The Jersey Angle

What's would be the quintessential New Jersey way to commemorate the nation's semiquincentennial? 

How about a Sloppy Joe sandwich, a very long walk, a possibly illegal boat ride and a bunch of giant bonfires?

As our nation prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday this year, the growing roster of events and commemorations being announced kept reminding me (partly for what the agenda seems to lack) of one of my long-favorite books "My American Revolution" by Robert Sullivan. 

Sullivan's book celebrates the massive, but often shortchanged role New Jersey played in the revolution through a series of personal journeys and haphazard experiments and adventures. (ok, he goes to NY and PA, too).

As his book blurb sates, "Sullivan's history is personal, anecdotal, experiential. This is a fiercely individual and often hilarious journey; in the process of making our revolution his, Sullivan shows us how alive our own history is, right under our noses."

In short, the things Sullivan does in his book: solo hikes along evacuation routes, looking for signs of the history all around us, pondering what it all means to us, seem like just the things a smart Jerseyan might want to do for the 250th.

On this episode of The Jersey Angle, we sit down with Sullivan for a winding conversation about the Watchung Mountains, the nation's "first and worst" poet, bonfires and Sloppy Joe sandwiches.

Listen, enjoy, take a walk, and, please, subscribe. 

And as we mention in the podcast, when you're serving those Sloppy Joe's, this 4th of July, don't forget the fancy toothpicks with the plastic decorations on top. It is a special occasion, after all. - BD

This winter is brutal. We need someone to make us laugh. We need a good therapist. How about someone who's both a comedian and a therapist! Host Brian Donohue sits down with Kate Nichols to discuss ways to cope, drunken teenage sledding outings, a weird Maplewood no-heat contest and the epic November 2018 surprise snowstorm. Meanwhile, Brian and Mark discuss the frozen-finger perils of old school shoe-leather reporting in single digit conditions in the neighborhoods of Carteret and on the frozen Navesink River.

New Jersey's outgoing attorney general Matthew Platkin sits down with Jersey Angle host Mark Bonamo for a wide ranging pair of interviews about corruption in New Jersey, his (some would say refreshingly) aggressive tenure as AG and the recent controversy over a bill opponents say would gut government watchdog agencies. Bonamo and co-host Brian Donohue break it all down from a booth in the Mark Twain Diner in Union Township.

Do you think you know how your town gots its name? Well, the story could be complete BS, and Scott Salmon is here to set you straight.

Salmon has written a book entitled "Naming New Jersey: The Etymology of its Historical and Geographical Landmarks" which traces the origin of the names of more than 800 towns, landmarks and other spots. Brian and Mark sit down with him for a free-ranging Jersey nerdiest exploring the story behind everything from Hi-Nella to Ho-Ho-Kus.

Did you know when Newark Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor Ras Baraka was arrested at an ICE detention facility the Mr. Softee Man was there to serve ice cream? Have you heard about how one Republican hopeful would fabricate ridiculous falsehoods on the TV news show he hosted? Did you know about the reporter who is Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop version of The Pink Panther's "Cato" character, keeping him on his toes?

Whether you haven't followed NJ crazy gubernatorial primary race at all or have been following it closely, you're bound to learn some useful and enlightening or fascinating but completely irrelevant information as we break down the madness of the state's free-for-all race in advance of the June 10 voting. Our guest (and the aforementioned Cato) is Terrence T. McDonald, editor the New Jersey Monitor.

Brian and Mark explore New Jersey's complicated relationship with the land across the kills, Staten Island. From the migration of Staten Islanders to NJ to issues like politics and taxes, to Staten Islanders' love of Jose Tejas and NJ malls. There's even a Staten Island diss thrown out from the pulpit at NJ's most grand Catholic cathedral. Perfect for listening while stuck in traffic on the Outerbridge Crossing. With Tom Wrobleski, longtime reporter with the Staten Island Advance.

On the week the state’s largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger and several other papers print their last editions and the venerable Hudson County daily The Jersey Journal closes, Jersey Angle hosts Mark Bonamo and Brian Donohue discuss what’s being covered and what’s being missed in a state where two decades of media downsizing have left huge swaths of the state as news deserts. Also: is there hope emerging on the media landscape in form of new startups sprouting all over?

He was once south Jersey’s version of Carrie Bradshaw, penning a popular dating column for singles of the hoagie/water ice set. 

He’s the guy whose pointed “what did you know about Bridgegate” questions former Gov. Chris Christie sarcastically swatted away with the line “yeah, Matt I put out the cones.” 

And now, he’s captivating listeners worldwide with a chart-topping new podcast “Inconceivable Truth” in which he investigates deep mysteries about his own identity. (When we say deep, think strange-secret-things-happening-in 1970’s fertility clinics deep).

He’s Matt Katz and he’s got a ton of stories to tell. 

About Jersey, about life. 

On this episode of the Jersey Angle podcast he sits down with hosts Mark Bonamo and Brian Donohue for a freewheeling conversation about life, love and New Jersey that takes listeners from the swamps of the Meadowlands to billboards by the Ben Franklin Bridge.

Listen, enjoy, subscribe. Cause every story has a Jersey Angle. 

Living in New Jersey you can find yourself often wracking your brain for any explanation for absolutely insane sketchy things you see happening around you on the daily. When journalist Jesse Coburn started seeing cars with temporary NJ license plates all over his Brooklyn neighborhood, he started digging. He uncovered a massive black market of "ghost tags" - fake temp plates - that allow drivers to skirt the law with dangerous and even fatal results. His work took him from Bridgeton to Fort Lee and won him a Polk award, one of journalism's most prestigious prizes. Jersey Angle hosts Brian Donohue and Mark Bonamo sat down with him to discuss the all too believable tale of New Jersey as the kitchen where sketchy dangerous schemes are cooked up.

Is there a more Jersey story than a guy who becomes a beloved hero for almost winning?

Chuck Wepner grew up in hardscrabble Bayonne. He served in the US Marines and was the NJ state heavyweight boxing champion. He bled all over Bayonne Times Editor Rosy Rosenberg’s leisure suit in his 1970 fight against Sonny Liston and earned the nickname “The Bayonne Bleeder.” He fought Muhammad Ali in his prime as a huge underdog and stunningly managed to knock him down. His triumphant defeat inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the movie “Rocky.” He did three years in Northern State Prison (“I ran the place.”) He fought Andre the Giant and Victor the Kodiak bear (twice) in Asbury Park. 

And that’s just the beginning.

Join Jersey Angle host Brian Donohue as he sits down at the kitchen table with 85-year-old Chuck Wepner, the only person whom the governor of New Jersey could possibly bestow with vanity license plates bearing one simple word: “Champ.”