Episode 481: The Other Guy Was No Joke

Joe Flaherty was a dock worker and high school dropout on the wrong side of 30 when he found an unexpected writer’s life beginning as a columnist for the Village Voice. A couple years later, he was running the 51st State campaign of Norman Mailer and Jimmy Breslin as two of the city’s most famous writers made their bid to run it on a 51st State platform built around the idea of giving New Yorkers more control of their own neighborhoods and slogans including “No More Bullshit” and “The Other Guys Are The Joke.” Joe’s son Liam joins Lit NYC to talk about the very different Park Slope he grew up in, what his father accomplished in his short life before succumbing to prostate cancer at just 47 years old, what his dad would make of Mamdani’s new era, and much more.

You can listen to Episode 481: The Other Guy Was No Joke online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 481: The Other Guy Was No Joke is an episode from FAQ NYC by FAQ NYC.

This episode is 43:05 long.

This episode was published on Feb 27, 2026.

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