Ranked #1
The SHU
The SHU
The hole, the box, solitary confinement. It doesn’t matter what you call it; doing time in the SHU (Security Housing Uni... Read more
26 Jul 2017
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28mins
Ranked #2
Tell Christy I Love Her
Tell Christy I Love Her
Tom was a cop; Jason was a teenager in a gang. One night in 1997, they had a violent encounter that Tom describes as “in... Read more
16 Oct 2019
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43mins
Ranked #3
Life Shows Up
Life Shows Up
Getting a job after serving time is crucial to rebuilding your life, but a criminal record inevitably gets in the way. F... Read more
28 Aug 2019
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37mins
Ranked #4
Us and Them
Us and Them
The relationships between incarcerated people and the correctional officers who guard their prisons are often as bad as ... Read more
1 Apr 2020
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56mins
Ranked #5
Crew No. 7
Crew No. 7
Incarcerated people have long played an important role in firefighting in California. Now, in the middle of the state’s ... Read more
25 Nov 2020
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45mins
Ranked #6
The Great Ear Hustle Cook Off
The Great Ear Hustle Cook Off
For our first-annual Ear Hustle Cook Off, four formerly-incarcerated people replicate meals they used to make inside the... Read more
7 Oct 2020
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45mins
Ranked #7
Locked Down Again
Locked Down Again
As the Coronavirus pandemic locks down parts of America and the world, we revisit an episode from 2018 about how the San... Read more
18 Mar 2020
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41mins
Ranked #8
Bittersweet
Bittersweet
In prison, life’s major milestones usually pass at a distance. In our season three finale, Earlonne gets up close to a b... Read more
12 Dec 2018
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45mins
Ranked #9
Thick Glass
Thick Glass
Parenting is never easy, but from prison it's especially challenging. In this episode, incarcerated fathers share their ... Read more
25 Apr 2018
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35mins
Ranked #10
Looking Out
Looking Out
The need to nurture and show love for another living being (or, in San Quentin parlance, “looking out”) is an essential ... Read more
12 Jul 2017
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23mins
Ranked #11
Nobody Comes Back
Nobody Comes Back
Getting out of prison means freedom, but this liberation often comes with caveats. In our final episode of the season, t... Read more
10 Jun 2020
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56mins
Ranked #12
A Message from Ear Hustle
A Message from Ear Hustle
Back in 2016, our podcast network, Radiotopia, made the Ear Hustle dream a reality. In honor of Radiotopia’s annual fund... Read more
27 Nov 2019
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5mins
Ranked #13
Excuse Me on the Tier
Excuse Me on the Tier
Ear Hustle is back with season four! Let’s get oriented: to a new format and a new inside host, and through the stories ... Read more
5 Jun 2019
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35mins
Ranked #14
Catch a Kite
Catch a Kite
“Kite” is a common term in prison for a written note. Over the course of the season, listeners have been encouraged to s... Read more
9 Aug 2017
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28mins
Ranked #15
So Long
So Long
Leaving an organization or community often calls for an exit strategy – even in prison. In this final episode of season ... Read more
20 Jun 2018
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41mins
Ranked #16
Snack Money
Snack Money
Running a prison takes a lot of work, and not just by the staff running the place. At San Quentin inmates work regular j... Read more
14 Aug 2019
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40mins
Ranked #17
The Boom Boom Room
The Boom Boom Room
Being married in prison is common. Opportunities to get intimate with your spouse are not, and – like everything else in... Read more
30 Aug 2017
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28mins
Ranked #18
Dirty Water
Dirty Water
Sex trafficking crimes are hard to talk about. In this episode, Sara and LA share their individual experiences of being ... Read more
28 Mar 2018
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36mins
Ranked #19
The Workaround
The Workaround
Looking good and feeling good matters just as much on the inside, as on the outside. But in prison, you can't just walk ... Read more
11 Apr 2018
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32mins
Ranked #20
The Row
The Row
San Quentin houses California’s only death row for male inmates. And though it’s technically not far from the media lab,... Read more
23 May 2018
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42mins