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1:54

that

2:00

we have inside San Quentin, but

2:02

listeners haven't had a chance to get to know him yet. So

2:05

we came up with

2:06

this idea, which is kind of a trial by fire.

2:08

We asked each of them to come up

2:10

with a story, then think about who they

2:13

were gonna interview. They had to edit

2:15

it and work with our producers to sculpt

2:17

a small story, not a full episode,

2:19

just a short story. We're calling it a magazine.

2:22

It's five different stories, each about

2:25

something here at San Quentin.

2:26

And we're gonna listen to them for the first time right

2:29

now, and give

2:31

them feedback, and hopefully also celebrate with them.

2:34

I'm Nigel Poor. And I'm Erlon

2:36

Woods. This is Ear Hustle from PRX's

2:38

Radio-topia.

2:42

First up, we have Steve Brooks. And

2:44

Erlon, for some reason, this guy calls

2:47

himself the voice of San Quentin. Do

2:49

you think at this point he deserves that title? That self-appointed

2:52

title?

2:53

You know, San Quentin been around since 1852. So

2:56

this dude's old. So let's find

2:58

out.

3:04

This is Steve Brooks.

3:06

I'm an investigative reporter for San Quentin

3:08

News, and I'm following a new craze

3:11

sweeping through San Quentin. In

3:14

every housing unit, classroom,

3:17

hospital, church, at

3:19

AA meetings, and near checkerboards,

3:21

chess sets, and domino games, you

3:24

can hear the beeping sounds of a detonator,

3:27

and the hot, buttery explosion of

3:29

translucent endosperms being

3:31

penetrated by high-pressure steam. Thin,

3:34

fusible bubbles forming as the

3:36

pericarpus burst when water vapor

3:39

at a pressure of about nine atmospheres.

3:42

Yes, you heard it here first.

3:44

There's a microwave popcorn

3:46

craze happening inside San

3:48

Quentin, and it is, ooh, so

3:51

good.

3:54

Popcorn is stupid popular

3:56

right now. This is Marcus

3:58

Buckley. I spoke to him. at a big

4:00

event that was occurring on the yard at San

4:03

Quentin. I'm talking about you can get

4:05

butter, cattle, we got all type

4:07

of popcorn right now, but you know I'm popping

4:09

the can still, old school like grandma.

4:12

I

4:14

just like it, I like popcorn, you know.

4:17

That was Tim Hicks, the sports

4:19

editor for the San Quentin News. I

4:21

happened to run into him while he was carrying a

4:23

bag of popcorn.

4:24

The way of smell, you know, that aroma,

4:27

you know. I didn't used to get popcorn

4:29

two, three years ago, you know. It's been a while. So

4:32

when I finally was able to get

4:34

some microwave popcorn,

4:36

the buttery kind, the flavored kind,

4:38

oh man.

4:42

So there are a couple of reasons

4:44

for this recent popcorn craze. One

4:47

of those reasons I'll let my friend Marcus

4:49

Buckley explain. Why? Because

4:52

they got microwaves. So

4:55

this year for the first

4:58

time, incarcerated people have access

5:00

to microwaves inside of their housing

5:02

unit. The reason why? Governor

5:04

Newsom's California model. The

5:07

idea behind this is to make

5:09

prisons more humane. So

5:11

now

5:12

that we have these new microwaves, they've

5:14

decided to start selling microwave popcorn

5:17

in the prison canteen. But

5:19

here at San Quentin, we're only allowed

5:21

to go to the canteen once a month. And

5:24

a lot of guys run out of popcorn way before

5:26

then. So there's one

5:28

other option here at the prison.

5:31

So how much does popcorn go

5:33

for in the canteen? 75 cents.

5:37

This next guy we're going to call anonymous.

5:40

For reasons that will soon become clear.

5:44

And rumor has it that

5:47

there's also some popcorn being sold outside

5:50

of the canteen. Is that true? I

5:52

believe so.

5:54

And do you have anything to do with that?

5:56

I don't have anything to do with it, but I know somebody that's

5:58

selling the popcorn. corner.

6:02

So Steve here is really

6:04

on some investigative reporting

6:06

type shit.

6:07

I know I mean it's not the kind of stuff

6:09

we normally do.

6:10

It really picks my

6:11

ears up and I actually

6:13

know that there's a rule that

6:16

incarcerated guys can't sell things other

6:18

incarcerated guys. True. So Steve

6:20

what do you think? Should we change the students voice?

6:22

Definitely he was providing some

6:24

valuable information he was just trying to be honest.

6:27

I think we should do it. And

6:29

how much do they sell it

6:32

for? $1.25 or back? And so that's

6:34

a markup. Is people buying it at that price?

6:37

All the time yeah.

6:40

If somebody you see somebody buying popcorn

6:42

all the time what would you what would you

6:44

think?

6:45

That they have a popcorn out of it. If

6:47

they spending more money buying a popcorn from this

6:49

guy than buying it from the store. Do

6:52

you see that as a problem? Why

6:54

would I get in a business to buy a popcorn

6:57

when this guy's clearly making his money and

6:59

I don't want to hit on his hustle. Well

7:02

I mean how do you so just

7:04

put yourself in that position for a minute. Say

7:06

it was you we know it ain't you but just say it was

7:08

you. Would you feel guilty

7:11

that maybe I'm feeding somebody's habit

7:13

or addiction? No.

7:16

Why? It's just popcorn. It's

7:18

just only popcorn.

7:20

You want to buy some popcorn? Then buy

7:22

some popcorn.

7:28

Lines in the microwave are too long. Way

7:31

too long. Yeah way too long because they need more than one.

7:34

We only have like one or two sometimes. We

7:36

started off with two went down to one. Now

7:38

we got none. In West

7:41

Block

7:41

where Marcus Buckley lives

7:44

the lines for the microwaves are long.

7:47

People are getting into arguments and

7:49

fights. Microwaves are

7:51

breaking down on a daily basis.

7:54

They was industrial microwaves. They wasn't

7:57

meet the 700 people

7:59

you know what I'm saying. one microwave. Yeah.

8:02

The microwaves are in constant use

8:05

so they're starting to lose power.

8:07

Now it's taking even longer

8:10

to pop that corn. You gotta

8:12

put four four and a half minutes to cook a

8:15

bag of popcorn which only take like two and a

8:17

half minutes on the street. It's steady

8:19

going over and over and over so the microwave never

8:21

getting a chance to reset. So it really

8:23

ain't it really ain't cooking at the

8:25

highest point like it both of you.

8:29

So now the microwaves are working slower.

8:32

The lines are getting longer. People

8:34

are getting more agitated.

8:35

There are even rumors of arguments and

8:38

fights and not only that here

8:40

at Ear Hustle SQ we've

8:42

got another problem.

8:46

This is Steve Brooks the most accurate

8:49

investigative reporter for the San Quentin

8:51

News. I'm sitting

8:53

here with Ear Hustle's own

8:56

Dr. Nigel Amunpour. Nigel how

8:58

you doing?

8:58

I'm good but I'm not a doctor.

9:00

Oh excuse me. My bad.

9:03

I'm mostly accurate. Yes you

9:05

gave me a higher degree than I am. But you're the doctor

9:07

of podcasts.

9:08

All right I'll take that.

9:10

So Nigel let me ask you a question and

9:12

I know

9:13

the answer already but I just need to hear it.

9:16

You love the smell of hot

9:18

buttery microwave popcorn.

9:21

No no no no.

9:24

When we are here working or like

9:26

engaged in our work all of a sudden this smell

9:29

comes wapping over our wall. Oh

9:32

no I don't like it at all. It

9:35

smells like rancid butter.

9:37

Wow I just knew that

9:39

you were going to agree with me. I'm sorry.

9:42

Well let me ask you another question. I know you have

9:44

to love the sounds of the popping

9:47

and the butter and the beeping when the popcorn

9:49

is ready. Wow

9:51

I feel so bad because again

9:54

we're working. We're really in our groove.

