The Jiffy Newsletter Podcast
A documentary audio zine about upstate New York, exploring cozy histories, odd mysteries, and personal dispatches from the land of bucolic barns and Kinderhook blobs. Each episode is an upstate odyssey. From high-stakes bake-offs and haunted antiques to roadside cows and quaking trees, host James Cave brings you stories from New York’s non-Manhattan regions – told with curiosity, humor, and the occasional text message from a stranger.
Episodes
In this episode, I’m continuing our tour through The Jiffy-Mart – my online bodega and members’ lounge – and this time, we’re stepping through the forest refrigerator straight into the Catskill Mountains. I’m bringing back my series "Tree Minute" to finally learn what I’m looking at out there in the woods. To help, I’ve teamed up with Giovanna D’Angelo, an education forester with the Catskill Forest Associat...
In this episode, we tour the Jiffy-Mart, the official digital bodega of the James Cave Instagram Feed.
Then we dive into a thoughtful exploration of land acknowledgments with Indigenous expert Heather Bruegl, who shares insights on creating meaningful statements that honor ancestral lands and their original stewards:
- Native-land.ca serves as a starting point for researching whose land you're on
- Tribal territorie...
It's Mud Season here, not just at The James Cave Instagram Feed, but across all of the northeast.
And for this relaxing Sleep Hike, I thought it would be peaceful to take a restful walk through Mud Creek, in Hudson, New York. Mud Creek is a part of the Mud Creek Environmental Learning Center, located on the property of Columbia County Soil & Water Conservation District office.
They host a variety of h...
It’s spring in upstate New York, also known as Mud Season. In this episode, I go searching for the answers to its riddles: why Mud Season exists, what’s really happening down there in the ground, and why the ground breathes more heavily when it's stressed out – just like me.
To guide me through it all, I visit Dr. Jane Lucas, a soil ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. We talk about microbial...
This week brought the first official day of spring – but as a confusing and misplaced winter storm batters my windows, I’m bringing you one last cozy episode before we fold up the Cozy Map for good.
In this episode, I visit one of my favorite places on earth: Rodgers Book Barn in Hillsdale, NY. I chat with legendary owner Maureen Rodgers, who’s been stocking her shelves with used books since the 1960s, about how she fi...
On today's episode, I’m making a house call to one of the oldest – and most mysterious – homes in the Hudson Valley. The Van Housen-Marriott House on Route 66 has stood for centuries, witnessing the full weight of American history. It was a site of Dutch colonial settlement, a place of enslavement, and, possibly, a stop on the Underground Railroad. But now, this house is falling apart, and efforts to save it are ...
In this episode of "The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast," I’m beginning a new journey: an odyssey to find the coziest spots in upstate New York.
But before I can begin, I receive guidance from Maria M. Silva, a reporter for the Times Union and someone who knows all about cozy restaurants. Her cozy map of Hudson Valley restaurants for the Times Union proved to be a crucial resource in my initial research.
...
In the first episode of 2025, we start with an end: The end of "This Old Vibe."
Join me as we hear from some of the enlightening experts along the way and reveal the results of my Vibe Enhancement Project: the Desolate Corner.
Be sure to pick up a copy of "Sean Scherer's Vignettes" here:
https://bookshop.org/a/95638/9780865654419
Subscribe to The Jiffy newsletter:
https://thejiffy.be...
In this special episode of The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast, we check in with our entertainment reporter, Jimmy Jam, who brings you intimate access to the stars of the Hudson Valley as they walk the Denim Carpet on their way out of the back door of the service kitchen of the Holiday Inn in Coxsackie to their cars.
Jimmy talks with Taco the Best Farm Dog of the Year, with Maria of MX Morningstar Farm; Bella, the ...
In this episode, we revisit a conversation I had with Candice Hopkins for my series, "This Old Vibe" – it's an EXTENDED CUT, and we talk about so many things:
What is a land acknowledgment statement? Are they helpful? Why should we write one, and what should people think about when writing one that truly, literally supports the tribes they're hoping to "acknowledge," and more.
Ca...
What is The Jiffy? This trailer holds all the answers.
To learn more, visit: jamescave.xyz
"The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast" is an audio documentary zine – the official podcast of The Jiffy – exploring the odd histories, cozy mysteries, and surprising characters of upstate New York. Each episode is a small adventure, told with curiosity, humor, and the occasional text message from a str...
Things got really stressful last week, so we're taking a Sleep Hike.
And this time, we're Sleep Hiking through Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York. It's a beautiful place, very relaxing.
What is a Sleep Hike? It's when I do the hiking while you do the sleeping.
So sit back, relax, kick off your shoes, and let's take a hike.
To subscribe to The Jiffy, click HERE.
In this episode, we visit The Kitchen Shrink to get to know Tamar Adler, author of "The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z," and learn about the Secret Room and how to cook a giant duck egg. Guest-hosted by The Hungry Eye.
Subscribe to Tamar's newsletter: tamaradler.substack.com
Follower Tamar on Instagram: @tamar.e.adler
Upgrade to the J'Fay Supreme membership for just $5 a month: htt...
This is a special episode of The Jiffy Newsletter Podcast: For my ongoing series, "This Old Vibe," we are invited into the Hudson home of chef, author, and artist, Susan Simon to try and understand just what makes a Hudson Valley home a "Hudson Valley home."
This is the first time anybody has ever invited us into their home, and it is also the first time we're taking the podcast out of the stu...
In this episode, we discover that my house has a terrifying corner known as a Vibe Desert, and the only remedy is a new Deep Dive. We also get to know our fashion photographer, James C'Avedon, a bit more — but is there really ever "knowing" James C'Avedon? We also hear about a Cow You Should Know!
"The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast" is an audio documentary zine – the offic...
In this episode, we get to know my new Neighborhood Local Day Job Neighbors in the historic — and uncommonly idyllic — village of Kinderhook, New York.
"The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast" is an audio documentary zine – the official podcast of The Jiffy – exploring the odd histories, cozy mysteries, and surprising characters of upstate New York. Each episode is a small adventure, told with cur...
Just don't look at it too long 👓 😵💫
"The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast" is an audio documentary zine – the official podcast of The Jiffy – exploring the odd histories, cozy mysteries, and surprising characters of upstate New York. Each episode is a small adventure, told with curiosity, humor, and the occasional text message from a stranger.
New episodes drop every other week. Subscri...
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