Jody Avirgan

I launched a new show yesterday: a musical debate/conversation show called "Summer Album / Winter Album." Here's an excerpt of my conversation with Craig Finn (Hold Steady) and Kevin Morby about the genius of Modest Mouse. Full episode is out wherever you get podcasts! youtu.be/cGeIYPtwaMg

A reminder, because it is almost that time of year: More children are killed by cars on Halloween than any other day of the year, by far. www.vox.com/future-perfe... If you're a parent, I hope you'll do what you can to keep kids safe. If you're driving on Saturday, PLEASE exercise extra caution.

We had like four days of injuries not being the defining feature of the NBA season. This past weekend was rough.

I probably missed a bunch of discourse, but have we processed that Angela Duckworth basically completely reversed course on the whole grit thing? Whoops!

Do you want to see the most cursed photo of all time?

Turnstile. National Mall. Oct. 24, 2026. Truly a historic moment. Hardcore, rave, drone — all blasted toward the Washington Monument.

the Internet rn

The plan: Instead of giving Knicks employees championship rings, use them as a lure to see who needs mandatory cybersecurity training

laughing because when Bull Connor brought out the fire hoses in Birmingham one of the first people the civil rights movement sent out there to get blasted in front of god and the media and cameras was literally an old blind man

unattractive podcasters being forced by their employers onto video platforms is one of the great civil rights issues of our day

Really really good. The great NYC podcast that this city has always deserved and weirdly never had. And, if I'm being honest, and a little jealous, the kind of show I've always dreamed of making myself. www.nytimes.com/column/metro...

Worth reading hellgatenyc.com/mayor-abe-be...

Joe Burrow has been grinding the midterm polling (video courtesy of @bbaby41.bsky.social)

this is the type of shit David Byrne says directly into the camera in True Stories

The thing about Jan Crawford’s “diatribe” and CNN’s “heated” is, we all could see the whole exchange with our own eyes, but it suggests they’ve fucked up a lot of coverage of things we couldn’t see.

What was the first piece of music you listened to this morning?

Want to better understand why American politics feels like it’s shifting? Join us October 19 at The Howard Theatre as Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, This Day Podcast, and #TheContext host Alex Lovit connect today’s changes to the moments in history when America’s political coalitions shifted.

Just set a reminder for myself, six months from now, that says “what was the name of the press secretary that lasted six days.” Genuinely curious if I will remember the name Katie Zacharia. I give me a 5% chance. Feel free to play along!

It was brought to my attention that Meghan Markle did the Key & Peele thing at a public appearance with Harry today

Did a two parter on John Brown’s raid this week on @thisdaypod.com — tried to focus on his ties to the larger abolitionist movement around the country. It’s a good one. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

When Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens begins playing “Old Corn Liquor,” a traditional Black American folk tune, acclaimed Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man recognizes similarities to Chinese pentatonic music and spontaneously joins in. The joy on their faces says it all.

I’ve been biking in NYC for long enough to say this with relative confidence: Access-A-Ride drivers are the most consistently erratic drivers on the road. Ambulettes in general; I don’t know what it is!

And perfectly to time too. Incredible stuff!

Confused by all the election forecasts and polling averages out there? I wrote a comprehensive guide to all of them: baseballot.substack.com/p/a-field-gu...

Love this.

Absolutely nails it.

Here's the latest installment of the hit series "Can Jody Guess The Title Of That Week's New Yorker Cover?"

The next big re-alignment in American democracy is on the horizon. But what it looks like is up for grabs. We have a live show in DC *next Monday* in which we'll start to get some answers. With the great Reverend William Barber and more. Spread the word! www.unionstagepresents.com/shows/this-d...

this is really really fascinating. what's happened on ravelry is almost certainly reflected across every single other creator space online — your youtubes, your tiktoks, your instagrams. there's just not a lot of space left in the middle:

today is the only day you can post this

Will the growing “Digger is good, actually” slow burn actually make a difference to it being seen a massive flop?

Shoutout to the sales rep in Oregon who sold the slot, didn’t say a word, and kept it moving.

We've probably got two solid years worth of complete dogshit entertainment coming thanks to spineless media execs overindexing on phony resurgence of reactionary cultural demand

I come home, she lifted up her wings

before Trump all news was like this all the time

The future of personalized media

Support our local media, friends. They watch out for us, and they push for accountability. www.thecityreporter.nyc/donate/ @thecityreporter.nyc is a gift; I give every month and I hope you can find a few dollars to do so as well.

Really fascinating piece. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/n...

The ICE agent at the center of the shooting in Marble Hill on Thursday is a familiar face to those closely following the Trump administration’s ICE crackdown in NYC. The City Reporter wrote about Brenden Cuni in May. 🧵

Still a three-piece. Amazing.

i have yet to see this man do any physical activity with good form

I know this very fraught territory, but I think the City Reporter did a really good job here - especially by prioritizing the ways you can try to get a glimpse into a school's culture, which is kinda everything.