iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 18/10/2026

Ads have been so extra sleazy lately I can’t tell if this is for Payday candy bars or payday loans.

Screen saying that the ALCS is presented by PAYDAY. The sprite on the bar cart is not product placement.

Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I watched Love Is Blind for the first time because they set it in Boston, and I wrote about it for @gqmagazine.bsky.social! Read it here: www.gq.com/story/love-i...

Reality dating shows have never been my lobotomy of choice, but when I found out Love Is Blind had recorded a season in Boston, I was intrigued. As a Massachusetts (with no due respect to Morgan Wallen, the real “God’s Country”) native and former Boston resident, I had to see how it played out. How would a group of men possessing the emotional availability of a pile of cinder blocks mesh with an unseen cadre of women who would spit on Derek Jeter’s shoes if given the opportunity?

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Houston: Please come to my show on 10/22! I am leaving my dog at home so I will be wearing real clothes! Tickets: www.livenation.com/event/G5dIZ_...

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Honored to make a cameo in @alisonleiby.bsky.social’s newsletter where she reveals my recently adopted catch phrase! Read it all: comfortread.substack.com/p/i-dont-wan...

I say this to Josh all the time. “What are we supposed to want?” We have a few phrases we toss back and forth when we take writing breaks to complain about the industry and the world at large. Josh will fire back with a, “Things cost money!” in response to literally any piece of news about a shrinking budget or room or episode order. We both regularly wonder, “Why is it so hard for regular people to have nice things?” We’re also known to say things like, “Yeah I could do one more” and “I don’t care if I live or die.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I had so much fun talking to Eteng Ettah about Bob’s Burgers on her podcast Consider This For Comfort! You can hear the whole episode now wherever you do that!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I had a true dream weekend at the Comedy Fort in Fort Collins! Thanks to the club for having me, thanks to everyone who came out, and thanks to Owen Matthews, Bailey Tyler, and Miriam Moreno for killing it on the shows! Pro quality photo by Mellisa Rasor!

The four comedians mentioned above in the mirror at the comedy fort.

Me onstage at the comedy fort in a navy cardigan and maroon t-shirt.

Me at Horsetooth reservoir. I’m wearing a floral hoodie and holding an iced coffee.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Look, I know LeBron is getting older, but you don't have to go asking a health aide about his on court strategy. He could probably tell you this himself.

Headline: Nurse envisions LeBron setting the table for Sixers' offense

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This week’s road shoes: Custom Nike Air Max 1s in the same color scheme as the cover of my book Nice Try! I got a pair for me and one for my agent and one for my editor! Anyway I’m at the Comedy Fort in Fort Collins, CO! Tickets here: www.comedyfortcollins.com/events/143267

Ooo and black and white Nike air max 1s that say Nike Try on the back! They’re sitting on a leopard print rug

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

What did YOU call all the sodas at once and was it an affront to the concept of mental health awareness?

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I’m not replying to this spam unless it arrives as a letter written with a quill pen (even the emoji).

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This week's newsletter is a little bit about the difficulty of wanting the future to be better without obsessing over how good the past was. I didn't mean to be so anti the present. Read it all: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/203-iced-cof...

Sometimes it feels like being at peace requires holding (or refusing to hold one of) two simultaneous and contradictory experiences in your mind at once:

Forgetting that things used to be better than they are right now.
Remembering that things can still be better than they are right now.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Fort Collins! This weekend! Four shows at the Comedy Fort! I’ve been waiting for this moment…all my life. Tickets here: www.comedyfortcollins.com/events/143267

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It’s going to be pretty fucked up when this baby yeti starts telling people to kill themselves.

Subway display ad for meta’s muse ai product billed as “ai that gets it done.” The mascot is a little smiling fuzzy white puppet guy.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Happy retirement to Justin Verlander. Here’s a throwback to me helping Kate Upton change your Wikipedia photo for my talk show WikiWhat!

Me and Kate Upton sitting at a computer in a fake doctor’s office. She is saying: He should get his picture changed. It’s not what he looks like.

Kate Upton looking at Justin Verlander’s wikipedia page. She’s saying: He has that hat crease it’s just mean.

