JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: how
a podcast is providing
an intimate look at life
behind bars in California's
oldest prison.
The audio series "Ear Hustle,"
the first podcast to be produced
entirely inside a prison, has
steadily grown in popularity
by laying out in vivid detail
the everyday experiences of
the inmates at San Quentin.
Jeffrey Brown has our story.
MAN: You are now tuned into
San Quentin's "Ear Hustle."
MAN: What gives
you hope in prison?
MAN: Damn.
Getting out, that's
all I can hope for.
JEFFREY BROWN: On the popular
podcast, "Ear Hustle,"
they call this yard talk.
MAN: What does it mean to be
institutionalized in prison?
MAN: Like, just
being stuck in a rut.
Even though that you know
these things are not right, but
you're still doing them, though.
JEFFREY BROWN: For the inmates
at San Quentin, it's a chance
to be heard far beyond these
prison walls.
"Ear Hustle"'s stories and
the sketches by inmates that
accompany them offer a rare look
at life inside a prison.
The phrase is slang in
here for eavesdropping.
NIGEL POOR, Co-Host,
"Ear Hustle": How do
you take your coffee?
MAN: I don't usually drink
coffee in here, because I
like don't like to stay up.
I like to sleep it off.
JEFFREY BROWN: Sitting
just north of San
Francisco, San Quentin is
a California state facility
that's home to some 4,000 men,
most under medium security,
but it includes more than
700 on death row.
It's a place known for its
education and work opportunities
for prisoners, including a media
lab, where we watched the
show's co-hosts in action,
inmate Earlonne Woods and Nigel
Poor, a San Francisco-based
artist who's been volunteering
in San Quentin since 2011.
NIGEL POOR: The purpose of
the podcast is to try to tell
the everyday stories of life
inside prison, and trying
to find the commonalities
between what happens
inside and what happens
outside of prison.
MAN: I did not realize
that I could potentially
be facing life in prison.
JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"'s
stories can be raw and
intense about the realities of
race relations, for example.
MAN: You're one with your race.
If something happens between
two races, everyone is supposed
to go, whether it's fighting or
whatever.
JEFFREY BROWN: But there's also
plenty of humor and relatable
problems, such as sharing
a tiny space, as in the
episode called "Cellies."
MAN: You can't
walk by each other.
One person either got to
sit on his buck and the
other person can walk by.
MAN: The rule is, don't touch
my stuff, don't look through my
mail, don't look at my pictures,
do not put your hands on my
shelf, because, if you do,
that's like the ultimate form of
disrespect.
JEFFREY BROWN: Earlonne Woods,
who has served nearly 20 years
on a 31-year-to-life sentence
for attempted second-degree
robbery, says that "Ear Hustle"
is a reflection of his own
coming to terms.
EARLONNE WOODS, Co-Host, "Ear
Hustle": As you go through
time, you have to get real
with yourself and you have
to come to the conclusion,
well, I did do this.
You know, and I am
accountable for my actions.
And I think most people that
are here that's been locked up
over a decade are on that path,
to where they're trying to atone
for whatever may have happened
in the past or just trying
to find some type of
understanding, you know?
JEFFREY BROWN: Woods met
co-host Nigel Poor while she
was teaching a photography class
at San Quentin.
The pair hit it off and quickly
built an easy rapport that
has become the backbone of the
show.
NIGEL POOR: One of the original
intents was to show that
inside and outside people can
work together as colleagues
with professionalism
and mutual respect.
And I also can be the voice
of the person who doesn't
have experience in prison.
So, I can ask the maybe
embarrassing questions or
push Earlonne a little bit.
JEFFREY BROWN: Last year,
a pilot of the series
won an international
contest put on by PRX's
Radiotopia that helped
introduced "Ear Hustle"
to a much larger audience.
Within a few months, it was at
the top of the iTunes podcast
charts, and, to date, episodes
have been downloaded more
than six million times.
