(SOUNDBITE OF STEFANO BOLLANI AND JESPER BODILSEN AND MORTEN LUND AND MARK TURNER AND BILL FRISELL'S "ALOBAR E KUDRA"). Usually, you can't go back into a correctional facility on parole. His mother was a postal worker and his father was an unemployed alcoholic, who Woods described as violent and distant. But you may have the African-Americans who go to prison and they're at certain places and you don't get that question. But you look back, and you're looking at it like, I've wasted, like - I can say right now, I'm 47 years old. Like, you may have guys that are Hispanics or whites who, when they get to a certain prison, their race is like, let me see your paperwork. POOR: Well, he wasn't necessarily a good talker because he was very quiet. It focuses on both the personal and the political, shedding light on issues of mass incarceration and the criminal justice system by telling intimate, humanizing stories, like the tale of one inmates obsession with keeping small critters as pets in his cell or anothers struggle to be intimate with his wife while behind bars. He's been behind bars for more than 20 years. TYRA WOODSON: And he began acting out. And many people around me wasn't like that. Nigel Poor is a professor of photography at California State University in Sacramento. It was other people telling, you know, their stories about being robbed or losing a child, losing a loved one. So right now there would be a problem with me going back to see him because I'm currently on parole. [6] While in San Quentin, Woods was unpaid for his work on Ear Hustle, though fans would often send him money. It's - it's - I think being in a position to step away from it all and look back and say, man, I was on something else. It's something. GROSS: That people can change and that you should look at the person and not just the crime - that you'd still be in prison, I mean? But, as to being cool with it, it's what it is. You may be a changed individual, all the way changed, would never commit another crime. Earlonne still co-hosts the show alongside Nigel. Brown cited Woods'. Earlonne Woods is co-creator, co-producer and co-host of Ear Hustle from Radiotopia. Accuracy and availability may vary. And your brother is still in San Quentin. Jerry Brown (D) has commuted the prison sentence of Earlonne Woods, whose hit podcast Ear Hustle explores life inside San Quentin State Prison. And I listen very carefully to how you talked about your relationship and how much you thought about it and how painful and joyous the whole experience was for you. I'm doing that. Jerry Brown", "The story of "Ear Hustle", a podcast made by prisoners at San Quentin", "Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Podquest Semifinalists", "Prison-produced podcast 'Ear Hustle' lets you listen to real stories of incarcerated life", "San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom", "After parole, podcast producers are turning skills learned in prison into paying gigs", "This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life", "Why the podcast revolution is here to stay", "Ear Hustle Is an Utterly Fascinating Look at Prison Life", "Announcing the Winners of the 2019 Discover Pods Awards", "Announcing the winners of the 2020 Discover Pods Awards", "2019 iHeartradio Podcast Awards: Full List of Winners", "With eyes on the inside, 'Ear Hustle' makes the big time with its look at prisoners", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ear_Hustle&oldid=1134158700, "Ear Hustle Extra: Antwan Williams, Journeyist", "Ear Hustle Extra: In It for the Long Haul", "Ear Hustle Extra: A Call From Sacramento", "Ear Ear Hustle Presents: My Mother Made Me", This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 07:55. [7] They recruited fellow inmates Antwan Williams as the show's sound designer,[8] and submitted their idea for a podcast to a contest hosted by Radiotopia. Nigel first went to San Quentin as a volunteer teaching photography. I think the scope of the number of people that could possibly listen to this, I'm just really nervous about that. But the law don't see your rehabilitation. Ear Hustle co-hosted by Woods and Nigel Poor, an artist and volunteer at San Quentin interviews men in the prison about their lives there. And, like E WOODS: My partners. "Ear Hustle" the phrase is slang for eavesdropping is a collaboration between Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, both prisoners at San Quentin, and Nigel Poor, a Bay Area visual artist who teaches photography classes at the prison. Ear Hustle was the first podcast to be created entirely inside a prison. [17], Last edited on 21 December 2022, at 04:36, "Host Of The Prison Podcast 'Ear Hustle' Reflects On His 27 Years Behind Bars", "After parole, podcast producers are turning skills learned in prison into paying gigs", "Prison-produced podcast 'Ear Hustle' lets you listen to real stories of incarcerated life", "The story of "Ear Hustle", a podcast made by prisoners at San Quentin", "Podcast on prison stories wins PRX backing", "California inmate Walter 'Earlonne' Woods takes unlikely path to freedom: A popular podcast called 'Ear Hustle', "With eyes on the inside, 'Ear Hustle' makes the big time with its look at prisoners", "Earlonne Woods, Co-Host Of 'Ear Hustle' Podcast, Gets Prison Sentence Commuted", "San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom", "This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Earlonne_Woods&oldid=1128635338, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 04:36. He was sentenced to 31 years to life for attempted robbery in 1999. I just stopped over there, went and sat on a rock and just watched the water for about an hour. The two bonded over a love of storytelling and with no formal experience, began a podcast together where they showcase the . So what - what were the first communications like in which you tried to see, but is he a good interviewer? WOODS: It's unrealistic, but I think about just getting out of San Quentin, jumping in the water and swimming to my yacht and going around the world. Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods are gifted storytellers, and their ability to draw intimate, authentic stories out of others is extraordinary. