night Was for Nothing Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

Two people are connected by a terrible crime, committed over 30 years ago. What do we owe the people we hurt, and how long does that debt endure?
Subscribe to Ear Hustle Plus! In the feed this week: Earlonne and Nigel get a reading from San Quentin village's resident Mayan astrologer and clairvoyant. And coming up: Nigel takes EH+ subscribers on a mysterious "friend date." Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.
This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods.
Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show.
Thanks also to R. Hosea Collins at the Calvary Baptist Church of Hawthorne and Commissioner Robert Barton and the California Board of Parole.
Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On the Margins Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

A psychic. An RV park. A one-room post office. San Quentin's prison gets all the headlines, but just over the wall, there's a whole other world to explore.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods.

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women's Facility, for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

CIW: The Magazine, Issue One Aug 12, 2026

Show notes

Rumors of a prison swimming pool, losing cherished memories to new technology, the right to housing in prison, and different ways of looking at a letter: Our first class of storytellers at the California Institution for Women dives deep into these subjects in the inaugural issue of CIW: The Magazine.

This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Darrell Sadiq Davis, and Earlonne Woods.

Thanks to Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and PIO Avina at the California Institution for Women for supporting our work at CIW.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Revisiting "Last Memory: Linda" Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Nigel reexamines the fourth episode in our Last Memory series, from December of 2024. Linda’s mom brought her to a Catholic Mass because she had a sense her daughter was on the verge of something, and needed help. Thirty-seven years into her prison sentence, Linda wonders what would have happened if she had listened to her mom, and Nigel and Earlonne visit the same chapel to see the place through Linda’s memory.

Last Memory: Michael
Last Memory: Ryan and Earlonne
Last Memory: Leisha

This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Davis, Antwan Williams, Fernando Arruda, David Jassy, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods.

Big thanks to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Vogel at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Behind the Scenes: “Bag of Skittles” and “Over and Over and Over and Over” Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

Could telling Sadiq and Demarion’s story actually make things worse between them? And were we right to be concerned that SQ's public information officer wouldn't sign off on a story about penis modification? For our latest editorial roundtable, the outside team sits down to discuss two recent episodes: “Bag of Skittles” and “Over and Over and Over and Over.”

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Revisiting "Getting a Date" Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

Earlonne relistens to the final episode of Ear Hustle’s first season, about one official and one unofficial way to get out of prison.

Steve, Danny, Phillip, and Ron are all trying to make their way out of prison. In our final episode of the season, these men share their stories of going through the parole hearing process, and contemplate life on the outside after being incarcerated for decades.

Big thanks to Steve Wilson for telling his story, and to Danny Plunket, Phillip Melendez, and Ron Self for sharing their parole board experiences. In revisiting this episode, we tried to reach Steve, but the phone number we have for him doesn’t work. Steve, if you’re out there, let us hear from you!

Music used in this episode was contributed by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, E. “Phil” Phillips, and Earlonne Woods.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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