Tam has been in prison for two decades, and is facing a third. But now, there’s a small chance a judge could send him home, time served. For one month, we follow Ear Hustle’s inside producer as he prepares for his day in court. Thank you to Star, Lan, Thai Chi, Ai Linh, Lance, and everyone else we spoke to for this story. This episode was scored with music by Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Fernando Arruda, and Joshua Burton. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. ...
Jun 11, 2025•48 min•Season 15Ep. 9
Recently, Earlonne was drafted for a mysterious task: to pose for a photo with Nigel — wearing Minnie Mouse ears — while waving a fake “churro” in the air. (Earlonne, always a good sport, didn’t ask too many questions.) Here, in Nigel’s first-ever listener-inspired mystery episode, he finally learns what that was all about. Special thanks to Becky Bach for suggesting this subject and for joining Earlonne and Nigel in the studio, and to our inside team — Derrell Sadiq Davis, Tony Tafoya, and Tam ...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 15Ep. 8
For the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, Rahsaan revisits “Cracked Windshield,” an episode we did for the first anniversary. The Ear Hustle team and friends talk about their first interactions with cops, the role of empathy, and whether those relationships can ever change. And Rahsaan reflects on his own relationship with police, and what has and hasn’t changed in the five years since Floyd’s murder. This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, Rhashiyd Zinnamon, and David J...
May 23, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 15Ep. 8
Women serving serious time for having killed someone while driving drunk form a distinct culture in prison, and often struggle to fit in. We visit two California prisons to meet women who are still grappling with a life that’s very different than the one they’d expected. Thank you to Olivia, Grace, Jessica, Theresa, Tatanisha, Michelle, Hannah, Sopehia, Pamela, and everyone else we spoke to at the California Institution for Women for this story. At the Central California Women’s Facility, thank ...
May 14, 2025•35 min•Season 15Ep. 7
It’s our first-ever listener-inspired “mystery” episode! This time, Nigel's in the dark — and Earlonne has a new co-host. They hope you enjoy this cutting-edge, occasionally unruly Ear Hustle episode that braids together many questions about life in prison. This episode was scored with music by Eric "Maserati E" Abercrombie, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, A...
Apr 30, 2025•51 min•Season 15Ep. 6
Listeners had a lot to say about two recent episodes featuring residents of California’s death row, especially “ Different Sides of the Earth ,” which focused on condemned women. “It was hard to hear the joy, laughing, etc.” wrote one listener, “when you know about some of their crimes.” Your messages and comments gave us a great excuse to dive into some of the thorny editorial issues our team wrestles with behind the scenes. In this special episode, Earlonne and Nigel join Executive Producer Br...
Apr 25, 2025•48 min•Season 15Ep. 5
Twenty women are currently serving a death sentence at the Central California Women’s Facility. Like the men we met at San Quentin in our previous episode, these women are now living with the mainline prison population. For some, it hasn’t been an easy change. This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and L...
Apr 16, 2025•53 min•Season 15Ep. 4
San Quentin's death row has been cleared out; soon it'll be renovated into an honor dorm. We make one last visit with four men who, between them, spent over 130 years on the row. We see the solitary cells where they spent decades of their lives, and hear what it's been like to leave those cells and join the "mainline" prison population. This episode was scored with music by Antwan "Banks" Williams, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Lee Jaspar, and Fernando Arruda. Big thanks to W...
Apr 02, 2025•47 min•Season 15Ep. 3
For some, it’s a weeklong bonanza; others keep it on the down-low. Whether you’re in prison or not, how you celebrate your birthday says a lot about who you are. The New Official Ear Hustle Birthday Song was written by Tam Nguyen, with variations on the theme by Tam Nguyen, Earlonne Woods, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Antwan Williams, plus trumpet playing by Brian Conroy. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate War...
Mar 19, 2025•43 min•Season 15Ep. 2
Spark Plug wanted a life straight out of a Hollywood movie: Live fast and die a legend. But that’s not quite how things worked out. This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Faci...
Mar 05, 2025•50 min•Season 15Ep. 1
The Ear Hustle team has been hard at work on a whole batch of new stories from San Quentin, the California Institution for Women, the Central California Women’s Facility, and beyond. They’ll be in your feed starting next Wednesday, March 5 — but Nigel and Earlonne are here now with a little sneak peek. Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De ...
