Category: Notable Locals

Episode 80: Lauren Albrecht, Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee LGBTQ Caucus

This week Amy & Joe, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, mark the closing of LGBTQ history month by welcoming Lauren Albrecht, Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee LGBTQ Caucus and talk politics, candidates and new bills.

Episode 79: Tommy DeSeno

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, we talk to Tommy Deseno, Asbury Park historian who was born and raised in Asbury Park. We learn that Asbury Park was the training center for World Heavyweight Champions, that there was an Opera House(???), and that Stephen Crane liked to tweak James Bradley’s nose in print. Welcome Tommy!

Episode 78: Michael Trusnovec, co-founder of the Asbury Park Dance Festival

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, we talk to Michael Trusnovec, one of the co-founders of the sold out Asbury Park Dance Festival, which will be celebrating its third successful year on October 1.  We talk to Michael about about his life in dance, and his journey from Long Island to the Paul Taylor Dance Company, with additional stops at the New York City Ballet, the Joyce Theater, the Metropolitan Opera and now Asbury Park. 

Episode 77: Carrie Turner and Jenn Hampton from the Asbury Park Arts Council

This week we welcome Carrie Turner and Jenn Hampton from the Asbury Park Arts Council, to talk about the new mural project that is underway at the historic Asbury Park Sewage Plant, and other projects coming this fall.

Episode 75: Bans Off Our Bodies

This week, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy is joined by a special guest co-host to discuss the upcoming Bans Off our Bodies rally to be held in Springwood Park on Saturday at 4PM.
Comedian and fellow Asbury Park Women’s Convention founder Jess Alaimo helps Amy welcome community activist Michelle Gladden, Ocean high school student Nevaeh Sickles, and musician/mixed martial artist Angie Sugrim.
They discuss what brought them to this moment and what you can expect from the rally.

Episode 74: Activist Jan Moore

Welcome to Asbury Pod and our first in-person recording since March of 2020. In keeping with our observance of Pride month, this week we welcome LGBTQ icon Jan Moore, whose 52 year relationship with her wife Emily Sonnessa was the subject of Robin Kampf’s award winning documentary Love Wins back in 2018. This was a fun conversation and we covered too many things to list here so give it a listen.

Episode 72: Legendary Councilwoman Eileen Chapman

This week with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Eileen Chapman, Asbury Park City Councilperson, Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music for Monmouth University, Board Member of the Asbury Park Music Foundation—and member of a long list of other Asbury-centric organizations.
We talk to Eileen about the upcoming Summer Concert Series, Music Mondays at Springwood Park,and along the way hear what it was like to work at and manage the legendary Mrs. J’s, the legendary Stone Pony and the legendary Fast Lane and other equally boring and uninteresting places.

Episode 71: Local Favorites Pony & Legendary Musician Alice Genese of Ov Stars

On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Alice Genese, a pioneer of punk & art-pop, & Pony, who everyone in town knows. They talk about their new project Ov Stars, whose introspective & melancholy tunes are the nonstop soundtrack at Amy’s house these days. They talk about what brought them to Asbury Park and what brought them together, & everyone tries to remember the names of the theaters that used to be in Asbury Park. Check out Ov Stars Sunday, April 24 at the Danny Clinch Gallery at 4:00pm.

Episode 70: Asbury Park Official Historian Werner Baumgartner

On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Werner Baumgartner, Official Historian of the City of Asbury Park. We talk to Werner about what brought him to Asbury Park in the first place and how does one become the official historian of a city? What are the historian’s duties? And what would a historian do if the city gave him $10 million?

Episode 69: Legendary Asbury Park Musician Dolores “Dee” Holland’s daughter Paulette Holland Fant Malunga

should learn a bit more about Dee ourselves. On this episode, with the help of Ming Chen of A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, Amy & Joe welcome Dee Holland’s daughter Paulette Holland Fant Malunga from Texas and we talk about her mom and her trajectory from child prodigy to working musician.