FOR STARTERS columns
HAUTE REVIEW DAVID KITE
Displacing inhumanity with humanity
The podcast Ear Hustle offers glimpses of daily prison life heard directly from those who have experienced it . ( Ear hustle is a term used in prisons to denote eavesdropping .) It is also the first podcast to be created and produced entirely within a prison . The new book “ This is Ear Hustle : Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life ” tells the story of how the eponymous podcast was created , and shares some of the stories that have been collected over the years .
The podcast is the brainchild of Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods , and was developed by them in what passes for the media lab at San Quentin State Prison in California . Nigel had been a volunteer for the prison , where she taught classes on photography for the Prison University Project . Earlonne was an inmate serving a sentence of 31 years to life for a non-violent crime . While collaborating on another project , Nigel approached Earlonne with a brochure for a podcast competition called Podquest , sponsored by the podcast network Radiotopia . They produced a brief promotional episode and , with the green light and blessing from San Quentin ’ s public information officer , submitted Ear Hustle to the competition . Against the odds , in a pool of contestants numbering 1,536 from 53 countries , Ear Hustle
Read-alikes :
• “ Writing My Wrongs : Life , Death , and Redemption in an American Prison ,” by Shaka Senghor
• “ The Master Plan : My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose ,” by Chris Wilson
• “ My Time Will Come : A Memoir of Crime , Punishment , Hope , and Redemption ,” by Ian Manuel made the top 10 , then the top four , and finally won the contest . The prize was national distribution and production support from Radiotopia .
So much of the public ’ s exposure to prisons and prison life comes from popular media , whether it ’ s crime fiction and novels or television documentaries , so much of which focus on the inhumanity of the institutions and the inmates . Nigel and Earlonne made the conscious decision to bring the pendulum back toward center by focusing on the everyday experiences of those who are a part of the system . Certainly , they do not deny that prison is a terrible place where terrible things happen , nor do any of the inmates deny their crimes or the justice of their incarceration . What Nigel and Earlonne have accomplished is to displace the inhumanity of the situation to highlight the humanity of those involved .
In one exchange between Nigel and Earlonne , they state , “ People know incarceration sucks ... We ’ ve never been about giving people a false reality ... we are telling real stories about how you make a life inside and what happens when you get out .” They continue , “ Being incarcerated isn ’ t a life anybody wants , but it is a life nonetheless : you work , you make friends , you deal with health , family conflict , education ; all the stuff that happens outside the walls happens inside .”
The book comprises a selection of segments of interviews from the podcast . Nigel and Earlonne interview currently and formerly incarcerated people . Also included are family members , who , even though they themselves are not incarcerated , are by extension caught up in the system . “ This is Ear Hustle ” is also available as an e-audiobook , which allows you to listen to the interviewees in their own voices . Though no one is without their own struggles and tribulations , most of the featured stories highlight the successes of their subjects .
Many of these describe how incarcerated individuals exist within their confinement , and the coping mechanisms they have developed to get through their day-to-day existence . Other interviews discuss life after release , or the difficulties and the importance of maintaining social and familial relationships during incarceration .
Despite how terrible incarceration is , for many of the interviewees of Ear Hustle , it was their prison experience that helped them get straight . Many of them were proactively involved in the vocational , educational and rehabilitative programs available to them , including Earlonne . Earlonne ’ s sentence was commuted in 2018 by the governor of California after spending 21 years in prison , which was due in no small part to the success of the Ear Hustle podcast . He is testament to the hope of rehabilitation for those committed to doing so , provided that prisons offer , and provide adequate support for , rehabilitative programs .
Ear Hustle ended its first season in 2017 with over six million downloads . It is currently on its eighth season . It has been nominated for several awards , including the Peabody Award , the News & Documentary Award for Outstanding Arts , Culture , or Entertainment Coverage , and most recently , it was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting . “ This is Ear Hustle ” offers a no-nonsense slice of lives so little considered .
Read it !
“ This is Ear Hustle : Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life ” is available at the Vigo County Public Library .
David Kite is a librarian at the Vigo County Public Library . An avid student of history , he also devotes his time to pursuing Renaissance martial arts and to trail riding with his horse , Stormy . He can be reached at dkite @ vigo . lib . in . us .
March 2022 • Terre Haute Living 11