POOR: So I'm just going to be very blunt with you. Do you usually know what somebody is in for and do you ask, or is that considered wrong to ask? While incarcerated, he received his GED, attended Coastline Community College, and completed many vocational programs. But of course when someone's in prison and the other person's not, there's so many things you can't do. I find it invigorating. So you're interviewing a prisoner who - he and one of the volunteers fell in love, and so she stopped working there in any capacity, and they got married. In 2020, Ear Hustle was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting the first time the . He spin his vinyl. And I stopped by this lake. But it was just - it was spectacular. In 2016, it was selected by the Radiotopia network as the winner of its Podquest competition, and the following year released its first season. But we knew that, you know, it's traditional for the governor to do these commutations right before Thanksgiving. E WOODS: Well, me growing up the way I grew up, I grew up in a lifestyle where I was young when I got into selling drugs, and I was - I was real young. Behind 'Ear Hustle,' The Podcast Made In Prison. And the assumption is that what you did at that moment is what you are today even though it's five years, 10 years, 20, 30 years later. Earlonne Woods annual salary is $61,244 on average. What's it like to not think about that? You're more looking at what you're getting out of the situation. Like, me personally, what I took away from a lot of things is that, yeah, I may have robbed a person for, let's say, $1. He likes to keep his personal life private hence Earlonne has not mentioned any details concerning his marital status. How do we present this? Its out of body, he said of getting the call from Browns office. So I'm going to enjoy. As co-host of the 2019 Third Coast Awards Ceremony, Earlonne will make his return to the "Oscars of Radio." Last year, he beamed in via video ( watch here ) after winning a 2018 Best Documentary: Honorable Mention Award as part of the Ear Hustle team. You know, he running the streets. When Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods met, Poor was a photography professor volunteering with the Prison University Project, and Woods was serving thirty-one years to life at California's San Quentin State Prison. GROSS: Yeah. They fell in love just like anyone else would. But you look back, and you're looking at it like, I've wasted, like - I can say right now, I'm 47 years old. WOODS: That's something that a lot of us behind bars fantasize about - getting out and leading a normal life. [17], Last edited on 21 December 2022, at 04:36, "Host Of The Prison Podcast 'Ear Hustle' Reflects On His 27 Years Behind Bars", "After parole, podcast producers are turning skills learned in prison into paying gigs", "Prison-produced podcast 'Ear Hustle' lets you listen to real stories of incarcerated life", "The story of "Ear Hustle", a podcast made by prisoners at San Quentin", "Podcast on prison stories wins PRX backing", "California inmate Walter 'Earlonne' Woods takes unlikely path to freedom: A popular podcast called 'Ear Hustle', "With eyes on the inside, 'Ear Hustle' makes the big time with its look at prisoners", "Earlonne Woods, Co-Host Of 'Ear Hustle' Podcast, Gets Prison Sentence Commuted", "San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom", "This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Earlonne_Woods&oldid=1128635338, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 04:36. He is now 47. Earlonne, tell us a little more about what happened to Tyler, how he was killed. I was questioning everything. In 1997, Earlonne was sentenced to thirty-one years to life in prison. And I was - yeah, I was definitely nervous. [3] After two rounds of judging, Ear Hustle was selected as the winner and added to the Radiotopia network. POOR: And it's going to be a little bit hard. In 1997, Earlonne was sentenced to thirty-one years to life in prison. The rest of it is just an enhancement. Just to be out there with her.. "[6], Multiple reviewers noted how funny the show can be, despite often dealing with serious topics, and how uncommon it is to find humor in media taking place in real life prison settings. Wake up to the day's most important news. Vice President . Nigel, I want to play an excerpt of an episode that you were very prominent in. Co-founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Nigel Poor alongside Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams who were incarcerated at the time the podcast now tells stories from both inside prison and from the outside, post-incarceration. It was a restorative justice group. SHAPIRO: Earlonne Woods is 47. Redmond O'Neal is the son of American actor Ryan O'Neal and Farah Fawcett (an America. GROSS: So can I ask you an honest question? I felt like in Earlonne I found a true professional colleague. E WOODS: Well, I mean, it's cool, you know? He is a man of average stature. Earlonne Woods is the co-creator, co-host, and co-producer of Ear Hustle (PRX & Radiotopia). WOODS: It's unrealistic, but I think about just getting out of San Quentin, jumping in the water and swimming to my yacht and going around the world. , after serving 21 years of a 31-years-to-life sentence. So they don't even have the opportunity to even go in front of the board to say, hey, look, for the last 21 years, I've changed, you know, because their board dates ain't till 2150, you know? So I think what kept me sane is that I had the philosophy where, I am going to live to the best of my ability every day that I have left on this Earth no matter where I'm at. They're the co-hosts and co-producers of the podcast Ear Hustle, which features interviews with men incarcerated in San Quentin about their daily lives and their personal stories. Not one bit, you know? I'm fine working with him now. Others are typical and comfortable, never rising to celebrity status but supplying its partners with a contented existence. Along with Nigel Poor, he is a full-time producer, co-host, and co-creator of Ear Hustle at PRX. Earlonne became preoccupied with reporting on re-entry stories and daily life for people who had previously been incarcerated, as well as documenting his own experiences. GROSS: And that was because - you got such a long sentence because one crime had you convicted on two counts, so that counted as two strikes. Earlonne continues to co-host the show with Nigel. I'm Terry Gross. What's it like to not care about the person who you're robbing or the person who might be killed by a stray bullet? And, like E WOODS: My partners. [7] They recruited fellow inmates Antwan Williams as the show's sound designer,[8] and submitted their idea for a podcast to a contest hosted by Radiotopia. Like, he just seemed lighter and shiny and fresh. You know, he was - you know, I even - I'm talking to him all the time. Self's story opens the first episode of Ear Hustle, an engrossing new podcast out of San Quentin prison, a state facility in California. