New Jersey Is The World

Martyna Majok is the Pulitzer winning author of many great plays, many of which focus very specifically on Jersey. We talk about Jersey artists, about Belleville and Kearny, about immigrant groups finding each other in this state, and so much more. Seriously, just listen to it, Martyna is so fucking great. 

Chris Payne is the author of the book Where Are Your Boys Tonight? The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion - you will probably not be shocked to hear that this book is VERY heavy on New Jersey content. That being said, upon reading it I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see how much New Jersey was at the core of this massive explosion of underground to mainstream music. It was a joy to talk to Chris about his book, and specifically some of the bands, venues, and moments that tie this era of emo to the Garden State. 

On this week's show we ask a simple question: "What's the dumbest/weirdest/most inexplicable stuff to be found on New Jersey Craig's List right now?" This leads, as you imagine, down some real weird rabbit holes as we suss out not just the stuff that is odd at face value, but some other things that are clearly written in coded language. It's also fun to see which towns are producing the real oddball stuff. You will like this episode. 

This week we talk with friend of the show Anthony DeVito, a hilarious comedian and Bloomfield native. He's also currently starring in the off-Broadway show Jersey Boy: A True Crime Story about how he came to find out that his family and organized crime in New Jersey were intertwined. It's a jaw-dropping show, hilarious, smart, and VERY JERSEY. We talk with Anthony about workshopping something so specific and personal, the Edinburgh experience, and how Jersey still brings up tumultuous feelings for him. You can get tickets to the show RIGHT HERE.

WARNING: Some listeners may be disturbed by the fact that at no point in this episode do Mike D and Andrea mention diarrhea. This is a diarrhea-free episode. Proceed at your own risk.Longtime subscribers to our Patreon may remember an early episode of South Jersey Is Also the World where Andrea and Gethard went deep into the history of Ong’s Hat, a South Jersey ghost town so tiny it doesn’t even appear on most maps. Its history is a fascinating one, with debatable origins involving bootlegging and hat-based feuds as well as an early Internet legend regarded by many as the genesis of Alternate Reality Games. Since that episode, Ong’s Hat has popped up in a few other places, so we figured it was time for a revisit. While we do discuss the above in some detail, this episode is really about urban legends, how they spread, and why we seem to love them so much more in Jersey. We also discover something about our own history that has the potential to crack this whole Ong’s Hat mystery wide open. We need your help on that one though, so have a listen and let us know what you think!

A recent article revealed the existence of a secret super clean bathroom in the well known NYC nightmare commuter hub, Port Authority. Being that Port Authority is a place MANY North Jersey residents know well and have true hatred/fear for, we figured this was a perfect excuse to look not just at the secret bathroom of Port Authority, but the many secrets it holds, both currently and in its storied history. 

Kate and Danny Tamberelli are not just a married couple, they're also the co-authors fo the new book Road Trip Rewind, which is great and you should read. The book features characters born in Jersey, much like Danny himself was. Danny was raised in Wyckoff before starring as Little Pete on The Adventures of Pete and Pete, a show Gethard has long argued is actually the most Jersey show of all time. Danny and Kate talk to Chris and Andrea about building creative projects as a married couple, what it's like to star in something so iconic, and most importantly, a secret route from Bergen County to Giants Stadium. Learn more about the new book at https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496742865/the-road-trip-rewind/

On this episode we give you: some Jersey authors, some Jersey specific writing, some Jersey adjacent books, some historical looks at authors who help set the tone of what Jerseyana is, and a proposed summer comic book book club. ENJOY THE BEACH, YOU CHOOCHES.

Your voicemails. The hosts on our mini-network. Like so many of them. WOTown, Andrea, Fanelli, Fierro, HEBBA. The largest gang of gagootz ever assembled, listening to the batshit messages you all have left us in recent months. What beats that? Nothing beats that.