'Ear Hustle' prison podcast helped get its host pardoned. Now see it live in L.A.

When past Gov. Jerry Brown’s squad spoke to Earlonne Woods to archer him his beingness condemnation was being commuted aft spending 21 years successful prison, successful the inheritance of the telephone helium heard unit outcry out, “We emotion ‘Ear Hustle!’ ”

That would beryllium Woods’ podcast, the archetypal produced successful prison. “Ear Hustle” began successful 2017, a twelvemonth earlier the life-changing call. Co-creators and hosts Woods and Nigel Poor, who taught ocular arts astatine San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, met astatine the prison’s media center. Over time, the podcast’s scope grew and Woods was pardoned by Gov. Gavin Newsom successful 2024.

“The thought was to archer mundane stories of beingness wrong that didn’t speech astir violence, didn’t speech astir however radical got to prison, didn’t needfully speech astir the system, however we felt astir it, but what happens erstwhile you request to marque a beingness successful prison,” Poor said.

Not lone has “Ear Hustle” changed Woods’ trajectory, but it’s besides sparked a movement. Dozens of podcasts person since sprung up astatine prisons astir the state and internationally. Since his release, Woods, 54, and Poor, 62, person visited prisons crossed California to bid incarcerated radical successful podcasting. They’ve adjacent heard of “Ear Hustle” — which means to eavesdrop — listening and treatment clubs successful an Arkansas prison. The podcast, which has astir 88 cardinal downloads and is featured connected large platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist successful 2020.

Earlonne Woods records for the “Ear Hustle” podcast astatine KQED successful San Francisco.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

“Our imagination was lone to aerial wrong of San Quentin, and past our bigger imagination was the 35 prisons,” Woods said. “Since then, we are heard successful implicit 1,500 jails and prisons crossed the nation. We’re heard successful 112 prisons successful the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.”

Now, the “Ear Hustle” team, who enactment retired of the KQED bureau successful San Francisco, is astir to spell connected a 3rd tour. The squad is hitting venues successful West Coast cities specified arsenic Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles and visiting a situation adjacent each of those stops. It is the archetypal to bring a podcast circuit to prisons. During its L.A. sojourn successful February, Woods and Poor volition beryllium hosting the amusement astatine the vibey Lodge Room successful Highland Park, arsenic good arsenic the California Institution for Women successful Chino.

“Ear Hustle” episodes screen a assortment of topics including however cellmates get along, taking attraction of pets successful prison, being a genitor successful prison, cooking successful a cell, the relation message plays and the lingering interaction of 3 strikes laws. The L.A. stop, a homecoming for Woods, who grew up successful South-Central Los Angeles, volition diagnostic fashionable clips and never-before-heard snippets. There volition besides beryllium music, creation performances and a publication signing of “This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life.”

“I recognize that a batch of presently incarcerated radical are watching me, truthful I spell into the prisons for work, of course, but arsenic much of an inspiration, due to the fact that they spot me, they’re like, ‘Oh, man, look helium is coming backmost in, helium is doing his thing,’ ” Woods said.

When Woods was inactive astatine San Quentin, a commissioner from a situation successful Indiana met with the “Ear Hustle” squad to get proposal astir however they could commencement a situation podcast successful their state.

Former “Ear Hustle” shaper Julie Shapiro’s son, Phin Shapiro, holds up a motion congratulating the squad for being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, arsenic seen astatine the podcast’s studio.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

“The commissioner came and told america consecutive up, ‘If the incarcerated radical successful my situation would person ever sent maine a petition to bash a podcast successful the prison, I would person balled it up and threw it successful the trash, but listening to your stories made maine truly see that,’ due to the fact that it gave them a antithetic outlook connected the radical that they serve,” Woods said.

When they were archetypal processing the podcast astatine San Quentin, Woods and Poor said it required immoderate practice with situation administration. Poor said she had to gain their spot due to the fact that she was getting audio from wrong the situation and sending it retired to the Bay Area KALW vigor presumption for three- to five-minute segments.

After Woods’ release, “Ear Hustle” was capable to evolve. Woods ever knew helium wanted to assistance bring a akin storytelling to women’s prisons — present helium does. He and Poor person taught podcasting classes astatine the California Institution for Women, conscionable arsenic they bash astatine men’s prisons.

“Uncuffed,” different podcast successful California prisons, which launched successful 2019, has aired much than 200 stories. It reports that released podcast participants had a zero percent instrumentality rate, and alumni person gone connected to go nonrecreational podcasters and documentary filmmakers. It besides teaches participants however to go vigor DJs. In 2021, Inside Wire successful Colorado became the archetypal vigor presumption successful the satellite to broadcast 24/7 from wrong prisons to the public. “Concrete Mama,” which started successful a Washington authorities situation aboriginal past year, calls itself “more than a podcast — it’s a movement.”

“Everybody is human,” Woods said. “People marque atrocious decisions, and sometimes those atrocious decisions springiness you beingness sentences, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t lend to society, due to the fact that everybody learns from their atrocious decisions. Prison is simply a microcosm of society. Everything that goes connected successful nine beauteous overmuch goes connected wrong prison. I decidedly deliberation that we are shining a large airy connected that.”