EARLONNE WOODS: We wasn't
trying to send no messages,
nothing like that.
We were just, let's
tell some good stories.
Let's get some good
people to tell stories.
JEFFREY BROWN: Nigel
Poor says finding good
stories at San Quentin
has never been a problem.
NIGEL POOR: There's a lot
of gossip inside prison.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.
NIGEL POOR: So, it's not hard to
get the word around that you're
looking for something specific.
So, at this point, we can
get people coming to us and
saying, I want to do this story.
JEFFREY BROWN: For the podcast's
sound designer, Antwan Williams,
who is serving a 15-year
sentence for armed robbery,
the challenge is to capture
the feel of daily life here,
including what he calls
the sound of despair.
What would despair feel like?
What would it sound like?
ANTWAN WILLIAMS, Sound Designer,
"Ear Hustle": It can be just the
sound of breathing by itself,
with no interruptions, with
no echoes or with no chimes,
just the sound of a breath.
JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"
follows the long tradition of
inmate-produced content at San
Quentin.
The prison's newspaper has
been published since the 1920s.
CURTIS ROBERTS, Inmate:
The first time I'm eligible
for parole is 2044.
JEFFREY BROWN: One episode,
called "Left Behind," included
the story of Curtis Roberts, who
is in his 23rd year after
being sentenced under
California's three strikes law.
CURTIS ROBERTS: The crime I
committed was that I walked
into a liquor store, I snatched
two $20 bills out of the
cash register, no weapon.
After I got caught for stealing
the $40, I pled guilty to
burglary robbery, and they
gave me 50 years to life.
JEFFREY BROWN: Roberts says
he eventually felt safe enough
with the "Ear Hustle" team
to talk about something
rarely spoken of: He'd been
raped inside San Quentin.
CURTIS ROBERTS: They
really helped me feel
comfortable and calm.
And I never felt threatened.
It was a comfortable
environment.
JEFFREY BROWN: What do you think
is the biggest misperception
about people in prison?
CURTIS ROBERTS: I think the
perception is that we're
these monsters in here.
I am not a monster.
I'm a stupid idiot that
did drugs and stole money.
I'm still human, though.
JEFFREY BROWN: Every
"Ear Hustle" story, no
matter the topic, must
be approved by Lieutenant
Sam Robinson, San Quentin's
public information officer.
LT.
SAM ROBINSON, San Quentin Public
Information Officer: I think,
as a society, we're responsible.
We pay for what takes place
behind the walls of a prison.
And you're accountable for it.
And so, if you're accountable
for it, you should be
informed about what that is.
JEFFREY BROWN: Robinson says the
only episode he nearly prevented
was titled "The Boom Boom
Room" about conjugal visits,
both legal and illicit.
MAN: At San Quentin, the
married guys who have them get
to spend 48 hours with their
family in a cottage
on prison grounds.
NIGEL POOR: OK, that's the
official, legitimate way.
But people being who they
are, they're going to find
a way to do their thing.
LT.
SAM ROBINSON: I have been
here 21 years, so I have...
(LAUGHTER)
LT.
SAM ROBINSON: You know,
it's not the first time
that I have heard it.
It's not the first time that
I'm aware of illegal sexual
activities taking place inside
the prison.
JEFFREY BROWN: "Ear Hustle"'s
creators say they have been
overwhelmed by the response
to the series so far.
But I asked Woods what
he'd tell those, including
victims of crime, who
might question his freedom
to do this work.
EARLONNE WOODS: Everybody
has their truth, you know?
Even the victims and the
survivors that you're
speaking of, they have
their truth, whether
we should have this or not.
But I believe that the whole
purpose of the Department of
Corrections or prisons is for
one to correct themselves.
So, if the underlying reasons
is for us to correct ourselves,
there should be some type
of rehabilitative services.
JEFFREY BROWN: Woods and the
rest of the team are now at work
on season two of "Ear Hustle,"
set for next march.
For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Jeffrey Brown in San
Quentin Prison, California.