9:56

Everything's going well and all of a sudden I hear. Another

10:02

interview. Just mess with us again. So

10:04

first it's the smell that distracts us. Then

10:06

it's the and

10:09

the beeping

10:09

noise. It's horrible. It's

10:11

one of the worst things to happen at San Quentin, this pipeline

10:13

phrase.

10:25

So at the end of the day, what does this all mean?

10:28

A rising number of microwaves and

10:30

a rising sale of microwave popcorn.

10:33

It's all coming together to create the perfect

10:36

storm.

10:37

Some are possessed by this

10:39

hot, buttery treat while

10:41

others are appalled by it. Black

10:44

market sales are up

10:45

and addiction rates are climbing. Many

10:48

are now reporting that they are powerless

10:50

over their popcorn addictions and that their

10:52

very lives have become unmanageable.

10:57

God grant me the

10:59

ready to accept the things that I

11:02

cannot change. Encourage the same

11:04

things I can and the will of

11:07

the different. Welcome to PA.

11:10

The most important person at Popcorn Anonymous

11:13

is the newcomer. Do we have any newcomers today?

11:16

Yeah, I'm Steve Brooks and I'm an addict.

11:19

Hi Steve. Today we're working

11:21

on step one. We admit it already

11:24

that we're powerless over our addiction and

11:26

our lives have become unmanageable.

11:29

All we can wonder now is what

11:31

will happen next. In the words

11:33

of Marcus Buckley, popcorn is

11:36

stupid popular right now. From

11:38

the same Queen News, this is Steve

11:40

Brooks reporting. You're

11:43

not even being accountable. You haven't even had a message

11:45

powerless

11:45

over popcorn bro.

11:59

I do love your personality coming

12:02

across in this. Right. You are

12:04

Steve from beginning to end. And

12:07

you also do something that we don't do in our show.

12:10

It was this real mix of parody and

12:12

trying to do real reporting. So

12:15

how did you feel about doing

12:15

the story?

12:17

At first I thought it was a joke.

12:20

It's not? But

12:23

then I thought about it and I said, you know, it's

12:25

just a very important story. We

12:28

live in a new age here at San Quentin. And

12:31

so it's now a new rehabilitation

12:33

center. I think we have to follow important

12:35

stories like this. Is the popcorn

12:38

part of rehabilitation? Absolutely.

12:40

As far as I mean, you pop into a

12:42

new person here at San Quentin.

12:45

It's kind of a transformative experience on

12:47

all levels.

12:48

So Steve, one of the things I think would have been good

12:50

is to figure out how to kind of pull the threads

12:53

on some of those emotional topics that

12:55

you started to get into. Like what

12:57

happens in those lines and when there's tensions

13:00

and fights, how do people feel

13:02

about that? So

13:04

what kinds of memories

13:05

does it bring up for them? That kind of stuff. So

13:07

maybe push the emotion a little bit

13:10

in your next story. Definitely. I

13:12

definitely do that.

13:13

Thanks, Steve. We appreciate that. That was a great

13:16

first story. So who

13:18

knows?

13:35

Next up, we have Tom Nguyen. But I

13:37

don't know what's your story, man?

13:38

So my story is about the new phenomenon

13:40

on the yard, the gazebos. Ah,

13:42

the gazebos. Yeah, I've been curious about those.

13:45

So let's hear it. So

13:47

about two months ago, I was coming down the yard,

13:50

headed towards vocation, and I saw

13:53

these wooden picnic benches with

13:56

space for about six people and a

13:58

little roof attached to it. The

14:00

first thing I thought was, what the hell are these? They

14:03

look so weird. They're light

14:05

stained wood. It really sticks out

14:08

in a place where most things are metal and the colors

14:10

are really dull. And it's strange that they

14:12

have this roof on them because in prison, the

14:14

officers like to be able to have clear line of sight

14:17

to you. And the roof of the gazebo is covering

14:19

their line of sight. So

14:21

soon they were on the yard and a lot

14:24

of people were just thinking the same thing I was. Like, what

14:26

the hell are these things?

14:31

Oh, the first time I saw the gazebo on

14:33

the yard, I was amazed. Never

14:36

a million years.

14:37

Not a million. I would have been down 10, but

14:40

I never seen one in prison in my life.

14:43

I thought it was like bullshit, you know, honestly,

14:46

when I first heard gazebo on the yard. That's

14:48

not happening. And then to see it, I'm like, wait

14:50

a minute. That's an actual gazebo. Stuff.

14:54

I said, holy shit, a gazebo in San Quentin.

14:57

Now all we need is a hammock. You know what I mean?

15:02

When I came down to the yard and I seen

15:04

them out there, sprinkled about on the

15:06

yard like some lower level tree houses is

15:08

what they look like. They weren't that inviting. I

15:10

felt like I was going to be back in my cell if I went

15:12

in one of these gazebos. Everybody was

15:14

kind of hesitant at first. They were like, what the hell is this?

15:17

You know, and they didn't even know if there was a loud end of the gazebo.

15:20

So they was like, what is this?

15:22

This is Steve Brooks. He's

15:24

a guy you just heard doing the popcorn story.

15:27

He told me that these gazebos, like

15:29

the microwaves, are part of this larger vision

15:31

of turning California prisons into

15:33

something closer to what they do in Norway,

15:36

which some people consider the most humane prisons

15:38

in the world. I even heard a rumor

15:40

that these so-called gazebos may

15:42

have been actually made in Norway, but

15:45

that seemed crazy. So I dug

15:47

around a little bit, and I found out these gazebos

15:50

were actually made in the vocational building,

15:52

located right off the yard. So

15:55

Bruce and me just walked through the work change for

15:57

Vocation.

15:59

like a little workshop

16:02

back here for like woodworking. And

16:09

that's where I ran into Kenny. Word

16:12

of Ron Broomfield, he came in and said

16:14

that, I guess he

16:16

had found these pictures of these gazebos

16:19

and the Norway prison, so he brought a picture of

16:21

them and asked would it be possible we could make them? We

16:23

told him, yeah, we just drew up some plans.

16:27

So they figured out how to make one of these things. Then

16:30

Kenny's coworker, Steve told me they had

16:32

to figure out where they would go. We couldn't

16:34

just build one because we had

16:36

to think of transgender, black,

16:39

Mexicans, Asians, and others.

16:42

So if you build, for example, one table,

16:44

blacks don't want this guy sitting with the blacks.

16:47

Just basic prison politics

16:50

is why we had to build different

16:52

gazebos for different races. When

16:55

you guys did that, was that the incarcerated

16:57

people coming up with the idea or was it the staff?

17:00

The inmates gotta give their input, but the

17:03

staff run it.

17:06

Not just that, every group gets

17:09

one. It has to be put in the exact

17:11

right space for that group. For

17:13

example, we got different

17:16

sets of blacks. If

17:18

I put the gazebo in this one certain

17:20

area, it wouldn't be right. Because

17:23

this certain group would say, hey, why is the

17:25

gazebo over there? So

17:29

blacks got at me and I told

17:31

them, we'll keep it neutral. We'll

17:33

put it in the center. And that solves

17:35

the problems for the black area. When

17:40

the gazebos first hit the yard, some

17:42

people wondered why, if this

17:44

is the new San Quinn, are the gazebos

17:47

being placed according to race? I

17:49

asked Glenn Jenko about this. He's been in

17:51

and out of prison for the past 20 years.

17:54

When you talk about the separation with

17:56

the race, how would you feel about people

17:59

saying that? races

18:02

being segregated on the yard, having their own area

18:05

is against rehabilitation. I

18:08

believe you can't just throw people

18:10

into the ocean. You gotta crawl first

18:13

before you begin to walk. And inmates

18:16

that have been behind this wall for a significant

18:19

amount of time have been conditioned

18:21

for years and years at a time. They cannot

18:24

just undo it overnight. You

18:26

know, like you will make another

18:28

man uncomfortable and he'll

18:30

react to it. He believed one

18:33

thing for 30 years, and if someone tells

18:35

you to start believing this, it doesn't happen overnight.

18:40

Glenn actually thinks what would make

18:42

San Quentin a better place is to improve

18:44

the relationships between incarcerated

18:46

people and the officers. Maybe those

18:48

are the groups who should integrate. Between

18:51

the officer and the inmate, we're two groups

18:53

that don't function, normally function together.

