The Jiffy: Stories From Upstate New York

This year marks the 200th birthday of Frederic Church, the Hudson River School painter whose mountaintop home, Olana, helped shape how Americans imagined upstate New York. To kick off a three-part series for Frederic Church 200, James starts where Church did – outside the house itself, on Earth Day, looking out at the same view Church called "the center of the world." Then he drives north to the Albany Institute of History & Art, which holds 72 letters between Church and his close friend, the Albany sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer. Curator Diane Shewchuk is in what she calls the "panic phase" of building an exhibition around those letters, because "Your Friend, Frederic E. Church" opens June 6. Thank goodness she spared time to walk us through how she writes, organizes, and builds an exhibition of this scale. Our conversation moves through Palmer's ink-stained desk, Church's six-page travelogues from Beirut and Petra, a painting made for a child who died at two, and a very helpful freight elevator. Also: Big shout out to index cards. Featured Guest: Diane Shewchuk – Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Albany Institute of History & Art "Your Friend, Frederic E. Church" – On view at the Albany Institute of History & Art from June 6 through October 12, 2026. Opening reception: June 5 Full programming calendar: albanyinstitute.org This episode was produced in partnership with the Albany Institute of History & Art. Special thanks to Diane Shewchuk and Marisa Espe. Subscribe: Get the newsletter at thejiffy.xyz — photos, behind-the-scenes extras, interviews, and a monthly curated list of arts and sciences events across upstate New York. Until next time, I'll see you over on the James Cave Instagram Feed.

In this first episode of season two (!!) I'm taking an overdue look the concept of an "upstate" New York. What is it? Where is it? Can I go to it? And who is it for? We start at Ward's Point, the southernmost point in New York, and look northward, and then we hit the road. And along the way, I talk with Poughkeepsie's Harvey Flad, Albany's Bennett Liebman, Oneonta's Wendy Lascell and Bryan Collins, and Kingston's Brian K. Mahoney, because I needed the combined wisdom of Vassar College, SUNY Oneonta, the Government Law Center at the Albany Law School, and all of Chronogram Media to, hopefully, finally answer the question: Where does upstate begin? It's a road trip up and down the Empire State. Here's the map Wendy uses in her project with students. Support the show: www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade "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 an adventure, and new episodes drop every other week. Follow James on Instagram: @jamescave Subscribe to the newsletter here: www.thejiffy.xyz

Send a text The podcast is still on a bit of a hiatus while I produce "Little Pod" (a limited series with Olivia Muenter). I'll be back with new episodes here soon, but in the meantime, I'm re-sharing this episode about Pinkster Festival – a Black cultural celebration with Dutch colonial roots – which was revived for the first time in more than 200 years last year. Pinkster began as a Dutch Christian holiday but evolved into a vital gathering for enslaved and free Black New Yorkers in the 18t...

The podcast is still on a bit of a hiatus while I produce "Little Pod" (a limited series with Olivia Muenter). I'll be back with new episodes here soon, but in the meantime, I'm re-sharing this episode about Pinkster Festival – a Black cultural celebration with Dutch colonial roots – which was revived for the first time in more than 200 years last year. Pinkster began as a Dutch Christian holiday but evolved into a vital gathering for enslaved and free Black New Yorkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. This episode follows the festival’s modern-day return, in partnership with the African American Archive of Columbia County and local organizations working to reconnect descendants, reanimate memory, and reclaim a once-forgotten holiday. You’ll hear from festival organizers, historians, community members, and King Charley, as they honor ancestors through the libations ceremony and explore the unique shape of slavery in the Northeast. We also reflect on what it means to hold this celebration just steps from the historic Persons of Color Cemetery, and how genealogy and place are being used to build one of the largest known Black family trees in New York State. If you found this episode interesting, text it to someone who might like to hear it! Word of mouth really helps this show grow. And if you'd like to hear my earlier episode with the Archive where we visited the Jan Van Hoesen-Charles Marriott House, you can find that here. To learn more about the African American Archive of Columbia County, visit them at: https://www.afamarchivecc.org You can hear "Little Pod" wherever you find podcasts. Support the show "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 an adventure, and new episodes drop every other week. Subscribe, share, and take the scenic route with us. Follow James on Instagram: @jamescave Subscribe to the newsletter here.

Mother Ann Lee is one of the most consequential (and least understood) figures in early American religious history. In just ten years in the colonies, during the chaos of the American Revolution, she helped give rise to a movement that would shape communal life, labor, design, music, and belief across America (and even Europe) for generations.This episode of The Jiffy traces Ann Lee's life from industrial Manchester to upstate New York, from persecution and imprisonment to the founding of the Shakers' first American settlement near Albany and across New England. With guidance from Kathleen Lynch, curator and director of collections at Hancock Shaker Village, we examine what can be known about Mother Ann, and what survives only as testimony, memory, myth, and legend.As renewed attention turns toward Ann's life, this episode offers the long view that intends to place her where she belongs: not as an abstraction or aesthetic, but as a human being whose convictions helped shape a country still defining itself. By the way, Kathleen took me on a tour of the 1830 Brick Dwelling in 2024 for my series, "This Old Vibe," and showed me the Shaker concept of borrowed light. You can watch that video here. You can visit Hancock Shaker Village at: https://hancockshakervillage.org Here's more info on "Ann the Word: the Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, the Woman Clothed with the Sun," by Richard Francis This is part of my series throughout 2026 looking at how New York looks at itself during the Semiquincentennial: The Jiffty250.  Support the show: www.thejiffy.xyz/upgrade "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 an adventure, and new episodes drop every other week. Subscribe, share, and take the scenic route with us. Follow James on Instagram: @jamescave Subscribe to the newsletter here: https://thejiffy.xyz