Jesse Malin reflects on his road back to the stage after a stroke

Jesse Malin‘s new book, Almost Grown: A New York Memoir, is a captivating read.

Malin has been a fixture in New York City’s music scene since the ’80s, earning praise from artists like Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joe Armstrong and Lucinda Williams, who produced his 2019 album, Sunset Kids.

In his memoir, Malin paints a vivid picture of New York in the ’70s and ’80s, a city that was rough around the edges and never short on characters.

There are plenty of great music stories along the way, including tales of Malin’s lifelong friendship with Joey Ramone. At its heart, it’s a story about determination, resilience and joy.

Today, Malin joins World Cafe to talk about his memoir and the spinal stroke he suffered in 2023, which left him paralyzed from the waist down, as well as his long road back to performing live.

He also shares stories from a New York City that no longer exists and reminds us why he’ll always be the “mayor” of the East Village.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod.  Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe‘s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus. Our executive producer is Bruce Warren.