18:56

If a correctional officer can treat

18:58

me as if I'm not an inmate and start

19:01

giving me an interaction that I can

19:03

use in the real world beyond these walls, then

19:06

it'll give me more incentive

19:09

to remove the barriers also.

19:12

And maybe the gazebos could be a part

19:14

of that. In fact, according

19:16

to Steve Brooks, that's the real

19:18

goal for the gazebos, providing a

19:20

place for COs and incarcerated people to

19:22

interact.

19:24

So I think the gazebo idea is an idea

19:26

to be able to bring officers

19:28

and incarcerated people together to do some

19:30

type of things together. So I think the

19:32

gazebo and whatever

19:35

issues you got going on, I mean, I could just see

19:37

an officer sitting on one side and incarcerated person sitting

19:39

on the other, and the officer just saying, how's

19:41

your day going as far as your rehabilitation program?

19:44

Or do you want a haircut today? I'm one of the

19:47

best haircutters there is. Do you want a haircut? Or

19:49

do you want to play some dominoes? You're talking all this shit

19:51

about dominoes. Maybe we could sit down and solve

19:53

this. But it's an officer and it's an

19:55

incarcerated person. It's meant to just kind of like

19:58

help bridge that gap. you

20:00

know, between the two.

20:02

I was really curious what the CEOs would have

20:04

to say about this idea, that they could

20:06

have a different kind of relationship with incarcerated

20:08

people. But to answer that question,

20:11

I needed to find one who would actually

20:13

talk to me on mic. Luckily for me, Officer

20:16

Wallace, a correctional officer who used to work

20:18

near the Ear Hustle Studio, said

20:20

she would. The

20:23

idea about these gazebos, for example,

20:25

on the yard, was that for

20:27

the incarcerated people and officers

20:30

to be able to sit and have

20:32

conversations, how would you feel

20:34

about that? I had no problem with that.

20:37

I talk to everybody, I so do. Everybody

20:39

comes and talks to me. It doesn't hurt to talk

20:41

at him on conversation and laugh. Or smile in

20:43

prison, who

20:44

cares, you know? You

20:46

know, a lot of people don't even realize what

20:48

you just said, a smile, or somebody listening

20:50

to you for a moment, how it could change, like

20:53

for example, my attitude. Officers

20:55

in the past, because of the way that it

20:58

was trained, was to

21:01

punish and just, you

21:03

know. You already got punished when

21:04

you came in, right? You got punished, you went

21:06

to court and everything else. What did we get is what you did. Does

21:08

it mean you're gonna still be that person when you come in? It

21:11

just took a minute for people to change, but people do change. It's

21:13

really amazing.

21:15

So it sounds like you're on board with the idea that

21:17

officers can now be an active part of

21:19

an incarcerated person's rehabilitation.

21:21

Definitely, I totally can see that happening.

21:25

But Wallace told me she thinks she's in the minority

21:27

here. And other COs may not really

21:30

agree with her.

21:31

So sometimes you gotta watch your piece in cues, and you

21:33

know how that is. Because

21:35

I'll be judged and looked at, and

21:38

criticized probably. We

21:41

appreciate it, Ms. Wallace.

21:43

This is Thumwin reporting from

21:45

San Quentin for Ear Hustle. I'm

21:52

amazed that on your first story, you

21:54

got an officer to talk, to have an officer

21:57

just sit there and express

21:59

herself. and her beliefs, that's dope. Yeah.

22:02

How was it? I was fortunate with

22:04

her because she used to work down here. Officer

22:07

Wallace, I think her attitude about just

22:10

people in general is pretty cool. But

22:13

I did try four other officers first.

22:17

And as soon as they asked me what the questions

22:19

were, and I told them that I'd be asking about

22:21

the Norway model, they said, no, they shut me down

22:23

hard. That's interesting, though, to have

22:25

the state issuing the Norway model

22:28

and then the people that are not accepting

22:31

it as the people that actually work here. That's

22:33

the crazy part. Well,

22:34

it sounds like it's not just them. The guys aren't

22:36

either. They're still on their thing about

22:38

race. We've got to have all the... I

22:41

see it both ways, if they're still

22:43

insisting that they have to be broken up by race.

22:46

I kind of agree with you. I

22:48

think it's both sides.

22:49

But you definitely took on a challenging

22:51

subject for your first story. So congratulations

22:54

on your ambition. Thank you. I'll

22:56

say one other thing I think you could work on, if that's

22:59

okay, is bringing some enthusiasm

23:01

to your voice when

23:02

you're talking to people. Guy gets people

23:04

to really relax. And that takes a while

23:06

to get used to. Okay. Yeah, you

23:08

gotta step the image up. But just

23:10

how can you draw somebody out? Yeah, I got you. Yeah.

23:13

All right. Thank you for that

23:15

advice.

23:16

Cool.

23:26

Up next, we have the first of our two Tonys.

23:28

This is Tony Tafoya. That's

23:31

me. You're our inside managing

23:33

producer, and you've been here the

23:36

longest. So we have high

23:38

expectations. Definitely. I hope I

23:40

live up to your expectations.

23:50

When they first came on Monday, they locked everybody

23:53

down. They didn't want no movement. And

23:56

the anxiety was up. Everybody's on just

23:58

yelling out the cell, just waiting. and give us the

24:00

tablets where they at, just having fun.

24:03

And then finally, like around 9.15, they

24:05

started calling people like, they called you down

24:07

there, they gave you accessories, they gave you the earbuds.

24:10

With a mic, they gave

24:12

you the charger, and

24:16

they gave you the actual tablets. My

24:19

tier, as soon as everybody came out, they go, what we gonna do? There

24:21

was like 30 of you guys, and all I heard

24:23

was, hey man, we're gonna have private phone sex.

24:25

And one guy goes, yeah man, I've been doing it in the payphone.

24:28

But there's like 30 guys lined up, and I'm thinking,

24:31

damn, all this time I've been waiting, and you

24:33

standing in the booth having phone sex next to 30 guys.

24:37

Every incarcerated person at San

24:39

Quentin, and throughout the entire state, was

24:42

issued a tablet for free. The

24:44

tablets are run by a company called

24:46

Vyapath. Each of us gets 20 free

24:49

text messages a week.

24:51

And after that, it's five cents a message.

24:53

You can also pay for subscriptions to movies

24:56

and music.

24:57

All in all, these tablets have changed the vibe

24:59

of San Quentin in a big way. So

25:02

everybody's on the tier on their tablet. Like

25:04

nobody's actually in my

25:06

building. I don't see anybody watching TV. I

25:09

don't see anybody doing

25:11

anything but having their head down on a

25:13

tablet. It's turning to the outside world.

25:15

It's actually turning to the stuff that's on

25:18

the street. Like people walking

25:20

into me, looking at their tablet, and

25:22

if we're really trying to be like people on the streets, hey

25:24

man, you know, might as well walk around looking at the tablet bumping

25:26

into people. That's what's already

25:29

happened in two days since my building got it. You

25:31

guys had it for like a week.

25:36

This is Global Tell Link.

25:38

You have a prepaid call from?

25:40

Tony Sephora. An

25:43

inmate at the California State

25:45

Prison, San Quentin, San Quentin,

25:47

California. Hello. Hello.

25:51

What are you doing? Nothing, I'm cutting

25:53

out some guys for

25:56

my scrapbook. What are you doing? I'm here about that

25:58

craft life right now. Yeah.

25:59

Of course.

26:01

So before I got the tablets, if I wanted to talk

26:03

to my mom, I had to go downstairs,

26:06

wait inside this half a mile long

26:08

line, and sign up for

26:10

a one 15-minute phone

26:12

slot to use the landline phones

26:14

in the housing units. Now, I can

26:17

talk to her whenever I want, and I do.

26:20

What do you think of the tablets? For

26:23

the most part, they're really good. I mean, they've

26:25

changed, you know, easier

26:27

to talk to you and not have to

26:29

worry so much about being right

26:32

by your phone 24 hours a day because you

26:34

only get one shot at calling. It's

26:36

been nice. The texting has been very nice,

26:38

too.

