POPULARITY
Reid Mitenbuler is an author, a journalist, and an Air Force veteran. His latest book, Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, An Epic Journey, A Lost Age tells the untold story of the twentieth century's most interesting man.Peter Freuchen was a Danish explorer, globetrotter, novelist, journalist, actor, and game show contestant. An imposingly large man (he stood over 6 '5”) with a wildly unkempt beard and a stiff wooden leg, the very image of Freuchen invites curiosity. Wanderlust, Reid's latest excellent work, explores the life of an explorer in which you're bound to get lost! In this episode, Reid and I discuss: The arresting image of Peter Freuchen; His three wives and their influence on him; His expeditions to the Arctic; Discovering the “top of the world'; Interactions with the indigenous Inuit people; The diet of the Inuit and their sexual practices; Bohemianism, within and out Europe; Freuchen's eclectic politics; Nazism and Bolshevism; The virtues of being contrarian; The “Explorer's Spirit”; The golden age of animation; The evolution of cartoons; Popeye and South Park; What is Whiskey?; The History of Whiskey in America; The Whiskey Rebellion; Alexander Hamilton v. Thomas Jefferson; How to be an author and publish a book; The writing process; and MUCH more! Visit your local bookstore (or the links below) to get your hands on Reid's three fine books: Wild Minds: The artists and Rivalries that Inspired the Golden Age of Animationhttps://www.amazon.com/Wild-Minds-Rivalries-Inspired-Animation/dp/0802129382/ref=sr_1_3?crid=143A2QGLQ68GP&keywords=reid+mitenbuler&qid=1687294732&sprefix=reid+mitenbuler%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-3Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskeyhttps://www.amazon.com/Bourbon-Empire-Future-Americas-Whiskey/dp/014310814X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=143A2QGLQ68GP&keywords=reid+mitenbuler&qid=1687294811&sprefix=reid+mitenbuler%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-2Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, An Epic Journey, A Lost Agehttps://www.amazon.com/Wanderlust-Eccentric-Explorer-Epic-Journey/dp/0358468329/ref=sr_1_1?crid=143A2QGLQ68GP&keywords=reid+mitenbuler&qid=1687294811&sprefix=reid+mitenbuler%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1You can visit Reid at his website: https://reidmitenbuler.com/+++ My Stuff: Check out my Instagram page for shorts from this and prior episodes: @danielethanfinneran https://www.instagram.com/danielethanfinneran/Twitter: @DanielEFinneranWebsite: finneranswake.comSend emails to finneranswake@gmail.comMy sister project, PNEUMA, on which I put out sleep stories, meditations, mindfulness content: @pneumabydanielfinneran Pneumameditations.comBe sure to subscribe to this channel if you enjoy these conversations. Share them with family and friends. And please! comment below: Favorite whiskey? Most interesting explorer? What are your choices?
This week on Lit Up, Angela chats with author Reid Mitenbuler, whose new book, Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age (Mariner at HarperCollins) charts the true story of adventurer Peter Freuchen and his larger-than-life escapades. They talk about the origins of Freuchen's adventurous spirit, the unexpected quirks you uncover when delving into someone's life story, the importance of historical context, and Mitenbuler's go-to narrative nonfiction writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on Lit Up, Angela chats with author Reid Mitenbuler, whose new book, Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age (Mariner at HarperCollins) charts the true story of adventurer Peter Freuchen and his larger-than-life escapades. They talk about the origins of Freuchen's adventurous spirit, the unexpected quirks you uncover when delving into someone's life story, the importance of historical context, and Mitenbuler's go-to narrative nonfiction writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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.
Forget the debate over Alexander Hamilton’s spot on the ten-dollar bill. The founding father’s image may be better suited on a bottle of bourbon. On the latest DecodeDC podcast, guest host Todd Zwillich sits down with Reid Mitenbuler, author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey. Zwillich and Mitenbuler discuss a battle between two founding fathers—Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson—and how that battle has profoundly affected both American bourbon and business.
