Ear Hustle

Over at San Quentin, a new preacher has started drawing crowds on the yard. He’s charismatic, soft-spoken, and devout. He says he’s a different man than he was when he committed the crimes that put him in prison. But how can he, or anyone else, really know? Big thanks to Guim'Mara Berry and Acting Warden Oak Smith 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. Donate today to help us explore more stories from beyond San Quentin: on.prx.org/EH.

Imagine you’re an archaeologist tasked with going through someone’s garbage. What will you learn about their habits and desires, their values, and how they spend their resources? For seven days, the entire Ear Hustle team, both inside and outside San Quentin, stashed our trash, revealing some new and surprising things about each other. Big thanks to Guim'Mara Berry and Acting Warden Oak Smith 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. Donate today to help us explore more stories from beyond San Quentin: on.prx.org/EH.

Can incarcerated women dye their hair? Do they have enough tampons and pads? What makes them happy, and how realistic is “Orange Is the New Black”? Ear Hustle listeners have questions about life inside a women’s prison, so we head to the California Institution for Women for answers. To learn more about donating books to the library at the California Institution for Women, contact Ricky Dela Cruz or Ashleigh Lewis at CIW. To learn more about donating books to San Quentin, visit the Friends of the San Quentin Prison Library. To learn more about donating books to other prisons, visit the Prisoners Literature Project, or this list of organizations from the American Library Association. Big thanks to Guim’Mara Berry and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show, as well as to Lieutenant William Newborg at the California Institution for Women for welcoming our team inside. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com. Will you be one

For years, we’ve asked incarcerated people to speculate on the difference between life inside a men’s prison and inside a women’s. Now we’re finally getting answers, thanks to a 2021 law allowing transgender, intersex, and non-binary people to transfer to prisons that match their gender identity. For some, the law has been life-changing; for others… not so much. Big thanks to Guim'Mara Berry and Acting Warden Oak Smith for their support of the show, and to Lt. William Newborg and everyone else at the California Institution for Women for welcoming our team. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

What’s the difference between an over-under and a lower-lower? How many pairs of underwear do you get in prison? And how long does a bar of soap last? We spend an entire episode with one San Quentin OG who schools us on the history of prison and what 46 years inside will do to a man. Big thanks to Guim'Mara Berry and Warden Oak Smith 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.

San Quentin’s population is changing, and a lot of the old ways are dying out. But some prison OGs don’t want to let go of the past. Big thanks to Lieutenant Guim'Mara Berry and Acting Warden Oak Smith 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.

When you’re incarcerated, are your dreams set outside prison walls? Or out on the prison yard? Are they a comforting space to escape to? Or a painful reminder of what you no longer have? From lucid dreams to wet dreams to dreams of freedom, we ask how incarceration changes what you see when you sleep. Big thanks to 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.

After 22 years in prison, our inside colleague Rahsaan “New York” Thomas is now a free man. We meet him at the gates of San Quentin, and tag along for his first meal outside and a trip to Target. Big thanks to Lieutenant Guim'Mara Berry and Acting Warden Oak Smith 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Ear Hustle team is hard at work on our next season, which launches September 7! In the meantime, we’d like to tell you about a new podcast, hosted by Jason Reynolds. Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, and the Library of Congress' national ambassador for young people's literature. He’s ambitious, he says yes to everything, and he’s feeling overwhelmed. On the first episode of My Mother Made Me, his new podcast with Radiotopia Presents, Jason turns to his mother for advice, and discovers that overwhelmed is a feeling she knows very well. Find out more about My Mother Made Me here. Also mentioned in this episode: The latest season of Motive, from WBEZ Chicago, explores the culture and secrets of prisons in small-town Illinois. And the podcast series Deliberate Indifference examines how the Alabama prison system became one of the most dangerous in the country. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Ear Hustle is a proud membe

The jig was up for Ryan, so he told police he’d turn himself in. His mom had one request: a final family meal at Applebee’s. Plus, Earlonne and Nigel head to the intersection of Firmona and Marine Avenues in Lawndale, California, the scene of E's last memory before being locked up. 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. We did it! Thanks to your generosity, we reached our goal of 1,000 donors and unlocked the $25,000 matching gift. Thank you! If you wanted to donate but haven’t yet, you can still chip in and help us explore more beyond San Quentin.