Ear Hustle

Comfortable Inside

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 Sadiq Davis, Antwan “Banks” Williams, and Earlonne Woods. Big thanks to Acting 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 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 <a href="https://earhustlesq.com/plus">earhustlesq.com/plus</a> or directly in Apple Podcasts.  Ear Hustle is a proud member of <a href="https://www.radiotopia.fm/">Radiotopia</a>, from PRX.

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.