‘Ear Hustle’ podcast received host pardoned. See a dwell present in Los Angeles

When then Gov. Jerry Brown’s staff spoke to Earlonne Woods to inform him his life sentence was being commuted after spending 21 years in jail, within the background of the decision he heard employees yell out, “We love ‘Ear Hustle!’ ”

That may be Woods’ podcast, the primary produced in jail. “Ear Hustle” started in 2017, a 12 months earlier than the life-changing name. Co-creators and hosts Woods and Nigel Poor, who taught visible arts at San Quentin Rehabilitation Heart, met on the jail’s media heart. Over time, the podcast’s attain grew and Woods was pardoned by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024.

“The thought was to inform on a regular basis tales of life inside that didn’t discuss violence, didn’t discuss how individuals received to jail, didn’t essentially discuss concerning the system, how we felt about it, however what occurs when it’s essential to make a life in jail,” Poor stated.

Not solely has “Ear Hustle” modified Woods’ trajectory, however it’s additionally sparked a motion. Dozens of podcasts have since sprung up at prisons across the nation and internationally. Since his launch, Woods, 54, and Poor, 62, have visited prisons throughout California to coach incarcerated individuals in podcasting. They’ve even heard of “Ear Hustle” — which suggests to eavesdrop — listening and dialogue golf equipment in an Arkansas jail. The podcast, which has roughly 88 million downloads and is featured on main platforms, together with Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020.

Earlonne Woods information for the “Ear Hustle” podcast at KQED in San Francisco.

(Josh Edelson / For The Occasions)

“Our dream was solely to air within San Quentin, after which our larger dream was the 35 prisons,” Woods stated. “Since then, we’re heard in over 1,500 jails and prisons throughout the nation. We’re heard in 112 prisons in the UK, Australia and Canada.”

Now, the “Ear Hustle” staff, who work out of the KQED workplace in San Francisco, is about to go on a 3rd tour. The staff is hitting venues in West Coast cities akin to Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles and visiting a jail close to every of these stops. It’s the first to carry a podcast tour to prisons. Throughout its L.A. go to in February, Woods and Poor might be internet hosting the present on the vibey Lodge Room in Highland Park, in addition to the California Establishment for Ladies in Chino.

“Ear Hustle” episodes cowl quite a lot of matters together with how cellmates get alongside, caring for pets in jail, being a guardian in jail, cooking in a cell, the position mail performs and the lingering impression of three strikes legal guidelines. The L.A. cease, a homecoming for Woods, who grew up in South-Central Los Angeles, will function common clips and never-before-heard snippets. There will even be music, dance performances and a e-book signing of “This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Tales of On a regular basis Jail Life.”

“I perceive that a whole lot of presently incarcerated persons are watching me, so I’m going into the prisons for work, after all, however as extra of an inspiration, as a result of they see me, they’re like, ‘Oh, man, look he’s coming again in, he’s doing his factor,’ ” Woods stated.

When Woods was nonetheless at San Quentin, a commissioner from a jail in Indiana met with the “Ear Hustle” staff to get recommendation about how they may begin a jail podcast of their state.

Former “Ear Hustle” producer Julie Shapiro’s son, Phin Shapiro, holds up an indication congratulating the staff for being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as seen on the podcast’s studio.

(Josh Edelson / For The Occasions)

“The commissioner got here and instructed us straight up, ‘If the incarcerated individuals in my jail would have ever despatched me a request to do a podcast within the jail, I might have balled it up and threw it within the trash, however listening to your tales made me actually take into account that,’ as a result of it gave them a distinct outlook on the people who they serve,” Woods stated.

After they have been first growing the podcast at San Quentin, Woods and Poor stated it required some cooperation with jail administration. Poor stated she needed to earn their belief as a result of she was getting audio from contained in the jail and sending it out to the Bay Space KALW radio station for three- to five-minute segments.

After Woods’ launch, “Ear Hustle” was capable of evolve. Woods at all times knew he wished to assist carry an analogous storytelling to ladies’s prisons — now he does. He and Poor have taught podcasting lessons on the California Establishment for Ladies, simply as they do at males’s prisons.

“Uncuffed,” one other podcast in California prisons, which launched in 2019, has aired greater than 200 tales. It experiences that launched podcast members had a zero p.c return charge, and alumni have gone on to grow to be skilled podcasters and documentary filmmakers. It additionally teaches members learn how to grow to be radio DJs. In 2021, Inside Wire in Colorado grew to become the primary radio station on the earth to broadcast 24/7 from inside prisons to the general public. “Concrete Mama,” which began in a Washington state jail early final 12 months, calls itself “greater than a podcast — it’s a motion.”

“Everyone is human,” Woods stated. “Individuals make dangerous selections, and generally these dangerous selections provide you with life sentences, however it doesn’t imply which you can’t contribute to society, as a result of all people learns from their dangerous selections. Jail is a microcosm of society. Every little thing that goes on in society just about goes on inside jail. I positively suppose that we’re shining an ideal mild on that.”