“Ear Hustle” Podcast from Radiotopia Releases First Episode With Stories from an International Prison
The episode is part of the acclaimed podcast’s tenth season
Radiotopia from PRX — the award-winning podcast network empowering independent creators — invites listeners to season ten of “Ear Hustle.”
Over ten seasons, the award-winning podcast has shared stories of the daily realities of life in prison by those living it and from outside, post-incarceration. Co-hosted by Earlonne Woods, Nigel Poor, and Rahsaan ‘New York’ Thomas, the podcast has recently brought listeners reflections from inside San Quentin through the five senses, accounts of how incarcerated individuals create personal space in a place with little privacy, and more.
For the first time on “Ear Hustle,” today, an episode focuses on stories recorded by the team in international prisons. Available now is an episode from Woods’ and Poor’s visit to Norway, and four prisons there: Oslo Prison, Bredtveit prison for women, Eidsberg high-security prison, and Halden Prison, a so-called “prison utopia.” “Ear Hustle” finds philosophies and practices that would appear almost inconceivable, from a Californian perspective, including open prisons that incarcerated people leave during the day and prison grounds as well-designed as the wealthiest American universities. But they also see elements of the Norwegian system where ideals fall short. For instance, recent and severe budget cuts have left many incarcerated people at the “prison utopia” confined to their rooms for over 20 hours a day.
Audio for this episode was recorded while Poor and Woods attended the first International Prison Conference held in Oslo, Norway in June 2022. The event, convened by Prison Radio International, was attended by members of the prison audio community around the world.
“Having such a small guard-to-prisoner population, that’s different,” said Woods, regarding Halden Prison. “Seeing guards and incarcerated people all eating at the same table like we did, it was just a different vibe. It’s more of a healing prison.”
A two-time Peabody Award nominee and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, “Ear Hustle” launched in 2017 as the first podcast created and produced in prison. “This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life” — the book co-authored by podcast co-creators Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, published by Crown/Random House — is currently the focal point for the San Francisco Public Library’s One City One Book: San Francisco Reads citywide reading program. In 2022, “Ear Hustle” was cited by Fast Company in the World Changing Ideas Awards.
“It was special to have part of the ‘Ear Hustle’ team together and adventuring together and reinvigorating our creative spirit about what we can do in the future,” said Poor.
Listeners new to “Ear Hustle” are invited to explore a collection of episodes curated by the production team from across the series’ ten seasons. Episodes include stories about the process of finding a cellmate, the profound act of writing and receiving letters, the legends behind prison nicknames, and what it’s like to be a father, from inside prison. Recently praised by Ira Glass of “This American Life” as “vivid, and unpretentious, and entertaining,” “Ear Hustle” episodes have been downloaded more than 67 million times.
For more about “Ear Hustle,” visit earhustlesq.com.
About Radiotopia from PRX
Created in 2014, Radiotopia from PRX is today one of the most creative and successful podcast networks. Programming part of Radiotopia has received recognition from the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the Tribeca Festival, and the Pulitzer Prizes. Comprised of acclaimed titles from leading indie producers, Radiotopia has also been named one of the most innovative companies in media by Fast Company and in 2019 was named the network of the year in the inaugural Adweek podcast awards. Visit Radiotopia.fm for more.
