Reviews

This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life by Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods

bluesungod's review

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

lily_ann's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

plenilunix's review

4.0

Giving it 4 starts because I really want more people to read it.

It is true some conversations felt repetitive, and I fast read through multiple pages, but here's why I enjoyed this book:

Prison reality is depressing, and there's so much we don't know and understand from the outside. We need these voices. We need prison stories to be told from inside.

Nigel and Earlonne's friendship and partnership is #goals. You don't see straight people bond and be open about their affection and respect for each other like... never. Some people were mad their convos were cutesy. I wish all my friends and colleagues were this nice to me - I'm sorry your standards are low.

This is a good starting point. Prison is inhumane, and the stories in this book - regardless of its participants' personal opinions about the American carceral system - show very clearly we need to end it.

kalai_chu's review

informative medium-paced

2.0

maddbella's review

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

It opened my eyes to what I could never imagine on my own. A bit of a sad reality and feeling torn about the broken system.

thepaperbackplanner's review against another edition

4.0

As an avid listener of the Ear Hustle podcast — though I am a little behind lol — I had to get the audiobook version of this book, and I'm glad I did. Nigel and Earlonnne's narration was the best part of this book. I enjoyed the deep dive into their experiences of making the podcast, though I didn't get as much out of the sections that went back to stories the podcast had covered before. Ultimately, I was left feeling like I need to catch up on the latest podcast episodes! 

zachnachazel's review

5.0

I’ve been obsessed with the Ear Hustle podcast for years and it’s revolutionized my understanding of the justice process, and even how I vote in elections. Needless to say, I was ecstatic about the book. I wasn’t sure what Nyge and Earlonne would talk about that I hadn’t already heard in the podcast, but they delivered! Loved this and hope there’s more in the future!

ali_henkle's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

graveyardpansy's review

4.0

strong narrative, it’s incredibly well-crafted and meticulously all pieced together. the only reason i’m not giving it five stars is i do think it’d be significantly better with more of an abolitionist bend. that said, the moderate/neolib politics it mostly alludes to are more accessible to the general public and i could see ear hustle making centrists/liberals feel more compassion towards incarcerated people. one person interviewed seems dedicated to abolition, but he’s only in a small section of the book.

i also am a little disappointed with the general lack of intersectionality? they talk about race and class and some about gender. i haven’t listened to the podcast bc i’m not a big podcast person, but i would hope it’s a bit more diverse in that regard? gender and queerness and disability are all such big parts of abolition, so maybe i have high expectations, i just believe all those things are necessary to consider regarding incarceration.

elyssam's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Very insightful. The rapport between Nigel and Earlonne is fantastic. The stories they seek and share with the world are eye-opening. A great listen!