26:40

Do I call you a lot?

26:41

No, you only call once a day, but I mean,

26:44

in the beginning you called a lot. But

26:47

this way, I mean, I can say, I can think about something

26:49

and text it to you and not have to,

26:52

you know, remember it for later or whatever.

26:55

Do you wish I called more or do you wish I called less?

26:58

I think you called the right amount. Okay.

27:02

Yeah. Okay. I thank you,

27:04

Mom. Love you. Love you,

27:06

Mom. In

27:10

the pre-tablet days, people used to argue

27:12

over the phones all the time. Like, for example,

27:15

maybe someone wouldn't get off the phone even after

27:17

their 15 minutes were up. Or sometimes

27:19

people would just cut you in line. Now all

27:22

that drama is just over.

27:24

Well, like in North Block, because there's like 800 of

27:27

us in the phone line, it would be like

27:30

just packed. There's 12 phones. We had

27:32

like 30, 40 people just lined up. The

27:34

first day we got it, it was three

27:37

people on the phone line. Like no

27:39

more arguing, no more fighting

27:42

over the phone, screaming at each other. And I

27:44

just feel like it's way more peaceful now.

27:47

Tablets let you make phone calls from yourself,

27:49

but that's not all they do. They also

27:51

let you do what we call video visits, which is

27:53

basically FaceTime. Now when something

27:55

happens on the outside, you can almost

27:57

be a part of it instead of hearing about it later.

27:59

in a letter or a phone call.

28:04

My name is Jesse Milo, and

28:07

I have been incarcerated for 22 years. Fourth

28:10

of July, my cousin

28:13

in Oahu had messaged, and she

28:15

was like, hey, would you

28:17

like to video? Would you like to see the ocean from

28:20

the island in Oahu, right? And

28:23

so for me, it was like I was there. They

28:26

were barbecuing on the ocean. Her

28:29

and the rest of their church in

28:31

Oahu. And I seen

28:34

my cousins that I hadn't seen since they

28:36

were like five years old, and now they

28:38

were grown women with babies. She

28:41

was like, hey, that's Gordy, that's so-and-so. And

28:43

I was like, I didn't even know. Like, that

28:46

was my sister, and I didn't even know.

28:49

Just because so much time has passed,

28:52

right? And

28:54

so it's really

28:57

great to be able to see the world that's

29:00

a little bit bittersweet at times. You

29:02

know, I haven't seen my mom since

29:04

I've been incarcerated. So for 22 years,

29:07

I haven't been able to hug my mother

29:09

this year.

29:11

And that weighs heavily

29:13

on me.

29:15

When I was young, my

29:17

mother,

29:18

she used to always try to hug me and love on me, but

29:21

she was addicted to drugs, and

29:25

I was always kind of like, don't hug

29:27

me, stay away from me.

29:29

I was a little boy, right? What

29:31

young teen wants to be hugging their mom, right?

29:33

Me. Me. And

29:37

well, that's, as a lifer

29:39

who is now in his 40s, that

29:43

is one of my biggest regrets, is

29:46

not hugging my mom every time she wanted to hug.

29:50

Getting these tablets was

29:52

a big deal for me. One of the first things I did

29:54

was I called

29:57

my sister, and I told her I want to video

29:59

chat.

29:59

Mom,

30:01

I want to see mom

30:03

there standing in the day room in

30:05

North block. It's just so

30:07

surreal

30:09

on the wall. My little tablet was

30:12

my mother's face.

30:14

And she was, um, she was a little self-conscious.

30:17

She's like, I didn't get to do my hair.

30:19

I'm like, mom, you

30:21

look beautiful. You're beautiful,

30:24

mom. Like it's okay. And,

30:26

um, we got to laugh and she showed me

30:28

her cats. I guess she's a cat lady now. I

30:32

got to see the home that I grew up at, right?

30:36

And when my grandpa built the house and

30:39

like I was there with them.

30:41

I got to do that because we got

30:44

these tablets. You're

30:49

going to be talking to dancers. We're going

30:51

to try. Good luck.

30:54

I knew that you really wanted to talk to this guy dancer

30:57

for the story. And you and I had made

30:59

a date to talk to him, but I got there first.

31:02

And, um, you know how things go at San Quentin

31:04

and I felt like I

31:05

just had to go for it. So, I hope

31:08

you don't mind. Oh, no, I'm glad you went for it. He's

31:11

elusive. And when you see him, you got

31:13

to go for it.

31:14

Do you know that I'm here to talk to you?

31:15

Oh,

31:18

no, it's audio. No

31:20

cameras. Can I, can

31:22

I ask you a few questions? What's your name?

31:25

How do you get that name? I

31:28

was born with it. Oh, it's your birth name? Yes.

31:31

My last name. Oh, I

31:33

thought it was like all the reindeer jokes

31:36

and all this stuff. Yeah. I grew up with that. I

31:38

thought it was like a nickname. No,

31:41

that's my name. Oh, okay. Okay.

31:44

And are you into new technology?

31:46

Oh, I'm trying to catch up with it.

31:49

What's the most challenging part of it? All

31:51

of it.

31:52

What do you think about these new tablets?

31:54

I don't know. I didn't take

31:56

one. I don't want one period. They

31:59

can keep me.

32:00

Well,

32:02

I came to prison when they used

32:04

to hold things over your head to make

32:06

you cooperate. So

32:08

I'm structured like that. So I don't want nothing

32:11

that they have to give me where they can come back later

32:13

and take it because I don't do this or

32:15

do that.

32:16

So I just, if I want to talk

32:18

to somebody, I use a telephone.

32:20

There's nothing on the tablet that intrigues

32:22

you?

32:22

I don't know what's on it because

32:24

I didn't take one. Was

32:27

there pressure to take one? Do

32:31

you think that they listen in on them?

32:35

Absolutely.

32:38

I wonder about that. Yeah. Okay.

32:41

There's nobody on the outside you'd like to

32:43

email or talk with?

32:46

No, everybody that

32:49

was in touch with me, family and

32:51

friends and stuff, my daughters, my sons,

32:54

my grandkids and my wife, they

32:56

all passed away. So I don't communicate

32:59

with nobody. Your grandchildren?

33:02

I had two grandchildren that passed away. Sorry,

33:04

that's all right. I'm allowed to

33:06

just in the family. I've been locked up for a while.

33:09

How long?

33:11

Too long. Twenty plus. Twenty

33:13

plus? Okay. So I do mine a day

33:15

at a time, by myself, within

33:18

myself, and I get along a lot better.

33:21

I don't have no temper no more or nothing

33:24

else. I found out that dealing

33:26

with a lot of people gave me

33:28

a lot

33:30

of anxiety and I was taking it out

33:32

on people that shouldn't have it taken out of me. So

33:36

I found a way not to go through

33:38

that and I don't do it anymore.

33:41

Do

33:41

you spend time with any of the other men that

33:43

have been in prison

33:44

a long time that are here? Just

33:46

about everybody I do spend time with been locked up

33:48

a long time. We understand each other. Who

33:51

are some

33:51

of the other guys that you hang out with?

33:53

Just people. You're

33:56

a secret, yes. Yes. Old school.

33:59

You know give no information ain't necessary

34:03

That's actually pretty good rule

34:05

Yeah, yeah, it keeps you from

34:07

having a lot of headaches

34:09

He's looking at me with needles

34:12

Tony you finally showed up. I kept

34:14

peeping peeping. Where's Tony? Where's Tony and I looked

34:16

up and there you are Yeah, I've been looking

34:19

around

34:19

everywhere for you. I'm sorry

34:21

Let's see

34:23

as someone who's been down a long time

34:25

what's it like to see all these tablets inside prison?

