084 Adele Bertei on the Women of No Wave

On this episode, Marc talks with Adele Bertei, author of "No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene," released today, March 31, 2026. It's an insightful and super-entertaining chronicle of Bertei's journey through New York music and art in the late 70s, including her time in Contortions and The Bloods as well as her solo career. It also delves deep into so many figures of the scene that Bertei worked and associated, particularly women such as Lydia Lunch, Nan Golden, Vivienne Dick, Patti Smith, and so many more.

As she writes, "I wrote this book to dig deeper. What truly set No Wave apart from other artistic movements of the 1970s and early '80s? The women. They didn't just participate. They set the tone – and they lit the fuse...resisting tired stereotypes and reinventing according to our individual artistic visions...dismantling art's male-dominated paradigms, we ignored the boundaries of gender and genre."

We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Adele Bertei!