Earlonne Woods

In November 2018, then California Governor Jerry Brown commuted Woods' sentence, saying he had "clearly shown that he is no longer the man he was when he committed this crime" and that "he has set a positive example for his peers and, through his podcast, has shared meaningful stories from those inside prison." Woods later traveled to thank Brown and interview him for the podcast. According to The Economist, by this time Woods was one of the most famous incarcerated people in the US. Woods relocated to Oakland, California after his release, and was hired full-time as a producer and co-host of Ear Hustle. Since his commutation, Woods has become involved in campaigns to repeal California's three strikes laws. In 2020, alongside Poor and co-host Rahsaan Thomas, Woods was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. In 2021, Woods and Poor co-authored the book This Is Ear Hustle.

Earlonne Woods is an American podcaster and author, best known for co-hosting and co-founding the podcast Ear Hustle in 2017, and co-authoring the book This Is Ear Hustle in 2021. Woods helped create Ear Hustle while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. In November 2018, Woods' sentence was commuted by California governor Jerry Brown. He was hired to continue co-hosting and producing the podcast after his release. In 2020, alongside his Ear Hustle co-hosts, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting.

Woods first went to prison at 17 for two concurrent convictions of kidnapping and robbing a drug dealer, and was released at 23. In 1997, at the age of 25, he was arrested for attempted second degree robbery. Woods was unaware his two convictions as a juvenile counted as two 'strikes', which made his conviction at 25 count as his third under California's three strikes law. He received a sentence of 31-years-to-life.