34:28

I don't

34:29

think nothing about it one way or the other If

34:35

if you have one I hope you enjoy I do

34:37

enjoy my tablet yeah Do

34:40

you think that you feel free

34:43

because you don't have a tablet I? Don't

34:47

feel like I'm shackled

34:50

Teachers own I'm old

34:52

school. I don't dictate my policies

34:54

anybody and that's just me

34:58

When you get out are you gonna get a cell phone? No

35:01

use regular telephone I? Understand

35:05

what you're saying, but do you know

35:07

how hard it is to find a phone outside

35:09

now? I don't have anybody to

35:11

call if I meet somebody they can call

35:13

me Pass what year you

35:15

were born?

35:16

47 okay

35:18

And a birthday yesterday

35:20

matter of fact

35:25

Yeah Take

35:27

me I'm any wrinkles. I don't worry

35:32

That's really good advice smile that much I

35:34

read a book about it They say it just as

35:36

much wrinkles in your face from smiling

35:39

as you do from frowning It's

35:41

hard for me not to smile though. It's not hard for

35:43

me.

35:44

It's easy I'm

35:47

looking at you now. I'm smiling I Hope

35:50

that

35:54

didn't give you any wrinkles

36:02

So, what'd

36:04

you guys think? Okay, first of all,

36:06

I've got three notes for you.

36:08

He sounded nervous.

36:10

I love the cold opening.

36:12

I love the range of emotions and I

36:14

love the audio texture, especially when

36:17

you call

36:17

your mom. I mean, it's really

36:19

beautiful. Oh, I had a note there. Where's

36:22

that at? Hey, Tony,

36:24

just so you know, you call your mom too much.

36:26

No. She did not want to tell you that.

36:30

She said it's just enough. She said it's just enough. Well,

36:32

every day I call my mom every day too. Mom's like

36:34

she called every day. My mother would have told me

36:37

it was too much. She didn't say call

36:39

more. It's just enough. Just

36:41

enough. It's just right. I

36:44

think it turned out well now. I agree.

36:46

Good

36:46

story. He found great characters. I mean,

36:48

to me, it was a very ear

36:50

hustle story. Very ear hustling.

36:53

Anyway, I couldn't see you. Nice shot. Definitely.

36:59

We'll be right back after the movie.

37:10

Now that the new season of Ear Hustle is in

37:12

full swing, I'm feeling maxed

37:14

out and you know that affects my mood and

37:17

my eating. That I do know, Erlon.

37:19

And that's when Hello Fresh

37:21

really comes in handy. They've got

37:24

these quick and easy recipes and 15

37:26

minute meal plans. Their food is delicious.

37:29

It's wholesome. And Erlon, it

37:31

is way better than fast food. Oh, you look at me. I'm

37:34

just saying.

37:35

And they've got options. Hello

37:37

Fresh's menu includes 40 recipes

37:40

and over 100 add-on items to choose from

37:42

every week.

37:43

And we are about to hit the road for the week.

37:45

But when we get back, I'm really looking forward

37:48

to those Hello Fresh boxes that are going to be waiting

37:50

for you and me. What did you choose? Which

37:52

box did you get?

37:53

I'm going with the meat and veggies. What

37:55

about you? Can you guess? Yeah.

37:58

You're trying to be fit and wholesome.

37:59

It's awesome. If you want to eat well

38:02

and save time, go to HelloFresh.com

38:04

slash 50 Ear Hustle. That's

38:07

five zero ear hustle and use the code 50 Ear

38:10

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38:14

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38:14

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38:17

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38:19

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38:21

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38:24

the next two months. Let's

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get it. Hello Fresh, America's

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number one meal kit.

38:44

Welcome back to the Sanquin Magazine.

38:47

Stories from our new team of rookie

38:49

producers. We've been

38:51

hearing some good stuff. What do

38:53

you say, Nia?

38:54

Yeah, I think so. We've been talking about Steve, talking

38:56

about the popcorn craze, Tony DeFoia on those new tablets

38:59

that everybody's getting.

39:00

Tom talked about the gazebos. Yeah, it's

39:02

interesting. I

39:02

mean, a couple of the stories touch

39:04

on this conversation that's been going on

39:07

about making San Quentin in

39:09

the image of the Norway model.

39:11

We've been there. What

39:13

do

39:13

you think? I think they're starting down the path. What

39:15

do you think of that? The gazebos, to me, seem

39:17

to be the most promising aspect

39:20

of this new idea.

39:21

Yeah, they're still in the parking lot. In

39:23

the parking lot. So we've heard

39:25

a great

39:25

range of stories, and we've got a few more left

39:27

to hear. It's a good start,

39:28

right? Yeah, I mean, they're getting there. They're

39:30

doing good. What do we got next, Nia?

39:33

So we've got the second Tony, Tony

39:35

DeTrinidad. And I've heard

39:37

he has this very different way of taking

39:40

on the story. So instead of interviewing

39:42

people, he's actually interviewing

39:45

buildings, giving them a personality.

39:48

Yep, the buildings are going to tell

39:49

us stories. This should be interesting.

39:51

Yes. Hey, what's up?

39:53

Hey, what's up? How you doing? Alright,

39:56

what's going on, man? Yeah, aren't you Canteen? Yeah,

39:58

I'm Canteen. What's up?

39:59

Do I know you? I'll be coming to your window

40:02

sometimes. Oh, I remember you now. Yeah,

40:04

OK, what's up? Yeah, I read him on getting the

40:06

ice cream. Yeah, ice cream, Tony. Yeah, that's

40:08

good. OK, what's good?

40:10

Yeah, he always calls me ice cream, Tony. But

40:13

my name is Tony DeTrenadad. And

40:15

right now, I'm having a conversation with a building

40:17

here at San Quentin, the Cannes team.

40:21

When you run out of stuff, do you really run out of

40:23

stuff? Are you just like this mom center? Play

40:25

me last week, he tried to close the window, but it's changed

40:28

me. So no, we don't got no ice cream to speak. Man,

40:31

listen. That is

40:33

certified,

40:35

classified G13 information

40:37

that you're asking. I know that. Hold on, hold on. You

40:39

got some money? I mean, I would

40:42

go. You know, you pull up to this front, man. You got to have

40:44

some bread, man. If you ain't got no dough, then you got to

40:46

do a move in. Give me a money check and we'll just

40:48

see what goes in there. All right, hold on, man. All

40:51

right, you only got like $75 left.

40:57

Talking to Canteen,

40:59

I realized this is the perfect

41:01

opportunity to ask a question that's been on my mind

41:03

lately. See, I've been at San Quentin

41:05

since 2018, and I've lived in two

41:07

different housing units, but I've always wondered

41:09

about the other buildings. I mean, the

41:12

sales are pretty much the same, no matter where you

41:14

live. Small and ugly,

41:17

but each building has its own distinct vibe

41:19

and personality. So is

41:22

there one where I'd fit in better? I

41:24

wanted to see what Canteen thought about that.

41:28

I really wanted to ask you, man. So

41:31

you sit in the middle of all the buildings. They all come

41:33

at you asking for some. I'm on the blade,

41:36

baby. I see everything moving. I'm right

41:38

in the middle of everything, man, right on Broadway. On

41:40

your opinion, man, what's the best place for me to live

41:42

here? You know me, I've been coming to you for a while,

41:45

but never like this. Look, man, you got yourself together,

41:47

man. Alpine Donner.

41:50

Alpine Donner? Yeah, man. I really

41:52

want to thank you for this little sit down. I

41:54

just wanted your own body's opinion on that. I knew you

41:57

would come through for me. So I appreciate that.

41:59

Yo, yo. No refunds man. No

42:02

refunds. Sorry. Alright,

42:04

respect. Thank you man. Alright. Alright

42:07

on.

42:08

So, Alpine Donner.

42:09

That's actually two different buildings.

42:12

They're both designed for those who work hard and

42:14

stay out of trouble.

42:16

Right now, I live in Alpine.

42:18

It's a quiet, calm atmosphere.

42:21

But I already know about Alpine.

42:22

I'm more curious about some of the other buildings,

42:25

like North Block.

42:27

Hey, what's up man? How you doing? How you

42:29

doing? So, you're

42:31

North Block, right? Yeah, that's my North Block

42:34

building. So, this is one of my first times

42:36

talking to a building. So, if I say anything

42:38

that's like, you know, disrespectful,

42:41

I use a term that's offensive to buildings, just,

42:43

you know, let me know and I'll back up

42:45

and I'll learn. I lock my doors and make sure you

42:47

don't get in. Okay. That'll

42:50

work.

