Women serving serious time for having killed someone while driving drunk form a distinct culture in prison, and often struggle to fit in. We visit two California prisons to meet women who are still grappling with a life that’s very different than the one they’d expected.

Thank you to Olivia, Grace, Jessica, Theresa, Tatanisha, Michelle, Hannah, Sopehia, Pamela, and everyone else we spoke to at the California Institution for Women for this story. 

At the Central California Women’s Facility, thank you to Latisha, Coleen, Connie, Constance, Sherri, Kaylee, Keri, Donna, Mary, Otilia, Gizelle, and Amy, for sharing their stories with us.

This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, and Earlonne Woods.

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Our annual fundraiser is here! Learn more and donate: on.prx.org/4d5WnCm 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

It’s our first-ever listener-inspired “mystery” episode! This time, Nigel's in the dark — and Earlonne has a new co-host. They hope you enjoy this cutting-edge, occasionally unruly Ear Hustle episode that braids together many questions about life in prison. 

This episode was scored with music by Eric "Maserati E" Abercrombie, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis. 

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show. 

Our spring fundraiser is here! Learn more and donate at on.prx.org/4d5WnCm.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Listeners had a lot to say about two recent episodes featuring residents of California’s death row, especially “Different Sides of the Earth,” which focused on condemned women. “It was hard to hear the joy, laughing, etc.” wrote one listener, “when you know about some of their crimes.” 

Your messages and comments gave us a great excuse to dive into some of the thorny editorial issues our team wrestles with behind the scenes. In this special episode, Earlonne and Nigel join Executive Producer Bruce and Senior Editor Amy for our first-ever roundtable conversation about the role of crime and remorse in the stories we tell.

Big thanks to our listeners for sharing their thoughts with us. (Ear Hustle listeners are the best listeners.) We look forward to doing more of these response episodes in the future.

Thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Twenty women are currently serving a death sentence at the Central California Women’s Facility. Like the men we met at San Quentin in our previous episode, these women are now living with the mainline prison population. For some, it hasn’t been an easy change. 

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, and Derrell Sadiq Davis.

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Announcing our Ear Hustle Live summer tour! Get all the details at earhustlesq.com/tour. 

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

San Quentin's death row has been cleared out; soon it'll be renovated into an honor dorm. We make one last visit with four men who, between them, spent over 130 years on the row. We see the solitary cells where they spent decades of their lives, and hear what it's been like to leave those cells and join the "mainline" prison population.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan "Banks" Williams, David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Lee Jaspar, and Fernando Arruda.

Big thanks to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Strayhorn at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women's Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

For some, it’s a weeklong bonanza; others keep it on the down-low. Whether you’re in prison or not, how you celebrate your birthday says a lot about who you are.

The New Official Ear Hustle Birthday Song was written by Tam Nguyen, with variations on the theme by Tam Nguyen, Earlonne Woods, Derrell Sadiq Davis, Bruce Wallace, and Antwan Williams, plus trumpet playing by Brian Conroy. 

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Spark Plug wanted a life straight out of a Hollywood movie: Live fast and die a legend. But that’s not quite how things worked out.

This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Earlonne Woods, Antwan Williams, and Derrell Sadiq Davis.

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

The Ear Hustle team has been hard at work on a whole batch of new stories from San Quentin, the California Institution for Women, the Central California Women’s Facility, and beyond. They’ll be in your feed starting next Wednesday, March 5 — but Nigel and Earlonne are here now with a little sneak peek. 

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women; and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

Next up in our “sleeper hits” series, our editor Amy listens back to “Camp Grace,” a 2021 episode that she had started producing until she was sidelined by COVID. In it, we follow a group of kids to Salinas Valley State Prison to spend two days with their dads, whom they hadn’t seen in years. Through music, crafts, and games, the idea behind Camp Grace is to put aside prison personas and reconnect with fatherhood. But relationships strained by incarceration can be hard to fix.


Big thanks to the team at The Place 4 Grace: Karen, Jenny, Candace, Sandra, and Maria.

We also want to thank campers Alex, Geneva, Andrew, Angel, Gigi, Eli, and Christian, and their dads, Jose, Peter, Frankie, Gilbert, Gabriel, and Ramon, as well as Angelica and Theresa, for talking with us. Thanks also to Alma, Jen, Adriana, Officer Muros, Officer Guevara, and Warden Atchley at Salinas Valley State Prison.

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams and Rhashiyd Zinnamon.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. 

California relies on incarcerated firefighters to fight fires like the ones that have engulfed Southern California this month. But once these men and women are released from prison, they can have a hard time finding jobs on civilian firefighting crews. Back in 2020, Nigel and Earlonne spent time at a Ventura fire camp designed to help bridge that gap. In light of the recent fires, we’re sharing this episode again.

Thanks to Bay Salmeron, Andrew Morales, Levi Rosier, Barrett Brown, and Eric Kesselmark for sharing their stories. Thanks also to Michelle Garcia, Jeremy Brandt, and Michael Salas at the Ventura Training Center.

You can donate to Anti-Recidivism Coalition’s fund for incarcerated firefighters here, and listen to the Fire Escape podcast here.  

This episode was scored with music by Antwan Williams and David Jassy. 

Big thanks to Acting Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Newborg at the California Institution for Women, and Warden De La Cruz and Lt. Williams at the Central California Women’s Facility for their support of the show.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.