There are over four million podcasts in the world and well over 500 million people listening to them. Over half the US population between age 12 and age 85 listened to at least one in the past month. Since their inception in 2020, the Ambies—the annual awards for podcast excellence—have seen submissions increase exponentially each year, well into the thousands. And when this year’s contenders were announced on Valentine’s Day, two of the Podcast Academy’s 198 nominations—Best Indie and Best Personal Growth/Spirituality—went to the Rosendale-based TMI Project Story Hour.
“Who cares if we win? Being included is win enough for me,” wrote TMI cofounder and executive director Eva Tenuto on Facebook. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Julie.”
It’s a bittersweet season for Tenuto. The nonprofit TMI Project was born 15 years ago last month. And it was during that first “transformative memoir” performance that Tenuto and her collaborator, Julie Novak, fully realized they were destined to be much more than friends.
Novak died last August after a two-year struggle with breast cancer, leaving a huge rip in the cultural cosmos for the many who’d relished her comedic gifts and been bolstered by her friendship. In her 15-year career as a standup comic and storyteller, she was a marvel at the microphone, joyfully and defiantly queer, skewering human foibles with a crystal-edged saber of wit and timing. Besides codirecting TMI, she helmed the Future Perfect Project, a national arts initiative that empowers LGBTQIA+ youth to share their visions and stories. Having found some magic that worked, Novak—who grew up closeted in the 1980s—was fearless and tireless in sharing it.
Still in deep mourning over the loss of her wife’s physical presence, Tenuto finds some relief in her sense that their collaboration will never truly end. “I really don’t experience our relationship in the past tense,” she says. “It’s a lot to adjust to on this plane, and also, I can still feel us working and creating, being in communication. I hope I don’t sound too crazy, but it feels more real than I ever expected. It’s been quite a comfort.”
Something that Tenuto believes Novak would want us all to remember is that showing up as so relentlessly real took work. “One of so many things I loved about her was how dedicated she was to doing whatever work was necessary to be able to hold onto her light,” she says. “It wasn’t effortless. Julie was in therapy, she was in recovery, she did a lot of things to be able to be the person that she was, and she really admired other people who were willing to work that hard to be who they were. If you just knew her post-TMI, you’d never believe that this was once somebody with no confidence.”
In its 15 years of existence, the TMI Project, a workshop in which Novak, Tenuto, and their collaborators guide participants in turning their most cringe-inducing memories into standup routines, has helped 3,000 storytellers speak truth to 300,000 audience members in over 250 performances. The award-winning podcast version has listeners in 167 countries, two acclaimed documentary films have been released, and a docu-short, One Story at a Time with Trevor Project cofounder Celeste Lecesne, is currently at film festivals. “It all continues to unfold in ways that baffle me,” says Tenuto. “We’re doing a lot of work with young people right now, and we’ve got a lot of big plans for that.” Novak, who in her own youth yearned to meet a confident, reassuring lesbian with a beautiful lady on her arm who’d tell her it would be okay, leaves a living legacy that embodies that role.
Artist and educator Jacinta Bunnell, a close friend of Novak’s for 25 years, says losing Novak felt like “the best carnival I’ve ever been to has suddenly packed up in the middle of a cloudy day. I look around the empty lot where the games and bandstand and funnel cakes and enormous stuffed orange bears were, not knowing what I expect to find. I begin to notice wisps of cotton candy gently gliding across the empty gravel parking lot, alighting on one glistening stone after another before eventually floating up to the clouds and mixing in with one of those sunsets that leaves you awestruck. It is then that I understand that she has left pocket-sized pieces of herself for us to find everywhere. And those pieces can be scooped out of each one of us whenever the moment calls for it.”
This article appears in February 2025.