42:51

See, North Block used to be the calm building.

42:53

But then Alpine and Donner opened up. And a lot

42:56

of the guys who are what we call programmers,

42:58

those are the guys who are staying out of trouble and trying to get home,

43:01

those people moved out. And a lot of young

43:03

guys moved in.

43:05

And I hear it can be a bit chaotic.

43:08

So, before, what was your

43:10

typical resident like?

43:12

Quiet,

43:13

old man. He

43:16

wasn't off the hook like he is now. Okay.

43:19

Now what's your typical resident like? Running

43:21

up and down the stairs, up and down the

43:23

stairs, fighting on the fifth year. See,

43:26

you got people running up and down your back all day. All day long. That's

43:30

why it looks like I'm leaning. If you

43:32

come up the stairs, it looks like I'm leaning. That's

43:35

the youngest.

43:37

What's your favorite type of resident that lives

43:39

in you now? Like, do you still have some good guys in there at

43:41

all? I like the ones that leave out at seven.

43:44

You come back at the end of the day. Them are

43:47

good guys. Do you think North

43:49

Block would be a right move for me? No.

43:52

No? Why not? He ain't going to mix. He's

43:55

not going to mix with them guys. He's a good

43:57

guy. Them guys, they got to be good.

43:59

Good. Oh, so not my speed. Too

44:02

many of them. Okay, you know what, I appreciate

44:04

that. I appreciate that. I wouldn't want to go into a crazy situation.

44:07

Yeah. It's not all bad though, is it? If

44:11

you're not there, respect.

44:14

That's rough, man. That's rough, man.

44:17

Well, listen, man. I

44:19

know you've been kind of just plugging away, holding

44:21

your own. You don't really get a voice a lot

44:23

of times. Is there anything that you really kind of like

44:26

want to set the record straight on? Yes.

44:29

Could you tell R&R to quit bringing them riff raffs

44:31

up here? You know what, I'll do

44:33

that for you, man. Thank you very much. Well, man, you

44:36

have a lovely day, man. I'll make sure I talk to

44:38

R&R. All right, thank you very much. All right,

44:40

peace. Well,

44:44

that was interesting, but I think I'm

44:46

gonna go holler at Donner next.

44:48

One thing you should know about Donner is

44:50

that it's like Alpine,

44:52

but even more exclusive. And it's

44:54

got a lot of perks, like the dog training

44:56

program and

44:58

guys get their own sales.

45:00

No selly,

45:02

but

45:03

I'm not 100% sure if I fit in there.

45:06

So, hey, how you doing?

45:09

Oh,

45:10

blessed, as always. Could you tell us your

45:12

name? Hi, I'm Donner. Because

45:14

I've heard several names, I don't know. Like

45:17

what? Like Honor Donner? I've heard Honor

45:19

Donner. I've heard Donner Darlings. Oh,

45:21

those are cute. You like those? Yeah.

45:24

Okay. That's adorable. I like being

45:27

Donner, man. Oh, it's fantastic.

45:30

Like I'm not saying that

45:32

I'm better than the rest, but

45:35

we've gone from death row to puppy row.

45:38

So,

45:40

I've been kind of looking around for a best place

45:42

to live in San Quentin. Oh, there's no

45:44

better place than Donner. What about like, what's

45:46

daily life like there?

45:48

It's pretty quiet and

45:50

relaxed. And then they have

45:53

nearly completely eliminated disrespectful

45:56

posture and like aggressive

45:59

verbiage. and like just

46:01

laziness,

46:03

it's pretty amazing.

46:05

The typical revisitance that I house

46:08

are not your average person

46:10

in blue. We're

46:13

above

46:14

average

46:16

and special in so many kinds of ways.

46:19

I'm not saying there's people

46:21

that will tell on other people for having

46:24

loud music but

46:28

I wonder so if somebody is a programmer

46:31

they're trying their best to just figure

46:34

themselves out and be the true person they

46:36

are and get home to the people they love.

46:39

Absolutely. Do you think that'd be a good Donner resident? Only

46:42

if they haven't had it right up in the last six months.

46:44

Yeah that's me.

46:47

Do you think Donner would be a good fit for me?

46:52

Maybe.

46:54

What's your program look like? If you look me up

46:56

right now you would see I program I had

46:58

on my business. Are you part of the elite

47:01

few? The few, the proud,

47:03

the Donner? I don't know if I'd ever consider

47:05

myself elite. Well

47:07

I mean you have to be a certain kind of

47:10

somebody to be there. Okay.

47:13

Right? Yeah I can't deny

47:15

that. So listen I really

47:17

appreciate that. Yeah but like what I'm trying to tell

47:19

you right is my story. We're

47:22

here to hear about me not.

47:24

That's really cute. Well I'm not trying to be rude I'm just

47:26

trying. Oh my gosh are you

47:29

mansplaining me? I'm just trying

47:31

to get to class. Oh my.

47:41

Yeah that was a bit much.

47:44

Let's try Badger. Badger's

47:46

kind of the opposite of Donner. There

47:49

are zero entry requirements and

47:51

I'm sure he'll be happy to talk to me.

47:54

Hey Badger. Hey Badger

47:56

can I talk to you for a second? Yo yo I'm doing no

47:58

interviews bro.

47:59

Look man, hold up. Is that thing

48:02

on? Man, cut that off bro. I'm doing interviews.

48:04

Look, I just, it's nothing. Bro, alright.

48:07

Big badger in the building. We don't do interviews. Alright

48:09

man, I respect that piece.

48:12

There was just one more place I needed to go.

48:15

West block.

48:17

Man, I've been kind of thinking about what

48:19

the right place for me to live in San

48:21

Quentin is. And uh, you

48:23

know where the right place to live is? Not

48:26

in San Quentin. You know,

48:28

you might be just right about that. In fact, I know you're right

48:30

about that. But if you gotta live somewhere,

48:32

you know, I

48:34

guess West block's alright. I

48:37

know West block pretty well because it's the first place I

48:39

lived when I got to San Quentin.

48:41

Half the building faces the rest of the prison,

48:44

but the other half sits on the bay facing

48:46

Mount Tamalpise.

48:48

The best view in prison is

48:50

from West block's fifth tier. But

48:53

when I lived there, daily life could

48:55

be kind of unpredictable.

48:58

Sometimes it'd be nice and calm,

49:00

but other times it would just go nuts.

49:03

Here we are today

49:05

with a very special person. Like, I

49:07

guess I couldn't call you a person, could I? No.

49:11

My name is West block. And uh,

49:14

you know, I'm a building that's pretty flexible.

49:16

You know what I'm saying? As long as it ain't, you

49:18

know, too crazy. I long for,

49:21

you know, watching the sunset and I'm

49:23

just hoping one day that somebody come in and, you know,

49:26

pressure wash my windows. I know you've

49:28

been around this place for a minute. Like

49:31

I heard you was off the hook for a minute. Oh

49:33

yeah, you know, uh, some other

49:35

people call the fifth tier

49:38

the top part up there. They ain't got no railing, what

49:40

they call it. Uh, the dirty nickel

49:42

up there. Fight start happening,

49:44

you know what I'm saying? I seen

49:46

a couple of people yesterday fighting

49:48

over a phone and then when they got stopped fighting,

49:50

neither of them even use the phone. They just left.

49:52

What do you think I should

49:55

live in San Quinn? You think I should go back to West block

49:57

or should I stay in Alpine? Yes,

50:00

it depends on your interaction

50:02

skills, right? You was all

50:04

right when you was over there. So if you

50:06

comfortable where you at, and I say stay where you at, but

50:09

if you miss me too much, I

50:11

think there's only one guy in 411. It

50:15

is one question I almost didn't wanna ask it, but

50:17

I gotta ask it. Okay.

50:19

Do you miss me?

50:21

I do, you know what I'm saying? Cause you left

50:23

things alone, you wasn't

50:25

throwing too much stuff on the table.