Most of the year, when the weather lets us, my wife and I wind down on our front porch with a bourbon. We live out in the countryside and, for no particular reason, bourbon feels like the right choice as we watch the long grass waving on the hillside and the birds shuttling back and forth between the far trees. Every so often, I’ll suggest we change things up: maybe a Scotch or an Irish whiskey–not really such a big change in the grand scheme of things–but my wife looks at me as though I’ve made some horrible faux pas, as though I’ve suggested a tumbler full of cotton-candy vodka or bacon grease. Bourbon, she insists, that’s what goes with the landscape. And she’s not alone. As Reid Mitenbuler points out in Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey (Viking, 2015), bourbon is our native spirit. This is the fact that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning affirmed in 2007, when he sponsored a bill to declare September “National Bourbon Heritage Month.” Bourbon, the bill stressed, captures the American values of “family heritage, tradition, and deep-rooted legacy.” Like most American icons, bourbon’s true history isn’t so rosy. It is, however, fascinating, as Mitenbuler shows us by tracing the spirit’s place in every era of America’s past, from the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 to the “Declaration of Independence” for bourbon, which wasn’t passed until 1964, when congress voted on a resolution deeming bourbon, in lackluster language, “a distinctive product of the United States.” Yet here, too, Mitenbuler finds a great story, about power brokers, corporate maneuvering, and a forgotten man named Lewis Rosenstiel, who is the reason we now have whiskeys aged over eight years. Mitenbuler offers us a rich sense of the true heritage, tradition, and legacy behind the bourbon in our glasses, and it’s as complexly American as the country itself. Scotch whiskey? Irish whiskey? My wife is certainly right. What was I thinking? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Most of the year, when the weather lets us, my wife and I wind down on our front porch with a bourbon. We live out in the countryside and, for no particular reason, bourbon feels like the right choice as we watch the long grass waving on the hillside and the birds shuttling back and forth between the far trees. Every so often, I’ll suggest we change things up: maybe a Scotch or an Irish whiskey–not really such a big change in the grand scheme of things–but my wife looks at me as though I’ve made some horrible faux pas, as though I’ve suggested a tumbler full of cotton-candy vodka or bacon grease. Bourbon, she insists, that’s what goes with the landscape. And she’s not alone. As Reid Mitenbuler points out in Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey (Viking, 2015), bourbon is our native spirit. This is the fact that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning affirmed in 2007, when he sponsored a bill to declare September “National Bourbon Heritage Month.” Bourbon, the bill stressed, captures the American values of “family heritage, tradition, and deep-rooted legacy.” Like most American icons, bourbon’s true history isn’t so rosy. It is, however, fascinating, as Mitenbuler shows us by tracing the spirit’s place in every era of America’s past, from the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 to the “Declaration of Independence” for bourbon, which wasn’t passed until 1964, when congress voted on a resolution deeming bourbon, in lackluster language, “a distinctive product of the United States.” Yet here, too, Mitenbuler finds a great story, about power brokers, corporate maneuvering, and a forgotten man named Lewis Rosenstiel, who is the reason we now have whiskeys aged over eight years. Mitenbuler offers us a rich sense of the true heritage, tradition, and legacy behind the bourbon in our glasses, and it’s as complexly American as the country itself. Scotch whiskey? Irish whiskey? My wife is certainly right. What was I thinking? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Most of the year, when the weather lets us, my wife and I wind down on our front porch with a bourbon. We live out in the countryside and, for no particular reason, bourbon feels like the right choice as we watch the long grass waving on the hillside and the birds shuttling back and forth between the far trees. Every so often, I’ll suggest we change things up: maybe a Scotch or an Irish whiskey–not really such a big change in the grand scheme of things–but my wife looks at me as though I’ve made some horrible faux pas, as though I’ve suggested a tumbler full of cotton-candy vodka or bacon grease. Bourbon, she insists, that’s what goes with the landscape. And she’s not alone. As Reid Mitenbuler points out in Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey (Viking, 2015), bourbon is our native spirit. This is the fact that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning affirmed in 2007, when he sponsored a bill to declare September “National Bourbon Heritage Month.” Bourbon, the bill stressed, captures the American values of “family heritage, tradition, and deep-rooted legacy.” Like most American icons, bourbon’s true history isn’t so rosy. It is, however, fascinating, as Mitenbuler shows us by tracing the spirit’s place in every era of America’s past, from the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 to the “Declaration of Independence” for bourbon, which wasn’t passed until 1964, when congress voted on a resolution deeming bourbon, in lackluster language, “a distinctive product of the United States.” Yet here, too, Mitenbuler finds a great story, about power brokers, corporate maneuvering, and a forgotten man named Lewis Rosenstiel, who is the reason we now have whiskeys aged over eight years. Mitenbuler offers us a rich sense of the true heritage, tradition, and legacy behind the bourbon in our glasses, and it’s as complexly American as the country itself. Scotch whiskey? Irish whiskey? My wife is certainly right. What was I thinking? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices