Birdbaths and a Lockbox

Ear Hustle

Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.9 • 21.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2018

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During a San Quentin lockdown, the prison grinds to a halt, and men are confined to their cells 24 hours a day. On the heels of a summer lockdown, we’re kicking off season three by looking into what causes one, and how guys survive the wait when boredom, uncertainty, hunger and isolation can push them over the edge.

A heads-up: this episode contains discussion of suicide and self-harm — listener discretion is advised. You can reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Thanks to Michael Williams, Jason Perry, Aaron Taylor, Jessie Vasquez and Lee Jaspar (aka Matthew Lee Jasper) for sharing their stories with us. Thanks also to Gregg Sayers for performing his song “Lost in Time,” with additional vocals by Eric Abercrombie, aka Maserati E.

Ear Hustle is produced by Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods with help from outside producer Pat Mesiti-Miller, who also comes in to lead the sound design team. This episode was scored with music by David Jassy, Antwan Williams, Lee Jaspar, E. Phil Phillips and Earlonne Woods. Our story editor is Curtis Fox, Erin Wade is our digital producer and our executive producer for Radiotopia is Julie Shapiro. We also want to thank Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Davis for their continued support of the show.

Find out more about the show at earhustlesq.com, where you can now buy an Ear Hustle mug to go with your t-shirt! Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Pam and C. D. Miller. The following podcast contains language and disturbing content that may not be appropriate for all listeners.
0:07.7	There's also one part that's kind of gross. Disgression is advised.
0:22.6	Orlon the tape we're listening to is the first time I recorded anything for your hustle outside of San Quentin.
0:28.4	You didn't go that far.
0:29.7	No, you're right.
0:31.2	Those are the sounds of protest as a few Saturdays that go outside the prison walls.
0:35.7	They were in support of a nationwide prison strike that's been going on.
0:39.3	It's hard to know how many prisons are participating in the strike, but we do know that the main grievance of the strike organizers is what they're calling slave labor conditions and American prisons.
0:49.0	So you and Pat Masiti Miller went outside the prison to record sounds at a demonstration.
0:53.5	Yes, meanwhile I went around inside and asked guys if they even heard about the prison strike.
0:59.8	No, no, that's news to me prison strike. What was happening with that?
1:05.9	No, I heard about it, but not too many people here in San Quentin heard about it.
1:10.8	It's a little whisper on it, though.
1:12.8	And I found about it on television.
1:15.0	So nobody in here that I know I've said anything about it.
1:18.5	They even heard about it. Right.
1:20.2	So people don't strike here at San Quentin.
1:23.0	It's just that simple. It's a different culture. It's a different place.
1:26.6	Good education, a lot of self-help groups.
1:29.2	People work 20 years to get here.
1:37.0	It seems to me there's a disconnect between what was going on outside the prison walls and what people were saying in here.
1:43.2	Guys inside just haven't heard that much about the strike.
	...

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