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Ear Hustle

Revisiting “Saber-Toothed Cat”

Ear Hustle

Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.921.8K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the start of a new year, Nigel revisits an episode about time passing and one man’s experience of four decades behind bars: our 2023 episode “Saber-Toothed Cat.”

What’s the difference between an over-under and a lower-lower? How many pairs of underwear do you get in prison? And how long does a bar of soap last? We spend an entire episode with one San Quentin OG who schools us on the history of prison and what 46 years inside will do to a man.

Episode artwork by Scott McKinstry, part of a collaboration between Ear Hustle and the San Quentin Prison Arts Project, which is part of the William James Association (WJA) and is also supported by California's Arts in Corrections program

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

Big thanks to Warden Andes and Lt. Berry at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center; Acting Warden Parker, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina 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. 

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Nigel.

0:01.7

Hey there, Bruce. Happy New Year. Right? We did it. Have you written 2025 in the last six days? You know what? Oddly, I haven't because I keep a five-year journal and I write in it every night. Oh, wow. And so I was aware that it was 2026. I have a lot of questions about the five-year journal. I'd forgotten you did that, but that's amazing. It sounds great.

0:23.8

Yeah.

0:24.1

There's a page and there's I was aware that it was 2026. I have a lot of questions about the five-year journal.

0:21.6

I'd forgotten you did that, but that's amazing.

0:23.1

Five-year journal is great.

0:23.7

Yeah.

0:24.1

There's a page and there's five little spaces.

0:26.6

Oh, so cool.

0:28.1

It's very cool, but you only have like maybe three inches to write in, so you write very

0:32.0

essential things for each day.

0:33.7

But it's lined up.

0:35.2

It's sixth of January for the past five.

0:36.7

Yes. Oh, that's so cool.

0:37.6

So now I'm in year three, and it's really interesting to go back and see what I was thinking, and sometimes it really lines up. Like, I'm thinking about the same thing three years later. Oh, that's so interesting. And it's helped me pick out things that I needed to let go of because I'm like, are you kidding? three years later, I'm complaining about the same thing.

0:55.4

Or three years later, I'm happy about the same thing.

0:57.5

So it's a

0:58.1

really cool way to track, way to track, I don't know, what's happening in your life.

1:04.5

Feels very appropriate to be thinking about that early in the new year. Yeah, totally. Maybe

1:09.1

sort of contemplating time and the passage of time and patterns and being somewhere

1:14.3

for a long time.

1:15.0

It's appropriate introduction for what we're here to talk about.

...

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