30 Days

Tam has been in prison for two decades, and is facing a third. But now, there’s a small chance a judge could send him home, time served. For one month, we follow Ear Hustle’s inside producer as he prepares for his day in court.

Thank you to Star, Lan, Thai Chi, Ai Linh, Lance, and everyone else we spoke to for this story.

This episode was scored with music by Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Fernando Arruda, and Joshua Burton.

Big thanks to 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.

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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.

• No. of episodes: 161
• Latest episode: 2025-07-09
• Society & Culture

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