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JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: how
a podcast is providing
an intimate look at life
behind bars in California's

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oldest prison.

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The audio series "Ear Hustle,"
the first podcast to be produced
entirely inside a prison, has

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steadily grown in popularity
by laying out in vivid detail
the everyday experiences of

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the inmates at San Quentin.

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Jeffrey Brown has our story.

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MAN: You are now tuned into
San Quentin's "Ear Hustle."

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MAN: What gives
you hope in prison?

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MAN: Damn.

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Getting out, that's
all I can hope for.

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JEFFREY BROWN: On the popular
podcast, "Ear Hustle,"
they call this yard talk.

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MAN: What does it mean to be
institutionalized in prison?

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MAN: Like, just
being stuck in a rut.

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Even though that you know
these things are not right, but
you're still doing them, though.

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JEFFREY BROWN: For the inmates
at San Quentin, it's a chance
to be heard far beyond these

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prison walls.

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"Ear Hustle"'s stories and
the sketches by inmates that
accompany them offer a rare look

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at life inside a prison.

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The phrase is slang in
here for eavesdropping.

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NIGEL POOR, Co-Host,
"Ear Hustle": How do
you take your coffee?

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MAN: I don't usually drink
coffee in here, because I
like don't like to stay up.

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I like to sleep it off.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Sitting
just north of San
Francisco, San Quentin is
a California state facility

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that's home to some 4,000 men,
most under medium security,
but it includes more than

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700 on death row.

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It's a place known for its
education and work opportunities
for prisoners, including a media

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lab, where we watched the
show's co-hosts in action,
inmate Earlonne Woods and Nigel

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Poor, a San Francisco-based
artist who's been volunteering
in San Quentin since 2011.

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NIGEL POOR: The purpose of
the podcast is to try to tell
the everyday stories of life

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inside prison, and trying
to find the commonalities
between what happens
inside and what happens

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outside of prison.

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MAN: I did not realize
that I could potentially
be facing life in prison.

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JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"'s
stories can be raw and
intense about the realities of

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race relations, for example.

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MAN: You're one with your race.

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If something happens between
two races, everyone is supposed
to go, whether it's fighting or

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whatever.

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JEFFREY BROWN: But there's also
plenty of humor and relatable
problems, such as sharing

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a tiny space, as in the
episode called "Cellies."

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MAN: You can't
walk by each other.

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One person either got to
sit on his buck and the
other person can walk by.

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MAN: The rule is, don't touch
my stuff, don't look through my
mail, don't look at my pictures,

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do not put your hands on my
shelf, because, if you do,
that's like the ultimate form of

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disrespect.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Earlonne Woods,
who has served nearly 20 years
on a 31-year-to-life sentence

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for attempted second-degree
robbery, says that "Ear Hustle"
is a reflection of his own

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coming to terms.

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EARLONNE WOODS, Co-Host, "Ear
Hustle": As you go through
time, you have to get real

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with yourself and you have
to come to the conclusion,
well, I did do this.

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You know, and I am
accountable for my actions.

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And I think most people that
are here that's been locked up
over a decade are on that path,

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to where they're trying to atone
for whatever may have happened
in the past or just trying

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to find some type of
understanding, you know?

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JEFFREY BROWN: Woods met
co-host Nigel Poor while she
was teaching a photography class

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at San Quentin.

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The pair hit it off and quickly
built an easy rapport that
has become the backbone of the

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show.

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NIGEL POOR: One of the original
intents was to show that
inside and outside people can

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work together as colleagues
with professionalism
and mutual respect.

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And I also can be the voice
of the person who doesn't
have experience in prison.

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So, I can ask the maybe
embarrassing questions or
push Earlonne a little bit.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Last year,
a pilot of the series
won an international
contest put on by PRX's

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Radiotopia that helped
introduced "Ear Hustle"
to a much larger audience.

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Within a few months, it was at
the top of the iTunes podcast
charts, and, to date, episodes

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have been downloaded more
than six million times.

