When then Gov. Jerry Brown’s staff spoke to Earlonne Woods to inform him his life sentence was being commuted after spending 21 years in jail, within the background of the decision he heard workers yell out, “We love ‘Ear Hustle!’ ”
“The idea was to tell everyday stories of life inside that didn’t talk about violence, didn’t talk about how people got to prison, didn’t necessarily talk about the system, how we felt about it, but what happens when you need to make a life in prison,” Poor mentioned.
Not solely has “Ear Hustle” modified Woods’ trajectory, but it surely’s additionally sparked a motion. Dozens of podcasts have since sprung up at prisons across the nation and internationally. Since his launch, Woods, 54, and Poor, 62, have visited prisons throughout California to coach incarcerated individuals in podcasting. They’ve even heard of “Ear Hustle” — which implies to eavesdrop — listening and dialogue golf equipment in an Arkansas jail. The podcast, which has roughly 88 million downloads and is featured on main platforms, together with Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020.
Earlonne Woods information for the “Ear Hustle” podcast at KQED in San Francisco.
(Josh Edelson / For The Instances)
“Our dream was only to air inside of San Quentin, and then our bigger dream was the 35 prisons,” Woods mentioned. “Since then, we are heard in over 1,500 jails and prisons across the nation. We’re heard in 112 prisons in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.”
Now, the “Ear Hustle” staff, who work out of the KQED workplace in San Francisco, is about to go on a 3rd tour. The staff is hitting venues in West Coast cities reminiscent of Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles and visiting a jail close to every of these stops. It’s the first to convey a podcast tour to prisons. Throughout its L.A. go to in February, Woods and Poor will likely be internet hosting the present on the vibey Lodge Room in Highland Park, in addition to the California Establishment for Ladies in Chino.
“Ear Hustle” episodes cowl quite a lot of subjects together with how cellmates get alongside, taking good care of pets in jail, being a mother or father in jail, cooking in a cell, the function mail performs and the lingering impression of three strikes legal guidelines. The L.A. cease, a homecoming for Woods, who grew up in South-Central Los Angeles, will characteristic widespread clips and never-before-heard snippets. There may also be music, dance performances and a e-book signing of “This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life.”
“I understand that a lot of currently incarcerated people are watching me, so I go into the prisons for work, of course, but as more of an inspiration, because they see me, they’re like, ‘Oh, man, look he is coming back in, he is doing his thing,’ ” Woods mentioned.
When Woods was nonetheless at San Quentin, a commissioner from a jail in Indiana met with the “Ear Hustle” staff to get recommendation about how they might begin a jail podcast of their state.
Former “Ear Hustle” producer Julie Shapiro’s son, Phin Shapiro, holds up an indication congratulating the staff for being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as seen on the podcast’s studio.
(Josh Edelson / For The Instances)
“The commissioner came and told us straight up, ‘If the incarcerated people in my prison would have ever sent me a request to do a podcast in the prison, I would have balled it up and threw it in the trash, but listening to your stories made me really consider that,’ because it gave them a different outlook on the people that they serve,” Woods mentioned.
Once they have been first growing the podcast at San Quentin, Woods and Poor mentioned it required some cooperation with jail administration. Poor mentioned she needed to earn their belief as a result of she was getting audio from contained in the jail and sending it out to the Bay Space KALW radio station for three- to five-minute segments.
After Woods’ launch, “Ear Hustle” was in a position to evolve. Woods all the time knew he wished to assist convey the same storytelling to girls’s prisons — now he does. He and Poor have taught podcasting courses on the California Establishment for Ladies, simply as they do at males’s prisons.
“Uncuffed,” one other podcast in California prisons, which launched in 2019, has aired greater than 200 tales. It stories that launched podcast individuals had a zero p.c return charge, and alumni have gone on to turn into skilled podcasters and documentary filmmakers. It additionally teaches individuals how you can turn into radio DJs. In 2021, Inside Wire in Colorado turned the primary radio station on the planet to broadcast 24/7 from inside prisons to the general public. “Concrete Mama,” which began in a Washington state jail early final 12 months, calls itself “more than a podcast — it’s a movement.”
Ear Hustle Dwell!
When: Feb. 12 at 8 p.m.The place: Lodge Room, 104 N. Avenue 56, 2nd ground, in Highland ParkTickets: $39
“Everybody is human,” Woods mentioned. “People make bad decisions, and sometimes those bad decisions give you life sentences, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t contribute to society, because everybody learns from their bad decisions. Prison is a microcosm of society. Everything that goes on in society pretty much goes on inside prison. I definitely think that we are shining a great light on that.”