Feb 26, 2025•6 min
Next up in our “sleeper hits” series, our editor Amy listens back to “Camp Grace,” a 2021 episode that she had started producing until she was sidelined by COVID. In it, we follow a group of kids to Salinas Valley State Prison to spend two days with their dads, whom they hadn’t seen in years. Through music, crafts, and games, the idea behind Camp Grace is to put aside prison personas and reconnect with fatherhood. But relationships strained by incarceration can be hard to fix. Big thanks to the ...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 14Ep. 11
California relies on incarcerated firefighters to fight fires like the ones that have engulfed Southern California this month. But once these men and women are released from prison, they can have a hard time finding jobs on civilian firefighting crews. Back in 2020, Nigel and Earlonne spent time at a Ventura fire camp designed to help bridge that gap. In light of the recent fires, we’re sharing this episode again. Thanks to Bay Salmeron, Andrew Morales, Levi Rosier, Barrett Brown, and Eric Kesse...
Jan 17, 2025•45 min•Season 14Ep. 11
In the next installment in our “sleeper hits” series, Earlonne listens back to the episode “August 21, 1971,” about George Jackson and one of the most significant days in San Quentin’s history. E talks about why this was an essential story for Ear Hustle to tell, why it was a tricky one to tackle, and reflects on his personal connections to this history and its long aftermath. Mentioned in the episode: Episode 61: August 21, 1971 Day of the Gun documentary from Bay Area news station KRON4 Freedo...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Season 14Ep. 10
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. This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Davis, Antwan Williams, Fernando Arruda, David Jassy, Bruce Wallace, and Earlonne Woods. Big thanks to Acting Warden A...
Dec 11, 2024•38 min•Season 14Ep. 9
Leisha didn't plan on getting pregnant. And she certainly didn't plan on giving birth in prison. But on the day those two red lines showed up, Leisha found kindness in an unexpected place. Thanks to Katie Turner and Samantha Bhatia at Poetic Justice for connecting us with Leisha. This episode was scored with music by Darrell Sadiq Davis, Antwan Williams, Fernando Arruda, David Jassy, and Earlonne Woods. Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, Acting ...
Nov 27, 2024•32 min•Season 14Ep. 8
Earlonne's here with his "mystery" episode, and it's a doozy. He tells Nigel a redemption story wrapped in a drug-trafficking story, and, along the way, dives deep into several subjects we swore we'd never touch. Buckle up. Thanks to George for telling his story. He co-authored a book about moving past gangs and criminal thinking; you can find that here . Thanks also to Tanaya for the rap and listener alert, and to everyone else we talked to for this story. This episode was scored with music by ...
Nov 13, 2024•46 min•Season 14Ep. 7
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 Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warde...
Nov 06, 2024•16 min•Season 14Ep. 6
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 Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at...
Oct 30, 2024•42 min•Season 14Ep. 5
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 inside team explore and record inside East Block, and to Rabbi Paul Shleffar for hosting us inside the chap...
Oct 16, 2024•49 min•Season 14Ep. 4
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 can find information about registering to vote here . Thanks to everyone who spoke to us for this episode...
Oct 02, 2024•47 min•Season 14Ep. 3
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, Mei, Lori Ann, Charity, Jasmine, Kaieesha, Diamond, Elisa, Debanee, Kaylee, Tina, and Cleo at the C...
Sep 18, 2024•53 min•Season 14Ep. 2
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 spoke to out on the yard at San Quentin for this story. This episode was scored with music by Derrell S...
Sep 04, 2024•48 min•Season 14Ep. 1
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
Aug 29, 2024•5 min
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 Davis, Antwan “Banks” Williams, David Jassy, Steve Yen, and Fernando Arruda. Big thanks to Acting Warden...
Aug 21, 2024•46 min
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 looking at San Quentin. Thanks to George “Mesro” Coles-El, Richard Richardson aka Bonaru, John Robb...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 9 min
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 with The Moth. You can listen to part one at moth.org/podcast or by searching for The Moth on Apple Podc...
Jul 10, 2024•36 min
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 the first episode. You can listen to the rest, and find out more about the series, at invisible.inst...
Jun 26, 2024•33 min
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 Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Le...
Jun 12, 2024•44 min•Season 13Ep. 8
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 Earlonne Woods. Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin State Prison, and Act...
May 29, 2024•50 min•Season 13Ep. 7
