293 | Tricia Romano (The Freaks Came Out to Write: Village Voice)

My Summer Lair Chapter #293: What’s The First Thing That Comes To Your Mind When I Say The Village Voice?

When you read The Freaks Came Out To Write there was clearly 2 distinct New York Citys: the surface world with Wall Street and landlords…the day shift.

And there was the bright night lights and the dark night life.…Nighttown only set in The Big Apple; underground like the subways. And just like the subways, outlets like The Village Voice could take you to magical places.

Often called America’s greatest alternative weekly newspaper, The Village Voice has a 50 year plus history. The Village Voice was launched and founded by Ed Fancher, Dan Wolf and of course: Norman Mailer on October 26, 1955.

By the time The Village Voice reached the 1960s it was entering its golden era which would run well into the ‘90s: deftly covering music, film, local politics, national politics, books and the art world. In short: many of the combustible elements that make New York City so great.

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say The Village Voice? For me it’s New York City. That third world energy, that steadfast hustle, that consecrated grind and all that glorious pop culture.

(Personally, the ‘70s and ‘80s decades stood out: hip hop was emerging, indie films were flourishing and off-Broadway shows were happening. So much culture and creativity all loving captured by The Village Voice and their fierce gang of rascals armed with typewriters. Notable those graffiti covered subways became an avatar: if you dig the culture this was fresh. If the culture terrified you, the bombed subways were your shorthand to express your fear.)

In this My Summer Lair episode you’ll meet journalist Tricia Romano who assembled a dynamic oral history of The Village Voice. Over 200 former Village Voice writers, staffers and editors reflected on their work and their experiences. And because it’s an oral history her book The Freaks Came Out To Write captures all the charming chaos of writing and working at The Village Voice.

As she says to me: “For almost everyone that was there at The Village Voice: It was the best part of their career and the best part of their life.”

Tricia Romano started at The Village Voice as an intern and wound up writing columns on New York nightlife.

I so appreciate a theme that runs through this conversation is celebrating characters. If you’ve ever been to New York City you know what I mean about characters. Just really weird yet really cool people. Characters wrote at The Village Voice. Tricia encountered characters covering nightlife. Characters are why you put on pants and you wanna travel.

The title of her book, features…after all: The Freaks.

Tricia Romano @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Wednesday September 4, 2024 at 1:00 pm (EST)

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