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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier investigates America's obsession with ice. From excessive ice in drinks to the joy of frozen food, Farrier finds that ice is deeply American. Meeting with Reid Mitenbuler, the author of Bourbon Empire, David discovers the story of Frederic “the Ice King” Tudor, who dug up ice from the lakes of New England and got America, and the world, hooked on ice in the 1800s. Farrier then heads to New York to meet writer and academic Heidi Julavits, who muses about the significance of ice in American culture and tells David about her icy memories from Maine… and 2023's Coachella. Farrier discovers how the Holiday Inn made ice machines mandatory in American hotels before he considers the fact Americans want to cryogenically freeze themselves to live forever. There is no denying it: Americans love ice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Consumer confidential — Vicky Nguyen breaks down all the different types of Covid tests available and whether we should be getting checked before our holiday gatherings. Plus, how therapy helped war veteran, Fred Minnick, launch a bourbon empire. Also ahead, Sheinelle Jones, Al Roker and Vicky Nguyen catch up with Questlove — all about his new film “Summer of Soul.”
This week we are joined by Reid Mitenbuler, the author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey. So tune in as we trace back to bourbon's early days and its place in US history. In addition, we discuss the many myths surrounding this noble spirit and why they can be every bit as important as the facts. Learn more: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/315539/bourbon-empire-by-reid-mitenbuler/ SUPPORT US ON PATREON: Get early access to episodes, exclusive bonus episodes, special content and more: https://www.patreon.com/BartenderAtLarge FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: Erick Castro: www.instagram.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.instagram.com/BartenderAtLarge FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: Erick Castro: www.twitter.com/HungryBartender Bartender at Large: www.twitter.com/BartendAtLarge
Edra Soto is a Puerto Rico born, Chicago based, interdisciplinary artist, educator and curator whose architectural projects connect with communities. Soto's temporary modular SCREENHOUSE pavilions are evocative symbols of her cultural assimilation that we can enter and share. Each free-standing structure functions as both sculptural object and social gathering place. Couched in beauty, her ongoing OPEN 24 HOURS project offers a different visceral encounter — with evidence of displacement and want. The aesthetic display of cast-off liquor bottles culled from steadily accumulating detritus in the historically Black neighborhood she now calls home suggests that we consider the personal and communal impact of poverty and racism. During a studio visit with the artist in Northwest Chicago, we talk about recent iterations of these projects. In concert with the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Millennium Park Foundation commissioned the artist to produce a temporary gathering place in one of the park’s outdoor galleries. Only steps from Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, she worked with a team to construct SCREENHOUSE. The 10-foot high pavilion made of 400 charcoal-hued, 12-inch cast concrete blocks is part of an ongoing project, an architectural series inspired by iron grills and decorative concrete screen blocks found throughout the Caribbean and the American South. New versions of OPEN 24 HOURS are on view in two 2020 exhibitions. One appears in Open House: Domestic Thresholds at the Albright-Knox Museum, in Buffalo, New York. Cognac bottles carefully arranged on shelves with decorative panels reveal the artist’s connection to two places she calls home. More liquor bottles command attention in the three-part installation she designed for State of the Art 2020. Featuring work by artists from across the United States, the exhibition celebrates the opening of The Momentary, a new contemporary art space at the Crystal Bridges Museum, in Bentonville, Arkansas. Sound Editor: Anamnesis Audio Related Episodes and Photo Features: Architecture with a Sense of Place, Views—Chicago Architecture Biennial 2019, Fresh VUE: Chicago Art and Architecture 2017 Related Links: Edra Soto, The Momentary, State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Knox-Albright Museum, Millennium Park, Chicago Architecture Biennial 2019 About Edra Soto: Born in Puerto Rico and based in Chicago, Edra Soto is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, curator, and co-director of the outdoor project space THE FRANKLIN. She is invested in creating and providing visual and educational models propelled by empathy and generosity. Her recent projects, which are motivated by civic and social actions, focus on fostering relationships with a wide range of communities. Recent venues presenting Soto’s work include Chicago Cultural Center (IL), Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (KS), Pérez Art Museum Miami (FL), Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (PR), Hunter EastHarlem Gallery (NY), UIC Gallery 400 (IL), Smart Museum (IL), Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (NE), DePaul Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago (IL). Soto was awarded the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship, the DCASE for Individual Artist Grant from the City of Chicago, the 3Arts Make A Wave award, and 3Arts Projects grants, and the Illinois Arts Council grant. Soto holds an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts from Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico. She teaches Introduction to Social Engagement at University of Illinois in Chicago and is a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. About SCREENHOUSE: Decorative screens, known as rejas and quiebrasoles, are ubiquitous in Soto’s birthplace in Puerto Rico. In her SCREENHOUSE series, Soto transforms the quiebrasol form from a planar screen that divides public from private into a nearly fully