Why Doesn't Ear Hustle Talk About People's Crimes?

Listeners had a lot to say about two recent episodes featuring residents of California’s death row, especially “Different Sides of the Earth,” which focused on condemned women. “It was hard to hear the joy, laughing, etc.” wrote one listener, “when you know about some of their crimes.”

Your messages and comments gave us a great excuse to dive into some of the thorny editorial issues our team wrestles with behind the scenes. In this special episode, Earlonne and Nigel join Executive Producer Bruce and Senior Editor Amy for our first-ever roundtable conversation about the role of crime and remorse in the stories we tell.

Big thanks to our listeners for sharing their thoughts with us. (Ear Hustle listeners are the best listeners.) We look forward to doing more of these response episodes in the future.

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.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

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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: 157
• Latest episode: 2025-05-14
• Society & Culture

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