What does it take to be bonnaroo in prison? We explore the creative ways people inside transform and beautify their physical selves and their living environment, using whatever they can find within prison walls. 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.

Ear Hustle

Taxx Is Tripping

At Ear Hustle, we hear more from listeners about music than almost any other topic. In response, we bring you the Ear Hustle Mixtape, including stories about an unlikely instrument that’s been showing up on the yard at San Quentin, Native American sweat lodges and music, and getting the band back together post-incarceration. 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.

Stormy Monday

We bring you stories about the ups and downs of making bail and the bittersweet taste of freedom when you know you’re about to lose it. Plus: Nigel confronts a man with no regrets, and Ear Hustle says goodbye to a friend of the show. To find out more about the Ear Hustle 30-Day Challenge, and to participate with us, visit earhustlesq.com/challenge. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Do It Movin’

August 21, 1971 was the deadliest day in San Quentin history, and it’s still a painful topic, both inside the prison and out. At the center of the story was a Black revolutionary named George Jackson. Who was he, and what makes him so controversial, even today? As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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. More on George Jackson and the Adjustment Center incident: Freedom Archives’ 99 Books project 50th anniversary article by Kevin Sawyer, an editor at the San Quentin News “Soledad Brother” 40 years later “Day of the Gun” documentary from Bay Area news station KRON4 Making Contact’s radio documentary “The Struggle Inside” New York Times narrative of August 21st Los Angeles Times looks back at the day, and the trial of the San Quentin Six British documentary about the weeks after August 21, 1971 Dick Nelson remembers August 21st, 1971

August 21, 1971

Ear Hustle’s eighth season launches on September 8th with a dramatic account of one of the most notorious days in San Quentin’s history: August 21st, 1971. By sundown, three guards and three incarcerated people lay dead. Fifty years later, the events of that day remain intensely contested, and emotions raw. We break down what happened, and why it still matters today. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Coming Soon: 50 Years After George Jackson

With just a few weeks to go before Ear Hustle returns with Season 8, we wanted to introduce listeners to a new show that’s been in all of our headphones: Life Jolt. In this first episode, “The Before Times,” incarcerated women look back on the uncertainty and dread they experienced in those early days while they waited to receive their sentences.

Ear Hustle Presents: Life Jolt

Leslie has served more time in prison than anyone we’ve ever interviewed on the show: over half a century, for a crime committed when she was 19. Four times, the parole board has deemed her fit for release. Each time, California’s governor denied it. What does it mean to live a meaningful life when nearly all of it is spent behind bars? As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. You can find out more about Nigel and Earlonne’s forthcoming book, This Is Ear Hustle, at thisisearhustlebook.com. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com. It’s the Radiotopia Spring Fundraiser! Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. Please donate today, at radiotopia.fm. 

Home for Me Is Really a Memory

A year after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer, the Ear Hustle team and friends talk about their first interactions with cops, the role of empathy, and whether those relationships can ever change. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com.

Cracked Windshield

Toothpaste, ramen noodles, sneakers, coffee creamer. If you want to shop from prison, it’s either the commissary or a prison-approved package catalog. These packages offer a connection to the outside world, but sometimes they make the distance seem even greater. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com.

The Whole Shabang

Can you have an Xbox in your prison cell? Is it OK to say “inmate”? How have stimulus checks affected the prison economy? Ear Hustle listeners have questions about life behind bars. Our team went to find answers. Catch a Kite is back! You can find more information about Nigel’s forthcoming book, “The San Quentin Project,” here. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Catch a Kite 6

A small Israeli bakery in downtown San Francisco has offered first jobs to dozens of lifers just out of prison. Four employees share their stories of adjusting to life on the outside while working at Frena Bakery. As always, thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Lifer Bakery

Marcel and Angie each spent years in prisons determined by the gender on their birth certificate, not the one they identify with. Being trans in prison comes with complications — from where you live to personal safety — and a whole lot of prison politics. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Marcel and Angie

Visiting a loved one in prison is both emotionally intense and constrained by countless rules – from how much PDA is too much PDA, to what kind of candy you can eat inside. One year after California prison authorities suspended in-person visits due to COVID-19, we bring you stories from and about visiting rooms, and hear how families are adjusting to video “visits.” As always, thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Hot Trash

A lot has happened since we got behind the mics to record Ear Hustle’s first season. As we begin our seventh, we catch up with three people whom listeners first heard from inside San Quentin, and hear about the twists and turns their lives have taken since. Rauch first appeared in the episode Looking Out. Ronnie first appeared in the episode Kissing the Concrete. Curtis first appeared in the episode Left Behind, and later in the episode I Want the Fairy Tale. As always, thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting 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.

Sugarbutt's a Snail

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 story of a man sentenced to life without parole when he was 17 years old, and his friendship with acclaimed journalist Maria Hinojosa. You can find more information about “Suave” here.

Ear Hustle Presents: Suave

Ear Hustle brings you stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it. The podcast is a partnership between Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and Nigel Poor, a Bay Area artist. The team works in San Quentin’s media lab to produce stories that are sometimes difficult, often funny and always honest, offering a nuanced view of people living within the American prison system.

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Ear Hustle

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