Kate pointing at a picture in a mosaic of pictures as I watch. She’s saying says: “Look how cute this one is. You can even cut me out.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I'm on today's episode of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! with fellow panelists Dulcé Sloan and Faith Salie recorded live in Omaha! Thanks to Peter, Alzo, and the whole team for having me along! (The guest is legendary volleyball coach John Cook!)

Dulcé, Faith, and me at the panelist table onstage in Omaha. Lillian King and Mike Danforth are visible over my shoulder!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I came up with some more inane bullshit for everyone to argue about!

(September 23, 2026 at 10:44am)
Fake opinions to argue over…
- Never turn left on a first date.
- Every kindergarten student should have an unpaid internship.
- The periodic table is too sexual.
- Bigfoot should be allowed to vote.
- Having a dream is the same as reading a book.
- You can wear a crop top to a funeral if the deceased person was hot when they died.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This week's That's Marvelous newsletter is (in part) about how every trophy is as silly as a participation trophy. Read it all: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/202-maximum-...

It's faded away over time, but there was a lot of noise from dumbasses a few years back about getting rid of participation trophies for kids' sport. Fine. Get rid of all trophies for kids. Again: Who gives a shit? Oh you beat a bunch of children at soccer? Good for you! I could do that too, and I've never even played that sport competitively. It is barely an accomplishment. It's the same as participation, to me.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This kind of could have been one sign yeah?

Fence with both “no dumping” and “please curb your dog” signs.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

So thoughtful of your parents to put together their very own fall tv preview! Read it here: www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts...

Shouts & Murmurs
Your Parents’ Fall TV Preview
By Josh Gondelman
Published 9/17/2026

A photo of an older white couple sitting on a couch watching tv.

“North of South of the Border” on Paramount+

Welcome to El Paso, where men are men and women are cast mostly in nonspeaking roles. Taylor Sheridan’s latest drama stars Mel Gibson as a Border Patrol agent who feels conflicted about his work because his bosses won’t let him arbitrarily deport Jews and Greek people. Sheridan’s shows currently take up so much of Paramount’s programming that there isn’t enough time in the day to air “North of South of the Border” as its own hour-long drama. It appears exclusively in snippets on television sets that characters are watching within the show “Landman,” which your parents refer to as “Yellowstone.”

“Tendershire Farms” (Season 18) on BritBox
Maude Tendershire (Olivia Gingerbottom) works as the caretaker for her family’s historic chamomile farm. That’s about it. The show is so cozy and soothing that the actors frequently fell asleep during takes and can be spotted snoozing in the background. This season, low-jinx ensue after Lord Gilderoy (Hankleton Dunderthorpe III) stops by for a visit, but he’s already eaten so he doesn’t stay for tea. A lamb wanders off but soon returns. And for one entire episode, a gentle breeze rustles the branches of a weeping willow tree as an inaudible conversation takes place nearby.

“Dr. Shaft, M.D.” on Fox
An underground facility known as Drive Shaft, Maryland, is home to the Washington, D.C. metro area’s most cutthroat drag-racing scene—and there’s a new driver tearing up the quarter-mile track. Other gearheads know him as Smooth J., but at his day job, at the Foggy Bottom Urology Clinic, Jason Shafterton goes by Dr. Shaft. Will his addiction to fast driving undermine his commitment to providing affordable penile health care to residents of our nation’s capital? Only time will tell. Your parents really aren’t that interested in the racing scenes or, frankly, the medical stuff. But your mom refuses to miss an episode because the show stars Daveed Diggs from the original cast of “Hamilton.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Here is another old joke that I like.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Here's a little excerpt of my reader pep talk from this week's That's Marvelous newsletter! Read the whole thing here: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/201-some-apo...

We are all made up of (mostly) meat held up by (mostly) bone girders. Time beats down on us every instant. Sometimes the floor or a kitchen implement or a car door or a teething child takes a shot at us too. Everything we eat changes what's inside of us a little bit (at least temporarily...sorry to be gross). You cannot keep your body perfectly preserved in one shape except through embalming or mummification, which I do NOT recommend if you're hoping to continue riding a bike or even driving a car. It's no good for mobility.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I found off-season peppermint stick ice cream AS IS MY RIGHT!!!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Another home run AI summary! Thanks Google!