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. I told him that constantly. And they open fired on him. And it was just like - it didn't even register with me. And you start thinking differently, you know? Your nephew, his son, Tyler, was born in 1994. He works as a full-time producer, co-host, and co-creator of Ear Hustle at PRX alongside Nigel Poor. I wouldn't spend time in a place that made me uncomfortable or I didn't like. And, Earlonne, again, I want to thank - I want to congratulate you again for your new freedom. And when I went to prison, it was pretty much the California Department of Corrections, and there was not a rehabilitation on the name then. You're not really looking at the person. He is a man of average height. But that was a case that challenged my desire to not know and to - how to deal with the knowing once it's been presented to you. E WOODS: In between prison - when I got out - Tyler had just been born in '94. Our associate producer for digital media is Molly Seavy-Nesper. (SOUNDBITE OF STEFANO BOLLANI AND JESPER BODILSEN AND MORTEN LUND AND MARK TURNER AND BILL FRISELL'S "ALOBAR E KUDRA"). POOR: Well, I would like to see more programs created that allow people inside and outside to work together as colleagues. So I gave him, you know, a handshake with as much emotion as I could muster POOR: Appropriately. POOR: We can taste each other's food 'cause, you know, in prison you can't share food with people. Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor started the podcast Ear Hustle when Woods was a prisoner in San Quentin. GROSS: Their brothers are the people who live in a similar world of fantasy as opposed to defining their brothers as being, you know, a skin color or ethnicity. It was the first podcast to be entirely created and produced inside a prison. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. But I'd say a lot of people, particularly in law enforcement, want to look at the crime only, and that's really the big debate. They say hello. Once the details concerning Earlonne's marital status are available we shall update. When Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods met, Nigel was a photography professor volunteering with the Prison University Project and Earlonne was serving thirty-one years to life at California's San Quentin State Prison. And I listen very carefully to how you talked about your relationship and how much you thought about it and how painful and joyous the whole experience was for you. So you'll never get the opportunity to be in front of people to present the person that you are today. There's a story you did about how people like you from the outside who come in to volunteer - because you started at San Quentin volunteering teaching photography before you started doing the podcast Ear Hustle. GROSS: My guests are Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods, the creators and hosts of the podcast Ear Hustle about life inside San Quentin Prison. ERIN: I don't - I don't know. In 1997, Earlonne was sentenced to thirty-one years to life in prison. POOR: Well, let me ask you this - do you feel like we're being unfair trying to make you do this? E WOODS: So I think that goes into, like, what they call politics in prison and where, you know, you may have certain prisons that it matters what you're in prison for like - and it's a difference on a race level. Earlonne Woods was released from San Quentin in November after his sentence was commuted by Governor Jerry Brown. I pretty much raised Tyler from '95 to '97, when I got arrested. And it's all that some of the people that you choose to associate with do, you know? GROSS: Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor are the co-creators, co-producers and co-hosts of the podcast Ear Hustle, which features interviews with men incarcerated in San Quentin. His sentence was commuted by Governor Jerry Brown in November. "[9] The series is not overtly political, but Poor emphasizes the way the show can have a humanizing effect, making listeners care about the men they hear on the show and wonder why one of the hosts might serve a life sentence for attempted robbery. And then Trevor was arrested when their son, Tyler, was 10. [5] Woods role on the podcast was well-received, with Sarah Larson from The New Yorker describing him as an "immediately warm and likable presence",[10] while Eddie Harana from Rolling Stone praised the sense of humor he brought to the show. Then she started doing interviews, and then they started working together co-producing a radio show and then the podcast. