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Bunkies

In honor of our 100th episode (!), Ear Hustle revisits our very first one – “Cellies” – this time with a twist: Residents of the California Institution for Women tell us stories about “bunkies,” the g

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Shine Some Light

When she was in her 20s, Shanna was the victim of a violent attack. Ten years later, she’s ready to talk about the experience and the “full-time job” of recovery.Big thanks to Acting Warden Oak Smith

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That World

Not long ago, Nigel and Earlonne spent time at the largest women’s prison in the world: The Central California Women’s Facility. They spoke to five people about building a life in a tough environment

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Do You Think There Are Ghosts Here?

Can a prison be haunted? And why are good ghost stories — inside or outside of prison — so hard to come by? The Ear Hustle team goes ghost hunting at San Quentin and the California Institution for Wom

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San Quentin: The Magazine

If San Quentin were a magazine, what would it sound like? Ear Hustle’s new team inside – Sadiq, Steve, Tam, and the Two Tonys – deliver audio stories hot off the press, from the institution’s popcorn

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Transitional

Producer Rahsaan “New York” Thomas takes us inside the parole-ordered transitional housing he’s been living in since getting out of prison. For many people, these residences are a godsend. For others,

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Once You're in the Ocean, You're Going Everywhere

Prisons weren’t designed for older folks, and the California Institution for Women is no exception. Nigel and Earlonne pay a visit to CIW’s Senior Center to hang out with a group of women aged 70 and

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12 Hours on the Yard

Inspired by the classic This American Life episode “24 Hours at the Golden Apple,” the Ear Hustle team documents one day in the life of San Quentin’s lower yard, from Haka dancing to dominoes; gospel

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Ear Hustle Presents: Violation

It’s summertime! Which means the Ear Hustle team is off cooking up a new batch of stories for our next season — Season 12 — launching September 6.In the meantime, we’re bringing you an episode from on

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Ear Hustle Extra: Pride Month Special

In honor of Pride month, we’re serving up some of our best stories about the LGBTQ community inside prison, including: a love story set out on the yard at San Quentin State Prison; two trans women on

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Articles of Hustle

Is there such a thing as a prison uniform? Turns out, it takes two podcasts to answer that question. Nigel and Earlonne team up with Avery Trufelman from the Radiotopia pod Articles of Interest to fin

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The Preacher

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 hi

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Abundant and Passionate Trash

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 e

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Catch a Kite 8

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 insid

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Do You Know Who I Am?

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 tran

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Saber-Toothed Cat

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 O

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OGs Got Hella Tricks

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

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Dream On

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 dr

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Ear Hustle Extra: Welcome Home, New York

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 t

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Ear Hustle Extra: Sam Quentin

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. Gui

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Karen

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.T

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What’s Dangerous About Trees

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

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Wishful Thinking

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

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Fences

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 archite

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Pockets

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.

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Some Darkness and Some Light

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 H

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Actual/Factual

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 w

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The Five Senses

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 be

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Ear Hustle Presents: Uncuffed

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

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Ear Hustle Presents: My Mother Made Me

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 b

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Last Memory: Ryan and Earlonne

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 Ave

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Last Memory: Michael

Not long ago, Nigel and Earlonne spent time at the largest women’s prison in the world: The Central California Women’s Facility. They spoke to five people about building a life in a tough environment3