Freedom for "Ear Hustle"

The hit podcast Ear Hustle was back for a fourth season this summer, drawing even more interest after news broke that co-host and producer Walter “Earlonne” Woods had his sentence for attempted robbery commuted by Governor Jerry Brown. Ear Hustle started after Nigel Poor ’86 entered Public Radio Exchange’s Radiotopia podcast talent contest with Woods and Antwan Williams, another inmate serving time for armed robbery. Their pitch beat more than 1,500 contestants from 53 countries. Since it began to air in 2016, the podcast has been downloaded more than 20 million times by devoted listeners throughout the world. The Associated Press wrote, “During their podcast, Woods and fellow creator and outside co-host, prison volunteer Nigel Poor, give listeners a peek into the hardships and small joys of men incarcerated at the medium-security facility. In interviews with the hosts, inmates discuss struggles such as finding a compatible cellmate to share a 5-by-10-foot (1.5-by-3-meter) cell, share why they take care of frogs or black widow spiders as if they were pets, or describe the impact of solitary confinement or being on death row. The fourth season of Ear Hustle...will feature stories of his re-entry to society and interviews with other inmates released after long sentences. He and Poor also plan to visit maximum-security prisons and tell the stories of prisoners there.”