The Montclair Pod

This week on The Montclair Pod, the new school year is almost here — and there’s a lot changing inside Montclair’s schools. Farnoosh and Mike sit down with MPACT founding member Dan Hafetz to unpack the group’s new report on Board of Education governance, what stronger oversight could look like, and why it matters heading into a wide-open school board race with zero incumbents running. They also look at the ...

Montclair's 07042 ZIP code just landed at #2 on Realtor.com's list of the hottest housing markets in the country — so naturally, we wanted to know: is this a bubble waiting to burst? We put the question to Professor Joshua Harris, a real estate economist at Fordham, and break down what's actually driving the numbers, including a wild bit of compounding-interest math on a Bellevue Avenue building that sold for $50,000 in 1973....

What does Upper Montclair need — and what should it look like in the years ahead? This week, we’re digging into the conversation about Uptown’s future, following a community meeting where residents and business owners weighed in on what’s working, what’s missing and what they want to see next.

We’re also catching up on a busy stretch of Montclair school news: the long-awaited forensic audit is...

This week: Christian McBride stops by ahead of the Montclair Jazz Festival, Madonna's new single traces back to a Montclair DJ, and we get real about how (and when) we use AI on this show.

In This Episode

Christian McBride & the Montclair Jazz Festival Eleven-time Grammy winner and Montclair Jazz Festival artistic director Christian McBride joins us to talk about how he and his wife, Jazz House Kids founder Melissa Walke...

This week on The Montclair Pod:Church Street goes car-free (for now), Urban Outfitters quietly leaves downtown after 20 years, and our youngest correspondents ask Montclair what they’d change about their town — plus fried chicken, a music festival, and an ab robot.

Urban Outfitters quietly closed its downtown Montclair store after 15+ years, the chain’s first-ever NJ location. We dig into why, with theories fro...

This week, Columbia Journalism Review takes a close look at how The Montclair Pod became a go-to source for the school budget story, and where Mike and Farnoosh want to take the “Montclair-ish” format next. We also break down why Montclair only has about 13 liquor licenses for a town of around 41,000 people, and what that means for your next dinner reservation. Plus, two throwbacks worth a re-listen: our visit to the Mo...

Welcome to our World Cup Rehash. (Watch for special clips on YouTube)

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time at MetLife Stadium — and Montclair had a front-row seat. In this special reflection episode, Farnoosh and Mike step back from their nonstop World Cup coverage to look at what the last few weeks revealed: about the town's surprising love of soccer, about how hard it is for Montclair to coordinate on something this big, a...

Weird NJ founder Mark Sceurman stops by to talk all things weird in the garden state, not to mention the story of a Montclair poet obsessed with writing letters to the police, and three decades of chasing New Jersey's strangest stories — plus a visit from local zine Eighty-Six'd. We track down who actually owns the giant banner flapping over Bloomfield Avenue, sit down with MC Hotel owner Jeff Sica ahead of the World Cup Fina...

With the World Cup playing eight matches down the road at MetLife Stadium and national teams bunking at the MC Hotel, Montclair business owners expected a boom — instead they got a shrug. We dig into who was supposed to own that moment (the BID? The township? Nobody?), welcome British Guy Living in New Jersey Ollie McAteer as our guest host, and break down the wildest real estate sale we've covered yet: an $8.1 million deal o...

With 36 hours' notice, Farnoosh was asked to deliver the commencement address at Montclair High School — and we play you the full speech. We also debrief all the "this is so Montclair" moments from graduation day, debut our new Saturdays in the Park series with a remarkable chance encounter at Brookdale Park, and catch up on spiking real estate prices, a school principal shuffle, a stolen car on Bloomfield Ave, new e-bike rul...

This week on The Montclair Pod, we go inside a Board of Ed meeting that ran past 1 a.m. — and somehow still ended with a discussion about how to make meetings more efficient. We also hear from outgoing student rep Wyatt Foster, who's heading to Brown in the fall and has plenty to say. Then we sit down with Anne Mernin, Executive Director of Toni's Kitchen, about what the SNAP cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill actually mean for f...

This week on The Montclair Pod, we're serving up a packed episode featuring school budget questions, local food news, community concerns, and a few major updates from around town.

For the latest installment of Supper with the Super, we sat down with Montclair Schools Superintendent Ruth B. Turner at Turtle + the Wolf for an honest conversation about the issues residents are talking about most: the forensic audit, the Juneteenth ...

We have a very food-forward episode this week.

We dive into our unforgettable dinner at Clementina, the new Adriatic-inspired Italian restaurant on Valley Road, and explain why we think it's one of the most exciting openings Montclair has seen in years. We share the remarkable origin story of chef and co-owner Michele Rocchi, whose dream of opening his own restaurant was sparked by an unexpected conversation with a guest while w...

This week on The Montclair Pod, we tackle some of the biggest conversations happening in town—from breakfast sandwiches to PrideFest, the World Cup, school finances, and a local immigration case that has touched many residents.

The Great Montclair Bacon, Egg & Cheese Taste Test

After asking listeners for recommendations, we embarked on a highly scientific (and cholesterol-heavy) tour of six local favorites: Dutch&r...

This week on The Montclair Pod, we dive into a surprisingly emotional episode about football, parking and civic spirit.

First: Montclair parking is officially getting more expensive. Meter rates are rising for the first time in eight years, evening enforcement hours are expanding until 10 p.m., and surge-style pricing is coming to parts of downtown Thursday through Saturday nights. Mike and Farnoosh unpack what’s changing,...

It's 90 degrees in May, NJ Transit has heard from Montclair, and this Sunday there's a townwide yard sale (not to be confused with a garage sale). We've got the story behind the two tag-sales, a packed NJ Transit survey, and a Montclair coffee truck that could keep you up at night for two reasons. Plus: a farewell to a neighbor who’s repped Montclair to the world honorably and hilariously… and is not allowed to leave (...

Is history just a boatload of fun, or a series of anxiety-inducing tests? This week, we argue it’s the former as we take a field trip to the Montclair History Center. We explore 250 years of township secrets—from the "Montclair Situation" at the segregated YWCA to the names of the people who slept in our bedrooms 100 years ago.

We tackle our inboxes, including a high school hibachi lunch that hit a rain dela...

This week, we are celebrating Montclair as a “Creative Island.” We sit down with legendary drummer Kevin March (Guided by Voices, The Dambuilders) to discuss his journey from Brooklyn to the heart of the Montclair music scene and his mission to help the next generation find their “Honest Noise.” We also explore the high-stakes world of fashion with former Vogue editor and author Caroline ...

This week, we’re looking at what happens when the budget crisis hits the playing field. With freshman sports on the chopping block at Montclair High, we sit down with the parents leading the charge to save the program. We also hear from a graduating senior about his journey through the MHS athletic system and take a stunning trip back in time to the 1960s "Golden Age" of Montclair football.

The Fight for Freshman ...