New Jersey Is The World

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In our final episode, it's our honor to bring you a ramshackle, funny, all over the map trivia contest LIVE in front of a sold out crowd at Kevin Smith's Smodcastle Cinemas. For just about a half decade we've discussed the glorious state of New Jersey in all its forms. Sometimes the podcast has even been good. We've had a lot of fun and hope you have too. This trivia contest isn't only consumable...

Here's our final pass through all of YOUR voicemails, sincerely our favorite part of the NJITW experience. We're happy to have one final round of voicemails, some ridiculous, some conversation provoking, some by deranged realtors, some sentimental. This half is going out on the free feed with a Turnpike Tier exclusive section to follow. There's only like 4 tickets left to the show at Smodcastle th...

As you might know by now, early last year, Andrea and Jodie Bergen County started a podcast called  The Watchers ,  where they watch and review movies and tv (often but not always about New Jersey). This week, they interviewed Sav Rodgers, a filmmaker whose documentary  Chasing Chasing Amy  caught their attention earlier this year. The title alone should tell you...

Dylan from The Lower Aetna stuck around to give us the expert insider opinion on Medford Lakes! This focuses on one of the specific communities in South Jersey, with a hyper-focus on the Canoe Carnival, an annual tradition of Medford Lakes that sounds delightful, intense, and strange. This is one of the best deep dives EVER!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Lower Aetna is a band that recently released PINE, an album that evokes Springsteen, outlaw country, Gaslight Anthem, all while telling stories of queer longing in the Pine Barrens. It rules so hard and you can find it at https://theloweraetna.bandcamp.com/album/pine We were lucky to talk with Dylan from The Lower Aetna about how these songs came to be, how growing up in Medford Lakes affected...

Welcome to our third installment of the Officially Unofficial New Jersey Is the World book club. This time, Andrea and Kerri read Welcome Home, Caroline Kline . It’s a very Jersey book about a young woman who–in the middle of some life upheaval–returns to her hometown to fill in for her dad on the local men’s softball league. It features everything we love here: Jersey families, Jersey music, the...

Last weekend, without any pre-planning, two of our NJITW stalwarts did some very Jersey things: Mike D and his family went to Camp NoBeBosCo, better known to horror fans as Camp Crystal Lake. Geth and his family wound up on an impromptu trip to the legendary Wild West City, and the experience was head spinning. We discuss both in this episode, along with shout outs to the Great Divide campground a...

This episode was not planned. Gethard found himself with time to kill and in need of an electric car charger, and the nearest one was at the dreaeded Short Hills mall. Listen as he wanders through the land of the wealthy, in this barely edited audio, mostly marveling at the watch stores. Including that one with a red velvet rope. That one, in particular, was bad. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Kerri and Andrea are back, talking with another Jersey author! This time around, they're chatting with Nick Corsaniti,  New York Times  correspondent and author of  I Don't Want to Go Home: The Oral History of the Stone Pony . They dive into the book's exploration of Asbury Park's music scene, its unique culture, and its rich New Jersey history. They talk writing proc...

Mike D was able to sit down with Scot DeBockler the founder and everything else of NJ’s iconic SNK Pedals. They discuss what it’s like to start a business in NJ, the important role that NJ has played in the history of music gear and of course a very nerdy exploration of guitar pedals and amps. All the music fans out there are going to love this one. As a thank you for all the support over the year...

First off, a big announcement in this episode. More on that to follow soon. Secondly - your voicemails! Our reactions! Lots of laughs! Lots of reminiscing. Chef Volas! Letters home from camp! Road signs that are inappropriate even for New Jersey. And much, much more! Turnpike tier patrons, you'll get a second dose of these soon including a voicemail from Rick from Bergenfield that set the discussi...

As you can see, this was supposed to be an episode of our Patreon-exclusive Garden State Gagootz. It went in a different direction. I couldn't hide this behind a paywall. Don't worry patrons - the new Gagootz is coming soon with some killer voicemails. But in the meantime, enjoy whatever the hell this is.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s finally happening. Andrea has been threatening it for years, and now she’s got backup in the form of the great Kerri Sullivan, who our listeners know as the editor of New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State   and the person behind Jersey Collective . This episode is the first installment of our unofficial book club. They’re starting with a conversation with De...

The Devil and Daisy is a play. But it's not just a play - it's a play that involves an eight foot tall Jersey Devil puppet and a whole lot of Jersey folklore embedded deep in its roots. In this interview we talk with Alex Dawson and Dan Diana about how this play came to be, their involvement in immersive/grassroots Jersey art, how one makes an eight foot tall Jersey Devil puppet, and much much mor...

If you’ve been with NJITW for a while, you might remember a super brief stint we had way back in August of 2021 with a New Jersey Is the World role-playing game, appropriately titled, New Jersey: The Role Playing Game. It was livestreamed just for our Patreon subscribers, and it only happened three times, so even long-time listeners might have missed it. Well, since it’s the 3-year anniversary, we...

If you've been listening to the show, you know that Hebba is a woman who asked to intern for us, and to whom we explained that we aren't nearly successful enough to need an intern, BUT she occasionally comes out of nowhere and designs killer episodes of the show even though I literally don't have her contact information. This time, Hebba let us know that she has a friend coming to town. Her friend...

On today's episode we have a great interview with none other than S.P. Sullivan, who covers the crime beat at the Star Ledger. He talks us through the Menendez trial, Norcross, the county line, who's now sweating it, in what ways Menendez might be an empathetic figure, and why this state is as shady as it is. It was a true joy and honor talking to Sean, who gave us a real insider view into the cri...

We are joined by Jodie Bergen County and Kerri Sullivan as we discuss Bobby Gold Barz, his downfall, what happened, and our quick reactions to this insane year in New Jersey politics. THEN some of your voicemails, from heartfelt to strange to nonsense, and our delighted reactions.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever curious about how NJITW actually gets made? Well we know some of you are - because you’ve asked us. In this episode Andrea and Mike D take you behind the scenes and dig into: the infamous lost episode, NJITW the Role Playing Game, some history from the early days of the show and of course lots of random NJ related tangents.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don and Geth make their way to Fattal's supermarket in Paterson, where they make their way to both the baklava bar and the brick oven bakery in the back. They take their food down to the Great Falls, and then spend this episode telling you about the incredible experience. FIX THE FUCKIN' FOOTBRIDGE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever taken a drive through Mendham - and have you ever noticed a sign claiming Mendham was the hometown of the man who invented baseball? What if we told you this was a giant fraud. Did George Washington really sleep here? Did Jackie O actually live here? Seriously, What is going on in Mendham?  We’re joined by our new friends Ryan and Katie who host the Hometown History podcast to d...

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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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...

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 oddba...