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. But yeah, I can't. In some ways, like, I find it hard to understand that somebody, like, wouldn't have any empathy for the victim and wouldn't care. Ive been taking showers for like 20 years.. Let's get back to my interview with Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor, the creators and hosts of the podcast Ear Hustle, featuring interviews with prisoners in San Quentin about their lives and what it's like to be incarcerated. His commutation includes reference to Earlonne's work on the podcast. He and Nigel Poor began the podcast Ear Hustle when Earlonne was a prisoner in San Quentin. And when I went to prison, it was pretty much the California Department of Corrections, and there was not a rehabilitation on the name then. What we did was humanize [prisoners], just by telling their stories, Woods said in February. It destroys hope, and it violates the principle that redemption is at the essence of what it is to be human. POOR: It is a different world over there. E WOODS: I like my colors bright these days. For Walter "Earlonne" Woods, the path to freedom was podcasting. So I'm going to enjoy. And it's just about - you know, they accept anybody, you know? And y'all having these intimate conversations about, you know, why you went down this path or what it was like being a survivor, what it was like being this. He became affiliated with a local Crips gang in high school, and began selling marijuana at 14, and later sold cocaine. Mentally, it do, you know? (SOUNDBITE OF JOHN COLTRANE'S "OUT OF THIS WORLD"). SHAPIRO: That's Earlonne Woods from the podcast "Ear Hustle." Woods was involved in an attempted robbery in 1997, when he was in his 20s. GROSS: Earlonne, what's the custom among men in San Quentin? They said that, hey, when you went to jail when you were 17 - yeah, it was one time, but there was two convictions in that case. [16] In 2021, Woods and Poor co-authored the book This Is Ear Hustle. He running with these hard heads. What's it like to not care about the person who you're robbing or the person who might be killed by a stray bullet? GROSS: And you thanked him for doing it. POOR: You know, a kind of joy I never really experienced before - I mean, it's - you know, to be so happy for him and being in prison and not wanting to cry (laughter) - you know, trying to hold it together. And, Earlonne, since you served so much time, let's start with you. GROSS: So something I found really interesting is that the group that is multicultural and not segregated by race or ethnicity is the group that's into, like - the nerds, the group that are into, like, sci-fi fantasy and stuff like that. E WOODS: Yeah, so that's cool. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. He and Nigel are also the authors of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life, a book that was inspired by the podcast and released by Crown/Random House. And then I saw him in this awesome, orange T-shirt that had some brown in it. Earlonne resides in the United States. GROSS: Earlonne, how did you learn how to keep your calm and live in the kind of confined situation you were in during the more than two decades that you were incarcerated? [3] After two rounds of judging, Ear Hustle was selected as the winner and added to the Radiotopia network. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. They dont stay the same people that they were when they committed their crime. We'll be right back. GROSS: And that was because - you got such a long sentence because one crime had you convicted on two counts, so that counted as two strikes. But I just - just took a course that was - seemed cool to me at the time. You have to go through a lot of E WOODS: Yeah, it's a lot of stuff you have to go through. GROSS: Yeah. It's like - I think they're not under the constraints or the pressures to not accept people. POOR: It's the bay - yeah, the bay, yeah. [8][9] Poor is a visual artist in the San Francisco Bay area who volunteers at the prison. China. E WOODS: So I'll give you example. [5][15] In 2020, alongside Poor and co-host Rahsaan Thomas, Woods was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. The San Francisco Public Library chose the title for its One City One Book citywide community reading program in 2022. Ear Hustle was selected from 1,537 submissions, securing the funding for a 10-episode first season. Jerry Brown. And he's standing in a group. She co-created the podcast with Woods and has co-hosted and co-produced it with him. Earlonne is busy reporting on re-entry stories and daily life for originally incarcerated people, while also documenting his own experiences. And E WOODS: And of course I enjoy all the little moments. You're sitting across from law enforcement. He and Nigel are also the authors of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life, a book that became inspired by the podcast and released by Crown/Random House. Earlonne became busy reporting on re-entry stories and daily life for originally incarcerated people, while also documenting his own experiences. I don't know. I get to see how they express love and tenderness and fear and frustration and how they posture and what's behind that. And you have another 11 to go. POOR: Yeah, not skewed, not skewed. And as they questioned the driver, the passenger officer seen tattoos and Tyler's face and started questioning him, made him get out the car. Copyright 2019 NPR. Trevor was wanted and was on the run. It was a private wedding ceremony, according to accounts. Why am I doing this? POOR: So we were in the media lab working and - you know, trying to work, trying to stay concentrated. So you're interviewing a prisoner who - he and one of the volunteers fell in love, and so she stopped working there in any capacity, and they got married. [9], In a Rolling Stone article about the show, Tana Ganeva called it "a fascinating, harrowing and also deeply entertaining look into life on the inside that runs the full gamut of emotions. He said Woods has clearly shown that he is no longer the man he was when he committed the crime. GROSS: Nigel, when you first started volunteering in San Quentin, what were some of the things you had to deal with as a woman teaching in a prison of men? He's also co-host of the podcast "Ear Hustle," which is why we had him on this program. After you got out of San Quentin, you and Nigel went to the governor's mansion. It was the first podcast to be entirely created and produced inside a prison. But we knew that, you know, it's traditional for the governor to do these commutations right before Thanksgiving. POOR: You can't blend into what the guys inside wear. So here's Nigel Poor, co-host and co-producer of the podcast Ear Hustle. Does that mean we're self-absorbed? The two established a rapport,[6] and Poor proposed the idea of creating a podcast to Woods, who had previously not known what a podcast was. So I think I understand more the complexity and the pressures and inside I get to see men relating in very heartfelt ways. So it's been a real eye-opener for me. Nigel, I want to play an excerpt of an episode that you were very prominent in. Earlonne, congratulations on life outside of prison. Earlonne Woods is the co-creator, co-host, and co-producer of Ear Hustle (PRX & Radiotopia). After 21 years in prison, Governor Brown the great governor of California decided that I served enough time, Woods said in the latest. 'S behind that think the scope of the podcast `` Ear Hustle. of storytelling with. Judging, Ear Hustle when Earlonne was a private wedding ceremony, according to.. 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