Earlonne Woods
BornAugust 13, 1971 (1971-08-13) (age 52)[1]
OccupationPodcaster
Years active2018–present
Notable workEar Hustle, This Is Ear Hustle

Earlonne Woods (born August 13, 1971) is an American podcaster and author, best known for co-hosting and co-founding the podcast Ear Hustle in 2017, and co-authoring the book This Is Ear Hustle in 2021. Woods helped create Ear Hustle while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. In November 2018, Woods' sentence was commuted by California governor Jerry Brown. He was hired to continue co-hosting and producing the podcast after his release. In 2020, alongside his Ear Hustle co-hosts, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting.

Early life

Woods was raised in South Los Angeles with his parents and his older brother Trevor. His mother was a postal worker and his father was an unemployed alcoholic, who Woods described as violent and distant. When he was nine, Woods lifted up a faulty railroad crossing gate to allow cars to pass. Woods said he was only trying to be helpful, but was arrested by local sheriffs who did not question why he had lifted the gate; Woods subsequently had to appear in juvenile court. He became affiliated with a local Crips gang in high school, and began selling marijuana at 14, and later sold cocaine. Woods never used the drug, though became addicted to the money and lifestyle selling it provided. When he was 15, he committed his first robbery alongside his brother, who had transitioned from selling drugs to robbing drug dealers.[2]

Woods first went to prison at 17 for two concurrent convictions of kidnapping and robbing a drug dealer, and was released at 23.[3][4] In 1997, at the age of 25, he was arrested for attempted second degree robbery. Woods was unaware his two convictions as a juvenile counted as two 'strikes', which made his conviction at 25 count as his third under California's three strikes law. He received a sentence of 31-years-to-life.[3]

Ear Hustle

Woods and co-host Nigel Poor at Ear Hustle Live at Polaris Hall in Portland, Oregon

Woods completed his General Educational Development in prison, as well as vocational courses such as auto mechanics. While incarcerated at California State Prison, Centinela, Woods saw a documentary about the film school at San Quentin State Prison, and applied to transfer to that prison.[5] He served his last seven years at San Quentin.[3]

Woods met artist and volunteer Nigel Poor, who was teaching photography at the film school. The two established a rapport,[6] and Poor proposed the idea of creating a podcast to Woods, who had previously not known what a podcast was.[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. Ear Hustle was selected from 1,537 submissions, securing the funding for a 10-episode first season.[9][7] Ear Hustle was the first podcast entirely recorded and produced inside a prison.[6] While in San Quentin, Woods was unpaid for his work on Ear Hustle, though fans would often send him money.[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.[11]

In November 2018, then California Governor Jerry Brown commuted Woods' sentence, saying he had "clearly shown that he is no longer the man he was when he committed this crime" and that "he has set a positive example for his peers and, through his podcast, has shared meaningful stories from those inside prison."[12] Woods later traveled to thank Brown and interview him for the podcast.[3] According to The Economist, by this time Woods was one of the most famous incarcerated people in the US.[7] Woods relocated to Oakland, California after his release, and was hired full-time as a producer and co-host of Ear Hustle.[12][13][14] Since his commutation, Woods has become involved in campaigns to repeal California's three strikes laws.[5][15] In 2020, alongside Poor and co-host Rahsaan Thomas, Woods was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting.[16] In 2021, Woods and Poor co-authored the book This Is Ear Hustle.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Poor, Nigel; Woods, Earlonne (October 19, 2022). This Is Ear Hustle. Crown Publishing Group. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0593238868.
  2. ↑ Poor, Nigel; Woods, Earlonne (October 19, 2022). This Is Ear Hustle. Crown Publishing Group. pp. 7–13. ISBN 978-0593238868.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gross, Terry (January 23, 2019). "Host Of The Prison Podcast 'Ear Hustle' Reflects On His 27 Years Behind Bars". NPR. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021.
  4. ↑ Rainey, James (June 22, 2017). "'Ear Hustle': Podcast Unchains Voices From Behind Prison Walls". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Thomas, Rahsaan (September 22, 2021). "After parole, podcast producers are turning skills learned in prison into paying gigs". Current. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Prison-produced podcast 'Ear Hustle' lets you listen to real stories of incarcerated life". PBS. November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "The story of "Ear Hustle", a podcast made by prisoners at San Quentin". The Economist. November 21, 2019. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021.
  8. ↑ Beebe, Galen (August 27, 2017). "The Podcast Made From Inside Prison". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  9. ↑ Falk, Tyler (November 4, 2016). "Podcast on prison stories wins PRX backing". Current. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021.
  10. ↑ Larson, Sarah (August 17, 2017). ""Ear Hustle" Listens to Prisoners". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020.
  11. ↑ Ganava, Tana (July 10, 2017). "'Ear Hustle': How Two Inmates Created First Prison Podcast". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Rodriguez, Olga R. (January 2, 2019). "California inmate Walter 'Earlonne' Woods takes unlikely path to freedom: A popular podcast called 'Ear Hustle'". The Ledger. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ Williams, Diana (June 4, 2020). "With eyes on the inside, 'Ear Hustle' makes the big time with its look at prisoners". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Earlonne Woods, Co-Host Of 'Ear Hustle' Podcast, Gets Prison Sentence Commuted". NPR. November 22, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021.
  15. ↑ Nonko, Emily (June 25, 2020). "San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom". Politico. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Audio Reporting". Pulitzer Prize. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021.
  17. ↑ Sendaula, Stephanie (October 1, 2021). "This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life". Library Journal. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021.
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