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. So there's a rule that pertains to the volunteers who come in, and they're not allowed to have, like, close relationships with the prisoners, anything that gets really intimate or emotional. Earlier this year, we introduced you to a man named Earlonne Woods who got some big news yesterday. He and Nigel are also the authors of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life, a book that was inspired by the podcast and released by Crown/Random House. I enjoy every second of every day. Why didn't you invite me (laughter)? [7] Co-creators Woods and Antwan Williams were inmates at San Quentin State Prison for the first three seasons of the show. Now Earlonne will be doing interviews with people like him who are transitioning back into society. Ive been taking showers for like 20 years.. Earlonne Woods educational background is unavailable. [6] While in San Quentin, Woods was unpaid for his work on Ear Hustle, though fans would often send him money. And he's standing in a group. Usually, you can't go back into a correctional facility on parole. Earlonne still co-hosts the show alongside Nigel. I love it. POOR: But I get to see his brother and catch him up on what you're doing. I was just done. GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guests are Earlonne Woods and Nigel Poor, the co-creators of the podcast Ear Hustle. He is a podcast host correspondent. So how do you keep going? In March 2016, the Public Radio Exchange's Radiotopia network put out a call for new podcast ideas via an initiative called Podquest, with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Aaron Taylor. You know, they playing with guns or whatever have you. Content Creator @CoinAcademy; Pres. E WOODS: It was devastating because I had - one, I had just talked to Tyler, like, probably the day before. What was your reaction when you found out? "[16] Quah contrasts standard prison narratives told entirely from an outsider's point of view with the interplay of insider and outsider perspectives provided by the hosts of Ear Hustle, with stories primarily told through Woods' and Williams' words and perspectives, and Poor in an active role adding "key narrative housekeeping". I've changed my life. I got out, stayed out two years, 10 months and found myself back in jail for attempted second-degree robbery. She started going to San Quentin to volunteer teaching photography. He commuted my sentence to be released forthwith, immediately, right now, its time to go, time to walk out that gate, he added, laughing. Shes holding on. What we did was humanize [prisoners], just by telling their stories, Woods said in February. And it was very hard for that to not change the way I felt about him. SHAPIRO: Like in a restaurant, at your house, any POOR: Yes. You know, at that particular moment, in that mindset - like today, am I OK with that? [8][9][16] Vulture's Nicholas Quah noted a particular story a prisoner told about a frog in episode three: "a moment of levity in a setting often described in the worst of terms, a productive kind of conversation between the specificities of a person and the overpowering context of his incarceration. After you got out of San Quentin, you and Nigel went to the governor's mansion. I'm not doing this. So you can't wear blue, which is what they wear. POOR: So we were in the media lab working and - you know, trying to work, trying to stay concentrated. Yes, he was quiet, but he was always present. E WOODS: But I wouldn't have it no other way. On his release from San Quentin State Prison, Woods was hired full time to continue the work started inside but also adding reentry stories. We get - I mean, it's - you know, it's - we're just E WOODS: You're able to go out now. So right now there would be a problem with me going back to see him because I'm currently on parole. Woods was involved in an attempted robbery in 1997, when he was in his 20s. So what - what were the first communications like in which you tried to see, but is he a good interviewer? While incarcerated, he received his GED, attended Coastline Community College and completed many vocational trade programs. This is FRESH AIR. He is 5 feet 7 inches tall ( Approx1.7 m). And then what worries me is, like, so people will leave with this very, like, I love this guy. Is that OK? Earlonne Woods, co-host of the popular prison podcast Ear Hustle, had his sentence commuted by California Gov. Nigel Poor assures us the podcast will continue with Earlonne contributing stories from the outside. It was - and it's not just her. Los Angeles, CA. "[15], The New Yorker's Sarah Larson said the show "might be the best new podcast Ive heard this year" and described it as being "about the creativity required to live a satisfying lifeor even a sane lifein prison, and is itself a product of that creativity. Earlonne Woods is the co-creator, co-host, and co-producer of Ear Hustle (PRX & Radiotopia). He also founded CHOOSE1, which aims to repeal the California . And many people around me wasn't like that. It was a private wedding ceremony, according to accounts. And then the question is, well, what do we do about that? Woods is a full-time producer, co-host, and co-creator of PRXs Ear Hustle with Nigel Poor. Elevated Entertainment LLC; Host: Hard in the Paint w/Aaron Showtime Taylor. Brown cited Woods' leadership in . It's like - I think they're not under the constraints or the pressures to not accept people. So I think I did what, pretty much, my community did that was around me. Earlonne continues to co-host the show with Nigel. Woods helped create Ear Hustle while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. GROSS: Earlonne, what's the custom among men in San Quentin? GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. While incarcerated, he received his GED, attended Coastline Community College, and completed many vocational programs. And Earlonne just had his sentence commuted by Governor Jerry Brown in November after serving 21 years. So I think that's very damaging. Why we living like we don't care - because this is somehow how we grew up and how - since as early teenager we've been living in the streets, in the gangs. All rights reserved. ARI. [16] In 2021, Woods and Poor co-authored the book This Is Ear Hustle. It's - it's - I think being in a position to step away from it all and look back and say, man, I was on something else. And for most people - for most people inside, they just want the chance to represent the person that they are today, you know? [5][6], The show is produced by Earlonne Woods, Rahsaan "New York" Thomas, and Nigel Poor. I was a clerk. E WOODS: Yeah, so that's cool. Yes, he can come to my house. No, people get up to a thousand years to life for something that they've done in their past. POOR: You know, a kind of joy I never really experienced before - I mean, it's - you know, to be so happy for him and being in prison and not wanting to cry (laughter) - you know, trying to hold it together.