Hershal Pandya

Author page, chronicling my contributions to Vulture's comedy vertical, spanning essays, criticism, and interviews with high-profile comedians.

An essay examining the absurdities of smartphone dependency and the remedies prescribed to combat it.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, I wrote this piece tracking the legacy of Dr. Dre's influential "2001" album.

In the not-so-distant past, there was a time when the music distribution process was so fraught with gatekeepers that thousands of artists resorted to selling music out of the trunks of their cars. Lacking the support and resources supplied by record labels, the best way for these artists to get their music to travel widely was to literally drive it from place to place. In years past, everyone from JAY-Z to DJ Screw adopted this model, painstakingly building their fan base one recruit at a ti...

Looking back on the legacy of Dr. Dre's 1992 masterpiece, "The Chronic," to celebrate it being made available on streaming services.

A humorous personal essay about the time I attended a wedding at a Dominican Republic resort that also happened to be hosting a recruitment conference for an exploitative pyramid scheme.

“Can I just throw this out there? We actually love each other.” Andy Beckerman, writer, performer, and podcast veteran, is speaking to me, along with his fiancée—writer, performer, and standup comedian Naomi Ekperigin—about Couples Therapy, the popular comedy podcast the pair have been hosting together since July 2018. He’s examining what it is about their relationship dynamic that translates so seamlessly to the show’s audience. […]

A roundtable featuring interviews with four notable comedy podcasters about what it feels like to speak unfiltered for thousands of listeners each week, and how they maintain the boundaries between their personal and public personalities.

A branded partnership with Opposition, highlighting how the company uses influencer marketing to help artists reach new audiences.