enclosed, free-standing structure that functions as both sculptural object and social gathering place. About OPEN 24 HOURS: Witnessing the excessive accumulation of litter and detritus in the historic African American neighborhood of East Garfield Park where she lives motivated Edra Soto to initiate this ongoing project. Since December 2016, Soto has been collecting, cleaning and classifying cast-off liquor bottles to create installations that display the impact of racism and poverty on this marginalized community in Chicago. Bourbon Empire, the book quoted below, recounts the historic connection between African Americans and cognac from its genesis in the 1930s to contemporary repercussions instigated by hip-hop and rap culture. “Cognac’s relationship with African American consumers started later, when black soldiers stationed in southwest France were introduced to it during both world wars. The connection between cognac producers and black consumers was likely bolstered by the arrival of black artists and musicians... France appreciated these distinctive art forms before the U.S. did, continuing a French tradition dating back to Alexis de Tocqueville of understanding aspects of American culture better than Americans did. For African Americans, the elegant cognac of a country that celebrated their culture instead of marginalizing it must have tasted sweet ... During the 1990s, cognac sales were slow, and the industry was battling an image populated by fusty geriatrics. Then references to cognac began surfacing in rap lyrics, a phenomenon that peaked in 2001 with Busta Rhymes and P. Diddy’s hit “Pass the Courvoisier,” causing sales of the brand to jump 30 percent. During the next five years, other rappers teamed up with brands, and increased overall sales of cognac in the U.S. by a similar percentage, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.” —Reid Mitenbuler, author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey
Alexis and Elliott attempt to get closer to the man behind the marble facade: our first president, George Washington. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis explains what made Washington a myth, even in his own time. Reid Mitenbuler, author of Bourbon Empire, sheds light on Washington’s surprising role as a major American whiskey distiller. Rohulamin Quander reflects on his ancestors enslaved at Mount Vernon, and Alexis and Elliott visit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to see the site of Benedict Arnold’s infamous betrayal.
Reid Mitenbuler (@ReidMitenbuler), author of Bourbon Empire, joins Ryan and Kenny to talk about the history and psyche of bourbon, “a distinctive product of the United States”. - The Frazier Museum has a new Prohibition exhibit that will become a new or even a first stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.- Reid, what’s your coming to age tale of bourbon? - What made you so fascinated that you took the time to become an author on the subject?- Talk about the misquote of bourbon being a “distinctive product of the United States”.- Talk about the beginning with the “Big Bang of Bourbon”.- In the book, you talk about myths behind the labels.- Let’s jump ahead in history, there was a lot going on in 1964. Can you talk about what was going on during that time period?- What was the result of The Bourbon Institute in overseas markets?- There is a concept of marketing that has changed the way in what you think you’re drinking.- You said (paraphrasing) “Rosenstiel presided over vicious consolidation rounds that made many distillers and brands extinct, but is also a part of the reason why many bourbons today taste as good as they do”. Talk about that. How come his name isn’t as prominent as EH Taylor for Bottled-in-Bond?- How come we don’t see a bourbon or whiskey brand named Rosenstiel?- Within the prologue, you talk about bourbon being a “comfort food”. Talk about that.- If you want to buy Bourbon Empire, it’s available on Amazon.
When it comes to Bourbon, Brooklyn resident Reid Mitenbuler is giving it to us straight. Mitenbuler’s written a book about Bourbon. Its called Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey. Mitenbuler is our guest on this week's Cityscape.
The history of Bourbon is filled with enough myths to make a dozen Disney movies, enough crimes for years of True Detective, and enough mysteries to make Sherlock Holmes hang up his deerstalker cap. In part two of our conversation with "Bourbon Empire" author Reid Mitenbuler, we'll look at the crimes, corruption, and prejudice that are part of Bourbon's past, as well as the resurgence of craft distilling and other factors that give Bourbon a bright future. In the news, Brown-Forman has started work on its new Old Forester Distillery on Louisville's Whiskey Row two weeks after a four-alarm fire threatened the $45 million dollar project, Utah's High West has opened its new distillery outside of Park City, and a rock group is lending its name to a new Irish whiskey.
Jamie and Mark are joined by Reid Mitenbuler, the author of The Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whisky. We talk about about the link between American's history and whisky, the craft whisky movement, dirty dancing references, twittersphere, and the importance of editing when writing books.
On Bartender Journey Podcast number 114 we talk with author Reid Mitenbuler. Reid's book Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey unravels the myths and misconceptions surrounding America’s most iconic spirit and traces the history of Bourbon – from the frontier rebellion, to the Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Plus, find out about the Shake The Vine Cocktail contest! You could win $5000 and a trip to Tales of the Cocktail 2015!Listen to the podcast with the player below or subscribe on iTunes or Sitcher Radio.Get 30 days free of Amazon Prime! Free shipping on many Amazon products, plus access to Amazon's video streaming service. Start Your 30-Day Free Trial Now!Congratulations to Jeffrey Morgenthaler for his multiple nominations for Tales of the Cocktail including Best American Bartender and Best New Bartender/Cocktail book: THE BAR BOOK. Its a manual for Bartenders!