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EARLONNE WOODS: We wasn't
trying to send no messages,
nothing like that.

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We were just, let's
tell some good stories.

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Let's get some good
people to tell stories.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Nigel
Poor says finding good
stories at San Quentin
has never been a problem.

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NIGEL POOR: There's a lot
of gossip inside prison.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

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NIGEL POOR: So, it's not hard to
get the word around that you're
looking for something specific.

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So, at this point, we can
get people coming to us and
saying, I want to do this story.

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JEFFREY BROWN: For the podcast's
sound designer, Antwan Williams,
who is serving a 15-year

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sentence for armed robbery,
the challenge is to capture
the feel of daily life here,

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including what he calls
the sound of despair.

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What would despair feel like?

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What would it sound like?

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ANTWAN WILLIAMS, Sound Designer,
"Ear Hustle": It can be just the
sound of breathing by itself,

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with no interruptions, with
no echoes or with no chimes,
just the sound of a breath.

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JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"
follows the long tradition of
inmate-produced content at San

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Quentin.

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The prison's newspaper has
been published since the 1920s.

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CURTIS ROBERTS, Inmate:
The first time I'm eligible
for parole is 2044.

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JEFFREY BROWN: One episode,
called "Left Behind," included
the story of Curtis Roberts, who

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is in his 23rd year after
being sentenced under
California's three strikes law.

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CURTIS ROBERTS: The crime I
committed was that I walked
into a liquor store, I snatched

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two $20 bills out of the
cash register, no weapon.

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After I got caught for stealing
the $40, I pled guilty to
burglary robbery, and they

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gave me 50 years to life.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Roberts says
he eventually felt safe enough
with the "Ear Hustle" team

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to talk about something
rarely spoken of: He'd been
raped inside San Quentin.

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CURTIS ROBERTS: They
really helped me feel
comfortable and calm.

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And I never felt threatened.

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It was a comfortable
environment.

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JEFFREY BROWN: What do you think
is the biggest misperception
about people in prison?

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CURTIS ROBERTS: I think the
perception is that we're
these monsters in here.

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I am not a monster.

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I'm a stupid idiot that
did drugs and stole money.

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I'm still human, though.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Every
"Ear Hustle" story, no
matter the topic, must
be approved by Lieutenant

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Sam Robinson, San Quentin's
public information officer.

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LT.

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SAM ROBINSON, San Quentin Public
Information Officer: I think,
as a society, we're responsible.

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We pay for what takes place
behind the walls of a prison.

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And you're accountable for it.

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And so, if you're accountable
for it, you should be
informed about what that is.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Robinson says the
only episode he nearly prevented
was titled "The Boom Boom

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Room" about conjugal visits,
both legal and illicit.

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MAN: At San Quentin, the
married guys who have them get
to spend 48 hours with their

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family in a cottage
on prison grounds.

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NIGEL POOR: OK, that's the
official, legitimate way.

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But people being who they
are, they're going to find
a way to do their thing.

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LT.

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SAM ROBINSON: I have been
here 21 years, so I have...

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(LAUGHTER)

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LT.

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SAM ROBINSON: You know,
it's not the first time
that I have heard it.

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It's not the first time that
I'm aware of illegal sexual
activities taking place inside

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the prison.

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JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"'s
creators say they have been
overwhelmed by the response

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to the series so far.

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But I asked Woods what
he'd tell those, including
victims of crime, who
might question his freedom

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to do this work.

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EARLONNE WOODS: Everybody
has their truth, you know?

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Even the victims and the
survivors that you're
speaking of, they have
their truth, whether

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we should have this or not.

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But I believe that the whole
purpose of the Department of
Corrections or prisons is for

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one to correct themselves.

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So, if the underlying reasons
is for us to correct ourselves,
there should be some type

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of rehabilitative services.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Woods and the
rest of the team are now at work
on season two of "Ear Hustle,"

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set for next march.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Jeffrey Brown in San
Quentin Prison, California.