Devoured this… and listened twice now. The research, production and casting could not have been more expertly executed. Fabulous work and sharing with everyone I know 💕

Fan of jess’ work since her writing days and have been following her podcast career via Hot Takes & Deep Dives. What a body of work and this is the jewel.

Cannot rave about this series enough .. the cast is hilarious and heartbreaking, star studded and the OGs who have been there since the 50s have stories that cannot be matched.. LOVE

Expertly produced, cast & edited! entertaining throughout, highly recommend!

Episode 7 made me so emotional. Stories I’ve never heard from those who lived it, vividly produced and brought to life in this series. Cannot recommend highly enough!!!

The best piece of fire island media out there. Honest, well produced and perfectly cast.

listen, i know i'm late to the party, but whateva! this is a seamless and amazingly well done podcast. so well researched and such good storytelling by Jess. Can’t recommend this enough!! Brava, gurl.

But it’s “The Normal Heart” not “A Normal Heart”.

This was such an incredible deep dive and made me feel connected to my queer lineage on Fire Island.

Binged the whole thing in a day and a half - could not get enough. 👏

We are long time Pines goers. This is an interesting and amazing insight to the island. I would highly recommend!

I so enjoyed this. It’s really well done, great job on the history, interviews and the way it’s organized.

One of the best oral history projects I’ve ever listened to. Jess did an exquisite job of gathering pop culture figures like Joel Kim, Margaret Cho and Matt Rogers along with the OGs like Bob “Rose” Levine and Panzi!! Required listening for every Fire Islander! 🎆

As someone who has gone to Fire Island hundreds of times over the last 20 years, I find it annoying that the likes of Matt Rogers has been crowned an “authority” or “having a more valid experience” than anyone else who has ever had a share there simply because he played a cliché gay character in a made for streamer movie about one group of people’s experience for one week on Fire Island. This aging twink’s perspective is neither ground breaking nor unique, and is not as interesting as someone’s who went there in the 80’s and 90’s. Also, accuse me of gate keeping, but I miss the days when Fire Island Pines was a well known “secret” among those of us who needed to know. Leave it to the generation growing up on IG to ruin it for the rest of us by attempting to make what once was “subversive” mainstream to make a buck.

This is a really well produced pod and lots of fun to listen to. It’s a great history of the famous fire island.

I knew almost nothing about Fire Island before listening to this amazing series. I learned so much history and culture. Jess is a fantastic storyteller. This has made me want to spend an entire year on Fire Island to experience all of its seasons, both natural and social.

My current favorite podcast, especially because I have a cache of old photos from a family member’s trips to Fire Island in the era before AIDS. Besides feeling like I get to hang out at a great party with fun people for one hour a week, hearing the history & individual stories feels like a glance into the list world of these photos.

This is your audio guide book to Fire Island. Obsessed.

Loved hearing the old timers tell the story of The Invasion. Each episode is beautifully constructed with pop sensibility, mystique, humor and a wealth of knowledge. Masterfully done 💚

Love this pod!

If you want to remember that rich cis white gay and lesbians are so snobby and just ridiculous, take a listen. It’s just embarrassing.

Found Jess through Danny Pellegrino and now binging all of this series and 😻 I am utterly impressed. Transports me to my favorite place (Cherry Grove) 🦄🦋🌷☀️🌊 Sound design is stellar as well as the cast

10/10 love

I’ve heard about Fire Island for years and never been. This podcast was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Gonna visit asap! Amazing podcast.

Love this series and the host is providing interesting historical context. I was a bit confused in Episode 2 when the host referred to Cherry Grove as “the birthplace of drag”. I don’t think that’s accurate since there were documented drag performers in parts of the US before Cherry Grove became what it is today. That made me question some of the rest of the narration but overall very informative.

Listening felt like an educational escape to a summer vacation at the beach. Lovely and vivid.

Very interesting! One little correction: I worked as a waiter at the Sandpiper in the early 70s and there was a wild dance scene on Saturday nights after the dinner service was over.

I love Jess’ new venture. It’s BEAUTIFULLY produced and edited. The history and storytelling are 🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽

This is fascinating!! History I never knew I needed to know but I am in love and look forward to every episode 😍

It’s pretty rude to say in episode two straight people aren’t welcome or wanted when in episode one a straight woman brought her coworker there who was then able to come out/find herself and it seemed celebrated. Not okay. I liked the content/history until hearing that

Such a great, insightful deep dive. Well done! 👏🏼

Even though I’ve been, I’m learning so much about the history of Fire Island and its place in queer culture through this pod. The host does an amazing job of weaving together interviews to create an entertaining and informative portrait of the famed gaycation destination. I’m drooling over the lineup of folks she’s gotten to speak on the pod. Excited to hear the future episodes!

This was so well done, Jess has created such a wonderful podcast that is both intriguing & exciting. I’m thoroughly enjoying all these fascinating Queer stories by a perfect variety of guests. Jess has done it again, this FI Podcast is really really good & I plan to listen to it over & over. Cheers, Randomly Ronnie Jr 🥂

Love jess’ narration and the history of the island explained. This is filled with amazing interviews too! Love it!!