The countdown is on! Earlonne and Nigel give listeners a taste of what’s in store this season: some controversy, some mystery, and (maybe) some laughter. The new season starts September 4. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Our team inside San Quentin explores the complicated acts of crying and Hula dancing in prison, reports on the joys and sorrows of a new prison clothing policy, pilots a new podcast, and sits down in a gazebo with a surprise guest. It’s a new issue of San Quentin: The Magazine. You can find the first issue of San Quentin: The Magazine here. This episode was scored with music by Derrell Sadiq Davis, Antwan “Banks” Williams, David Jassy, Steve Yen, and Fernando Arruda. Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, and Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women 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. 

Celebrating our 100th episode last year got the Ear Hustle team thinking about all the stories we’ve told since 2017. Over the next few months, EHers will talk about and listen to some of their favorite episodes from the archives — ones that they feel warrant another look. In this one, Nigel and Bruce revisit “This Place,” originally released in October 2018. The episode explores different ways of looking at San Quentin.  Thanks to George “Mesro” Coles-El, Richard Richardson aka Bonaru, John Robb, Norman Willhoite, Gregg Sayers, Lee Jasper, Lt. Sam Robinson, and Warden Clinton T. Duffy for sharing their stories.This episode was scored with music by David Jassy and Antwan Williams.You can find out more about the San Quentin Archive project on Nigel’s website, and information about Nigel’s show in Milwaukee through the Milwaukee Art Museum. Plus, learn more about Warden Clinton T. Duffy and check out his book. And, check out the San Quentin News, who work in the media lab with us.Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, and Acting Warden Williams, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women, 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. 

In this collaboration with the venerable live-storytelling project The Moth, we share one man’s story about using a medical condition to break the isolation of his life in prison, and Earlonne and Nigel catch up with the storyteller to find out what’s happened in his life since getting out. Plus, an expert’s guide to telling a great Moth story. This is the second of our two-part collaboration with The Moth. You can listen to part one at moth.org/podcast or by searching for The Moth on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Thanks to Michael Fischer and Edgar Ruiz, Jr. for talking to us for this episode. And thanks to Marc Sollinger, Sarah Austin Jenness, Sarah Jane Johnson, and Brandon Grant-Walker at The Moth for working with us on this collaboration. Go listen to more Moth stories! https://themoth.org/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. 

We’re introducing you to one of our favorite recent podcast discoveries. In 1997, a racially motivated attack and its aftermath roiled Chicago. “You Didn’t See Nothin” is a seven-part series that revisits that crime and explores how its impact radiated into many lives, including that of Yohance Lacour, the show’s host. Lacour tells a story that is part memoir and part investigation. We’re sharing the first episode. You can listen to the rest, and find out more about the series, at invisible.institute/ydsnpodcast. 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. 

Season 13 is coming soon; in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what’s going on in Ear Hustle Plus, our new subscription feed. In this excerpt, Nigel and Earlonne listen back to their very first episode, “Cellies,” and chat with executive producer Bruce Wallace about what life was like behind the scenes when Ear Hustle first stepped into the world, what’s changed since then, and the question in that episode that drove Earlonne nuts. To hear the rest of the Cellies commentary episode, sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus. You’ll also get access to more bonus content, including monthly Ask Me Anything episodes, where Nigel and Earlonne take on listener questions — the weirder, the better! Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

This season we're flipping the script on our traditional Catch a Kite episodes, exploring questions asked and answered between San Quentin State Prison and the California Institution for Women. Do men in prison form unofficial families the way incarcerated women do? Do women sentenced for killing an abusive spouse receive fair sentences? Which candies from the prison package catalog appeal the most in both places? All of this, and more, in Catch a Kite 7. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com. Give us a boost and help us reach our goal of 1,000 donors by June 8! Learn more and donate today, at https://on.prx.org/3KMxzRw. Tell us what Ear Hustle has helped YOU explore and why you're supporting the show. Leave us a voicemail at 1-510-906-1569, or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Thanks!

Six massive murals span hundreds of feet across the walls of a San Quentin chow hall, depicting the history of California in epic scale and detail. Residents of San Quentin eat their meals surrounded by this artwork, and thousands of people see it every year. The murals have inspired countless myths and mysteries, but for a long time, little was known about the artist who painted them. In this episode, we go in search of Alfredo Santos. You can see photos of the the San Quentin murals at our website. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

Ear Hustle’s eighth season launches on September 8th with a dramatic account of one of the most notorious days in San Quentin’s history: August 21st, 1971. By sundown, three guards and three incarcerated people lay dead. Fifty years later, the events of that day remain intensely contested, and emotions raw. We break down what happened, and why it still matters today. As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

With just a few weeks to go before Ear Hustle returns with Season 8, we wanted to introduce listeners to a new show that’s been in all of our headphones: Life Jolt. In this first episode, “The Before Times,” incarcerated women look back on the uncertainty and dread they experienced in those early days while they waited to receive their sentences.