50:27

You left it a little better than you came into

50:30

it with. So it's okay. All

50:32

right, West Block.

50:33

Thank you so much. You have a beautiful day. Thank

50:35

you, man. I'm looking forward to a good sunset.

50:38

Thank you for interviewing me and taking time to hear

50:41

my perspective. You know what I'm saying? I

50:43

love you, but don't come back. That's what I'm saying.

50:48

Straight up, I think I'm worrying about the wrong

50:50

thing. Every living situation is

50:53

gonna have its ups and downs. I might as well

50:55

make the best of it and focus on the one

50:57

move I need to really worry about. That's

50:59

the move home. So until

51:01

then, this is Tony the Trinidad from

51:04

Ear Hustle San Quentin. Peace.

51:12

That was such an interesting take. Where'd

51:14

that idea come

51:15

from? So while we were doing our

51:17

train, we listened to a podcast called

51:19

Everything Is Alive, where the

51:22

guy interviewed a can of cola. Lewis.

51:25

Yeah, and I really liked it. I liked the concept.

51:27

It was very interesting.

51:29

Sometimes when you're doing interviews, you have to be able

51:31

to explain to somebody what the story

51:33

is, what you want. So I'm

51:34

curious, how did you explain this concept to

51:36

people? It actually wasn't that hard. People really

51:38

took to it pretty easily. It

51:41

was a matter of a sentence usually. Hey, man, I

51:43

want you to play the voice of the building. Can

51:46

you do that? Yeah, what building? It

51:49

was just on from there.

51:50

Wow. This

51:52

is a really good example of why it's

51:54

so important to listen to other people's work. When you

51:56

want to learn more and get better at something, you've got

51:58

to listen

51:58

to what other people are doing.

51:59

So good for you for taking that

52:02

on

52:02

good job. Thank you right on. How

52:04

did you feel? Feels good that

52:06

I got it done That it uh,

52:09

it didn't beat me

52:19

Next up we have Durells deep

52:21

Davis and you don't mix his different What's

52:24

that?

52:24

His is done as like a diary.

52:26

Okay. Yep. So his story is gonna unfold

52:29

over different diary entries

52:31

Hmm, this should be interesting. Mm-hmm

52:35

I'm right here at the front

52:36

gate by visiting waiting for the

52:38

dogs to walk through the gate I'm

52:41

so anxious me and my partner right here at Carrington

52:43

waiting to pick up the supplies and the dog Junebug

52:46

is a service dog that I'm about to train I've

52:49

been waiting a month and a half now just

52:51

waiting for her to come in just anticipating it It's

52:55

part of a program here at San Quentin where we where

52:57

we take these dogs in and we train them to be

52:59

service animals and I'm gonna have Junebug

53:02

for about a month and

53:04

it's been like a whole lot of

53:07

Less sleep-in just tossing the turn and getting

53:09

ready for this day and it's finally here

53:12

Oh

53:21

Junebug just jumped at the mic. She jumped

53:23

at what we call a dead cat The

53:25

dead cat is a cover for the mic to protect

53:27

it from the wind Junebug is going

53:29

to be a ham for

53:31

Looking everywhere she's like confused.

53:33

She's like what's going on? What is going on? What

53:37

is going on? This is something she's never seen. She's making

53:39

me more confused now

53:42

Are you more nervous now that there's a lot of people

53:45

walking around Yeah, so

53:47

now I have to be mindful You

53:49

know these types of things all these people walking and rocking

53:52

just imagine on the street because you got to keep

53:54

an eye on her and keep an eye on the

53:56

surroundings Make

53:58

sure she's not overstimulated

53:59

This

54:02

is the moment of truth. So now I'm about to head back

54:04

to the building, take all the supplies back and just

54:06

get acquainted with her and she don't know how to stop moving.

54:09

And I don't know how to stop being jittery.

54:17

Today is Saturday,

54:20

July 8th.

54:23

As soon as Junie seen me, she started wagging

54:25

her tail. I was like, hey, mama, hey,

54:27

mama. I spoke, she instantly

54:29

jumped at me responding with joy.

54:37

Our work from the sale to work

54:39

was a struggle because she's curious

54:41

about everything. She want to pick up everything,

54:44

she wants to lick everything, she

54:46

wants to chew on everything. So I got to constantly

54:48

watch her. Every little thing that

54:50

she put in her mouth I had to take out. Old

54:53

orange pillings, something that looked

54:55

like some old baloney meat, sticks, sometimes

54:58

rocks. I'm all like daddy duties with

55:00

her basically. Now I'm scanning the

55:03

floor everywhere. As soon as I walked in, I had

55:05

my vacuum eyes on.

55:12

So now it's midnight. So it's considered

55:14

Sunday, but as I was woken up

55:17

by Jungbuk tossing and turning, she

55:19

has a bed set up just right under my bed.

55:22

She was just grunting, like just kind

55:24

of whining just a little bit. My

55:26

first instinct was she was having a bad dream.

55:29

And I thought maybe it's nothing, or maybe

55:32

I'm tripping, just getting used to the environment.

55:34

So I went back to sleep. About 30

55:38

minutes or so, maybe less than that, she

55:40

was doing the same thing again. So

55:43

I put my hand on her to see if she was cold and yes,

55:46

that's what it was. Her body was a little cold.

55:50

I took my sheet that I was wrapped in and just put it on her. She

55:53

went fast asleep, but now I was just up watching

55:55

her feeling proud like I accomplished

55:58

something. It's crazy.

55:59

I stayed up for about 45 minutes,

56:02

maybe an hour just to make sure. I

56:05

felt like a dad watching his baby girl in the cradle

56:07

or something. I don't know. Who knows? Being

56:14

with Junebug reminds me of my daughter. I

56:18

wasn't there for my daughter when she was born.

56:20

I wasn't there for the birth. I

56:23

saw her for the first time in county jail

56:25

right after I got

56:27

arrested, but it was only behind the glass. Then

56:30

I was shipped off to Calipatra State Prison

56:32

nearby high California. I

56:34

was in Calipatra for 10 years. So

56:37

it was definitely too far for her to come

56:39

visit with her mom, so I didn't see her for all of

56:41

that time. Then

56:44

in 2022, I came to San Quentin,

56:47

which was about an hour from where she lives.

56:51

I remember the first visit. So when

56:53

you first come into visiting, everybody

56:55

get their hugs out the way, hugs and kisses. When

56:58

it came time for her to hug me, she

57:01

kind of came in with her head down. She was all

57:03

shy and stuff, and she gave me like a side hug with one arm.

57:06

But I still embraced her because I knew what it was at the time. And

57:09

then we sat down and she couldn't even look at me for

57:12

a long time. It took about an hour for her to actually

57:14

just look at me and talk because she was just so nervous. I

57:18

was nervous too, but I just kept looking at it. And I kept

57:20

telling her like, you're actually my daughter. You look just like me. And

57:23

just being with Junebug always reminds me of the

57:25

little things that I've missed with my daughter

57:28

and the things that I want to do with my daughter when I get out.

57:30

Just spend time with her.

57:43

Okay, Jun, it's time to go. So

57:44

me

57:48

and Junebug just headed to the Westlock yard

57:51

so she could play around a little bit. We

57:55

call it a little doggy park that we set

57:57

up on the Westlock yard. Junebug is a little

57:59

aggressive in her part. Playfulness, but she likes

58:01

to establish her diamonds. Don't you

58:03

girl? And then we like

58:05

okay. Okay. Now it's time for the water. They

58:08

are running to the same bowl, which is crazy They

58:10

fight me get they licks in So

58:15

right now she's kind of like laying down like right by my feet

58:17

with her eyes open I know you know you hear me Good

58:19

job, buddy. You

58:25

have to jump up it's okay,

58:27

it's okay girl Snake

58:35

Snake, Jody. Huh?

58:38

Snake. Snake.

58:42

Good girl. He's a good

58:44

girl.

