Tricks of the Trade

Ear Hustle

Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.9 • 21.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At North Kern State Prison, incarcerated people are being trained to do what staff cannot: provide peer support, whether it’s with addiction, cellie drama, or just adjusting to prison life. Nigel and Earlonne pay a couple visits, and hit some walls along the way.

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

Big thanks to PIO Lt. Huckleberry and Warden Hixon at North Kern State Prison, as well as PIO Lt. Vogel and Warden De La Cruz at the Central California Women’s Facility, for allowing us to spend time with their peer-support programs.

Thanks, as always, to Warden Andes, Lt. Berry, and Sgt. Graves at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and Acting Warden Padilla, Associate Warden Lewis, and Lt. Avina at the California Institution for Women for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is on the East Coast! Get your tickets at earhustlesq.com/tour.

Help us reach 1,000 donors by June 30. Make your gift today at earhustlesq.com/donate.

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

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Thank you to everyone who has already donated to our spring fundraisers so far.
0:05.6	We are so grateful.
0:07.4	Your donations help keep the show running year-round and allow us to take your hustle even further
0:12.2	by helping us bring our live show and storytelling workshops into prisons around the country.
0:17.5	Your support is also, at this very moment, helping us cook up some very cool stories for next season. Like, we've got one in the works focusing on people who live around the perimeter of San Quentin. I know, and it's very exciting. I cannot wait to talk to that psychic. Do you think she knows we're coming? She should. She's a psychic. Right? She's right across the street from the gates of San Quentin.
0:39.4	And there's another story in the works about a crime survivor who, over time, developed a complicated
0:46.8	relationship with her selling.
0:49.3	Oh, Erlon, this one's already very challenging.
0:52.3	Yeah.
0:53.3	And we are still short of our fundraising goal.
0:57.0	Right now, while we're recording this, only 185 of you have donated.
1:01.6	Oh, it's a small number.
1:02.4	Yes, that is.
1:03.4	That means that we're just 18% of the way to our goal.
1:08.1	So we need your help.
1:10.0	Yes, that mean you, to reach our goal of 1,000 donors.
1:15.2	And maybe you've been thinking about it, but you just haven't gotten around to it. We need you now.
1:20.0	And it just takes a minute. You can even donate with PayPal or Venmo. That makes it convenient.
1:25.4	Right? Just pick up your phone.
1:26.5	Everyone who donates will be invited to our virtual party on June 11th,
1:30.6	where we'll answer some of your questions live.
1:33.0	That's always fun.
	...

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