Thank you so much for your time and effort in honoring our cherished friend and local legend, Julie Novak. What an honor to be asked to contribute some reflections. After Julie’s passing, we were offered the wisdom that the self Julie mirrored back to each of us with her remarkable insight and warm-hearted humor is the self we must keep tending and nurturing. She seemed to make everyone she met feel as if they were kids again, that living inside a long-running improv comedy skit was the new adulthood, and that singing made-up songs on everyone’s voicemails was super-cool. We promise to protect communal creativity and playfulness as we offer them as anthems to Julie Novak.
Julie’s self-assurance as the Queer front person of the iconic Hudson Valley bands, Gigantic and Guitars and Hearts, inspired many others to pursue their creative dreams with boldness. She made it seem outrageously fun and effortless to be an artist. As a founding member and beloved M.C. of Hudson Valley B.R.A.W.L., no other person could have made it more of a smash success than Julie. Her inherent comedic dexterity and clever wit made people feel like they were in a massive arena with superheroes in the heat of battle for the triumph of goodness. Perhaps because of all she accomplished and the courageous way she shined, it seems inconceivable that she is not still here with us, cheering us all on.
–Jacinta Bunnell & Michael Wilcock
I have always appreciated Anne’s work and was delighted she wrote a tribute to Julie Novak. Much of this memorial was dedicated to Julie’s work at various TMI endeavors, and I would love for us to call to mind Julie’s tremendous impact on other communities and organizations she devoted her time to since moving to the Hudson Valley over thirty years ago. This tribute reads more like promotional material for TMI and less about the copious enterprises Julie built, invented, and was involved with throughout her life. TMI is an extraordinary organization that has done great work, thanks to all the founders, but Julie was so much more than just her work there.
I was grateful to read Jacinta Bunnell’s tribute to her friendship with Julie, but her quote appears slightly out of context without more testimonies from other friends, collaborators, family members, co-workers, and mentees. Of course, no matter what the content of any article, we will never have Julie back, and perhaps that is what I am looking for more than anything.
Thank you,
Amy Myslik
Julie Novak was the only person who could make me pee my pants most every time I was with her. She was the funniest person i’ve ever known. She was also the most inspiring person in my life. Julie was responsible for setting me on the path I would follow for over two decades. She was the art director for Chronogram/Upstate House at the time. She called me one day out of the blue and thus started my new career. I heard her velvet voice on the other end of the phone, “Hi, this is Julie Novak. Can you shoot architecture?
I thought, who is this creature on the other end, that voice!
Hell YES!
And my life long love of architectural photography, editorial photography and Julie Novak began. Julie not only art directed, she and I had adventures throughout NY, NJ and beyond for 10 years, on photoshoots. Getting lost endlessly every time we were in NJ, me driving, Julie navigating, searching for coffee, hitting dead-ends and laughing hysterically; entering CEO offices with Julie and her mohawk (sometimes colored) they would give us a glance of ?? hmmmm… who are these two? but within minutes she had everyone laughing and loving her; coming to my rescue on her knees crying/laughing, i had turned the shower on myself and the camera and all the gear, while attempting the shot; putting myself in every crazy situation she deemed necessary to make the shot perfect: hanging from staircase railings, going up construction site elevators on the outside of a building in NY to get that golden spike in the background; jumping on a Kennedy trampoline with me (yes, those Kennedys). Julie inspired me to see my vision more clearly, she shared her life and stories with me, she urged me to believe in my dreams and myself. She delighted me with comedy, friendship, energy, warmth, bravado, balls, sincerity and love. Not only was I inspired by Mr Novak, so were HUNDREDS/THOUSANDS of other lucky humans. She worked tirelessly on endeavors that made us all laugh and feel warm and better about ourselves: Women’s arm wrestling league, her own comedy videos, music with her friends, art; Julie was an avid supporter of our beloved long time running KMOCA. After reading her tribute I felt I needed to add this bit of info, since CHRONOGRAM was the reason Julie Novak became one of my life’s greatest loves. Her light was the brightest and her heart the most beautiful. She will always be my hero. And my heart is broken.
Deborah DeGraffenreid