58:49

Is it on? Is it on? I'm gone? so

58:54

The program with Junebug

58:56

was supposed to be for a month But

58:58

three weeks in we got this email

59:00

saying that they were taking two dogs So

59:02

they used to just take Artemis and Wendell,

59:06

but when an email came in they had Junebug's

59:08

name on it So some

59:10

of the guys came up like it might just be a typo. It

59:12

might just be a typo This

59:15

morning when they came the lady Susan

59:17

was like so we taking Artemis,

59:19

Wendell and Junebug I

59:26

put Junebug's vest on her. I put

59:28

her leash on Then we went out

59:30

for our Friday training routines one

59:32

last time. I Gave Junebug

59:34

a hug and gave her some treats Then

59:37

I handed the leash over to Susan. I

59:40

watched her disappear behind the wall So

59:43

I just jumped in the shower and tried

59:45

to wash it off, you know, but I

59:47

think I'm still a little sad You know not too sad, but

59:50

you probably see it on my face. Maybe It

59:55

feels like not

59:59

having somebody When you were

1:00:01

just so attached to that person, they just up and just

1:00:03

leave without any explanation.

1:00:10

When I was a child,

1:00:12

my dad just up and left.

1:00:14

I ended up finding out that he went to prison when I was

1:00:16

a kid, but I didn't know at the time. And

1:00:18

I never seen him for a long time. And it's kind of like, felt

1:00:21

like that. Like he just up and leave one day and not know

1:00:23

what's going on. And your mom just telling you,

1:00:25

oh, he left, he'll be back. And he never came back. So

1:00:27

it kind of felt like that a little bit. I'm

1:00:32

a little sweaty, a little hot, and

1:00:36

I'm a little distraught. I

1:00:39

feel distraught. So if he

1:00:41

was a freestyle to pull on him right now about your

1:00:43

dog that you just lost in a country

1:00:45

song or something, what would it be? Oh,

1:00:49

man. Oh, I miss my dog.

1:00:51

I miss my dog. Where's

1:00:53

Junie going to? I miss my dog.

1:00:56

Hold Junie, come back, because

1:00:58

I miss my dog. Whoever

1:01:03

would have thought I'd

1:01:05

make a song about you on

1:01:08

a Friday way back in

1:01:10

July when you walked

1:01:13

through. You

1:01:15

came into my life.

1:01:18

I knew you'd make it right. I

1:01:22

never

1:01:22

cared about what you

1:01:25

used to do.

1:01:29

I looked into your eyes,

1:01:33

and I smiled. Oh,

1:01:36

Junie, come

1:01:38

on back to me. I

1:01:44

miss my dog. I

1:01:47

miss my dog.

1:01:50

Oh, Junie, where are you

1:01:52

going? I

1:01:58

miss my dog.

1:02:00

Oh, Junie come back

1:02:05

because I miss my

1:02:07

dog

1:02:11

I did not see that song come

1:02:13

out. Wait, you suggested I thought I

1:02:16

was just clowning and he took

1:02:18

that see I'm glad he did cuz I love that

1:02:20

part of the story Well, it's so charming.

1:02:23

That's for our old partner Lieutenant

1:02:25

Robinson

1:02:26

always wanted country music Well,

1:02:28

I think we're gonna have to get him to do more country music

1:02:30

whether he wants to or not

1:02:33

What

1:02:36

do you think about his story

1:02:37

I really like that he decided to do it as

1:02:39

a diary diary entries We

1:02:41

haven't really done that before so I think it was a nice

1:02:43

way to kind of follow along with the story as it's happening

1:02:46

Yeah, I think he did a good job And

1:02:48

you know part of his diaries he brought

1:02:51

in the conversation about his daughter You

1:02:53

know not being around her and you know

1:02:55

building that relationship What'd

1:02:58

you say? Good? Good job, Sadiq. Definitely

1:03:00

good job

1:03:02

Because I miss my

1:03:04

dog

1:03:13

So nice how you thinking when

1:03:15

we know what I really like the most about doing

1:03:17

it is that it allowed these guys to Experiment

1:03:20

and sort of push the boundaries of what they

1:03:22

know right now and think about the possibilities

1:03:25

for the future and that each person's Kind

1:03:29

of way of being comes across in their story,

1:03:32

right? There's five very different ways of telling stories

1:03:35

and I think that but I think that bodes well for creativity

1:03:37

to come

1:03:39

All right, let's cut to the chase who's

1:03:41

the top three

1:03:42

I think they all have you know, they all have things

1:03:44

to learn and they all did things really well And

1:03:47

that's part of the process. So I couldn't

1:03:49

say, you know Which one

1:03:51

was the best because I think they all had really good things

1:03:53

to offer

1:03:54

I could tell you what I'm waiting on. What's that the

1:03:56

pitch session at the end of the season? We'll

1:04:00

see, you know, who come with the best

1:04:02

ideas, who come with the best uh

1:04:05

through line for the story, so we definitely

1:04:07

gonna see. I like it.

1:04:12

My name is Rasheed Zinnerman, sound

1:04:14

designer for Ear Hustle, and I just

1:04:16

finished helping produce that wonderful song you

1:04:19

just heard. Special thanks to Katie

1:04:21

Gilbert, Officer Wallace, and

1:04:23

John Zaretsky, who played the fiddle. Ear

1:04:26

Hustle was produced by Nigel Poore, Erlon

1:04:28

Woods, Amy Standen, Bruce Wallace,

1:04:31

and Rassan New York-Thomas. Shubnam

1:04:34

Sigmund is the managing producer. The

1:04:37

producing team inside includes Steve

1:04:39

Brooks, Darrell Sadiq Davis,

1:04:42

Tony Da Trinidad, Thom Nguyen,

1:04:45

and inside managing producer Tony

1:04:47

Tafoya. Erlon

1:04:49

Woods sound designs and engineers the show

1:04:52

with help from Fernando Arruda, Rasheed

1:04:55

Zinnerman, myself, and Darrell

1:04:57

Sadiq Davis. Thanks

1:05:00

to Acting Warden Smith at San

1:05:02

Quentin, Acting Warden Hill,

1:05:04

and Lieutenant Newborg at the California

1:05:06

Institution for Women

1:05:08

for their support of the show.

1:05:10

Thanks also to this woman here.

1:05:13

I am Lieutenant G.M.R.A.

1:05:15

Berry, the Public Information Officer

1:05:17

at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center,

1:05:20

and I approve this episode.

1:05:22

This episode was made possible by

1:05:25

The Just Trust, working to

1:05:27

amplify the voices, vision, and

1:05:29

power of communities that are transforming

1:05:32

the justice system.

1:05:34

For more information about this episode,

1:05:36

check out the show notes on Ear Hustle's

1:05:39

website, EarHustleSQ.com.

1:05:42

You can also find out more about the show

1:05:45

on Facebook, Twitter, and

1:05:47

Instagram at EarHustleSQ.

1:05:50

Back to you, Erlon and I. Please

1:05:53

don't forget to leave us a review on Apple

1:05:55

Podcasts. And

1:05:56

while you're at it, sign up for our newsletter,

1:05:58

The Lowdown, so you

1:05:59

Subscribe at EarHustleSQ.com

1:06:02

slash newsletter.

1:06:05

Music for this episode comes from Antoine

1:06:07

Williams, David Jossie, Fernando

1:06:09

Arruda, Rasheed Zinaman, Greg

1:06:12

Sayers, Darrell Sadiq Davis, and

1:06:14

Matthew Jaspar.

1:06:16

EarHustle is a proud member of Radiotopia

1:06:18

from PRX, a network of

1:06:20

independent, creator-owned, listener-supported

1:06:23

podcasts. Discover

1:06:25

audio with vision at Radiotopia.fm.

1:06:29

I'm Nigel Poore. I'm Erlon Woods.

1:06:32

Thanks for listening.

1:06:37

I grab it with my gummy part

1:06:39

of my mouth and then, you know, I twist the kernels

1:06:42

around, you know, and then I make them a little

1:06:44

bit softer than I, I crunch them on both

1:06:46

sides. That way I get that buttery flavor

1:06:48

all the way out when I do it like that.

1:06:51

Radiotopia from

1:06:55

PRX.