All Friends & Neighbors Episodes

Jim Fraenkel

One-Time VP & EP of MTV News, and The All-Time King of VO, Jim Fraenkel, takes us from the driver’s seat of his Picasso Pizza delivery days and his stint at the legendary Geffen Record (where he was nearly cast in Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video), to his nearly two-decade run at MTV News. We’ll travel with Jim from interviewing NSYNC in Orland, Florida, to covering Matthew Shepard’s murder in Laramie, Wyoming, and get lost in Harlem at 3am with a very-pregnant Sandra Bernhard. We’ll listen to R.E.M. rehearse, watch Kurt and Courtney cuddle, and feel all the feels at a private dinner with His Royal Badness.

Merle Ginsberg

Music and Fashion Writer and Editor turned Rupaul co-star, Merle Ginsburg, talks about sharing a scene with Laurie Anderson, Twyla Tharp, and Eric Bogosian, catching The Clash, Television, and Glenn Branca at Danceteria, Mudd Club, and The Ritz, and parlaying Downtown Avant-garde Art into Midtown Corporate Music Media Business at a then-nascent MTV.

Rhonda Markowitz

This week, Legendary MTV News Senior Writer, Rhonda Markowitz, takes us on a wild, star-studded, forgotten New York ride from Bayside, Queens (alongside her childhood friend, a certain Loser’s mom, Bibbe Hansen) to her first concert (yup, The Beatles at Shea Stadium) to her stints at A&M and Polygram Records, and, eventually, the MTV newsroom. We’ll hear about befriending INXS’ Michael Hutchence, Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett, and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe; and tag along at the Concert for Bangladesh, MUSE’s “No Nukes” benefits, and Live AID. And Rhonda walks us step-by-step through her reportage of Kurt Cobain’s final days.

Darin Byrne

Onetime MTV News intern-turned-senior producer Darin Byrne takes us into the studio with Beyonce, on-tour with WuTang Clan, on-stage with Biohazard, backstage with Matchbox 20, and on-set at 1515 Broadway. He talks about sharing an office with Sway, the impact of digital video on the newsroom, and a certain 2002 quadruple-bill at CBGBs, MTV Newsapalooza.

Linda Corradina

This week, an MTV News Legend behind iconic shows like The Week In Rock, The Big Picture and House of Style, prosocial coverage like Choose or Lose, and fundamentals like the news cube, on-air graphics, and one-sheet, former Senior Vice President of MTV News & Specials, Linda Corradina. From the Rock & Wrestling Connection with Cyndi Lauper and Captain Lou and shoots with Hall & Oates, R.E.M., The Replacements, and David Bowie, to the Moscow Music & Peace Festival to Kurt Loder’s audition, this is origin story stuff from a true original.