“Avery’s mom in 30 Rock is Dianna Jessup, played by the actress Diana Jessup.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Sticker inspired by this joke from my new hour which I have spoiled slightly by doing it on tv already.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Here's a better look at the Basketball Of All Genders I'll have for sale on all of my tour stops. Designed by Mattie Lubchansky. Printed by Radix Media. A dollar from each sticker will go to the Trevor Project to provide counseling and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth!

Basketball of All Genders round sticker featuring a basketball with four hands of various races and genders touching it. One hand is wearing a bracelet. One is wearing a watch. It has my website listed as well.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Thanks to @mattielubchansky.com for the amazing sticker design for this fall/winter tour!!!! Come see a show! Tour dates and tickets at www.joshgondelman.com/schedule!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Here's a little excerpt from a pep talk to a reader in this week's That's Marvelous! Read the whole thing: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/200-ceos-and...

A library science degree is not like getting an MBA where as far as I can tell, you pay however several hundred thousand dollars for someone to whisper to you: "Lay off as many employees as you think the corporate structure can withstand, and use any profits for stock buybacks." And then you get to be a CEO. This is possibly an oversimplification of how that works, but I think there's a 50% chance it's exactly how it goes. And it's really only worth it if you get more money out of the arrangement than you put in in the long run. In a utopian society, I have to imagine the people studying capital-b Business for fun and enrichment would be a vanishingly small number of true math weirdos.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Kids today are too coddled. Back in my day this would have said: “Take me to your dealer.”

Banner featuring an alien smoking weed with a kid and the caption: “universal friendship through cannabis.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Happy birthday to @maris.bsky.social, the most brilliant and beautiful person alive!!! She is a karaoke star, a pug whisperer without compare and “too much of a Virgo” (her words) to accept help organizing her book shelf! I love you, Danger Maris!!!

Maris in a cream colored dress smiling as I kiss her on the side of the head! I’m wearing a green t-shirt and orange tie dye shorts.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Here is a joke I filmed at The Comedy Studio in Cambridge in (I think) 2014!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

My 7:15 show at The Comedy Studio in Cambridge, MA on 9/19 sold out so we added a 4:30 show! That one and the 9:30 are both more than halfway sold out too! Grab tickets here: www.thecomedystudio.com/events/tcs-p...

Flyer for my show featuring me in a sweater with my arms crossed. It advertises the time and the place. I’m wearing three glasses ago glasses.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I don’t know it just seems like it should exist.

Google search for: david byrne cover of daft punk is playing at my house

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I don’t think I got enough credit for stumbling into that “Journey” pun at the end of this riff.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

A little excerpt from this week's newsletter, which is (in part) about how if you are cool and nice and generous, people will say nice things about you when you die. Read it all here: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/199-living-c...

I imagine seeing the inundation of tributes and remembrances for Dolly Parton and Tim Curry is intimidating for living celebrities, people who might wonder how their own legacies stack up, how they will be remembered. As I'm writing this, some stars are probably planning Tom Sawyer-style fake funerals just to hear the eulogies. That may sound too deranged to contemplate, but it's important to remember: Stars are not just like us. They are way weirder.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Call or email or text or voice note with your best party flourishes please!!!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I am telling many brand new jokes at Union Hall in Brooklyn on Thursday night! Until then, here is a very old joke!

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Thursday night! New jokes! It feels as vulnerable as sharing this photo from college I can’t remember the context for. (I think the HOPE thing was pre-OBAMA fwiw.) Ticket link: www.eventbrite.com/e/josh-gonde...

Flyer for my what’s new show at Union Hall featuring rima parikh, Myq Kaplan, James rahlan, and Maddie Connors! I am wearing a diaper and a lead on it that says HOPE. No shirt. Unclear why this is happening.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

In today's That's Marvelous I wrote a little about how hatred is bringing people together in a nice way finally. Read it all: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/198-flock-ca...