Beards, Books, and Bourbon Podcast

The guys kick back with some Knob Creek while they talk about what they forgot about Starling House.

In this episode, Stephen and Mark spend some time talking about one of their favorite authors, Alix E Harrow, and her new novel "Starling House."  This one is a modern day dark fantasy with bloodline curses, dark dreams come to life, and Lovecraftian nightmares lurking just inside the evening mist.  To fortify themselves, they will partake of a gift from one of Stephen's friends, a bottle of Drift...

What are some authors better at than others?  Show and Tell.

Welcome back!  Stephen and Mark begin their fourth season of the show with "The Hurricane Wars", a new fantasy tale by author, Thea Guonzan.  Their first bourbon of the season will be from a local brewer turned distiller, Two Brothers Bourbon Whiskey.  And so Season 4 begins!

On this Halloween Season 3 finale, Stephen and Mark will sample some different old fashioneds while discussing the Henry James classic, "Turn of the Screw".  The bourbons they will try tonight are Makers Mark French Oaked, Castle & Key, and Elijah Craig Small Batch.

Two words for this one.  Screw. Top.

The boys jump into the world of fantasy YA/New Adult fiction, and they are not ready for what they find in "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros .  They're also not ready for The Judge Bourbon Whiskey from High 'n Wicked which seems to keep changing its flavor profile with every sip.

If the technology were possible, would you be willing to trade in your human body to be the brain of starship?  How far would you be willing to go to go into the blackest unknown?  Stephen & Mark will never get there, but they'll talk about the concept of shipminds from "To Sleep In A Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini.  To help them muse over the possibilities, they will revisit an old friend,...

After a brief hiatus, Stephen and Mark dive deep into the future and into space for a smart and different kind of science fiction novel that is both grandly epic and deeply personal.  Oh, and madness.  SO MUCH MADNESS.  Come and listen as the boys talk about "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini as they also explore the depts of Breckenridge Madeira Finished Bourbon Whiskey.

Stephen and Mark go back to visit with the Ferryman, and revisit Starward Two Fold Australian whiskey.

Justin Cronin is back with another apocalyptic tale of adventure, woe, madness, and a crap ton of serious character development across a fantastical backdrop in the way that can only be done by Justin Cronin.  As the cast of "The Ferryman" go forth on their own journeys, Stephen and Mark will take a detour up to Canada as they sample Glynnevan Maple Whiskey.

What did we forget to talk about in the book "Edge of Sleep"?  Honestly, we're not even sure.  It was a tough week for Stephen and Mark.  Shenanigans take place in this episode, and be sure to listen all the way to the end for the podcast version of a bonus scene.

Have you ever had that moment where you just doze off for just a moment?  Just for a second, but in that second it felt like you were gone for an hour?  What about when you feel like you've just closed your eyes, but suddenly hours have passed by?  Now, how would that make you feel if you also knew that sleep, possibly any amount of it, also meant your death?  Stephen and Mark explore a trippy and...

There's a reason why Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize.  In The Road, his mastery of literature is seen in the way he uses setting and description in contrast to sparce dialog.  We forgot to talk about it.  As a change of pace, we're trying a different beverage this time around.  Maytag Mead.

Tonight's episode is all about excellence.  Excellence in literature as Stephen and Mark walk down The Road with the legendary Cormac McCarthy and pairing it with the fruit of two legendary craftsmen's labor, Legent.  Come and join us on this fantastically bleak and flavorful journey into the future.

Murder and knitting analogies and apocalypse, oh my!  Good thing we're drinking this tasty dark rye.  Come find out what we forgot to talk about in "Wool" by Hugh Howey as we revisit Basil Hayden Dark Rye.

In this fantastic dystopian nightmare of a novel by Hugh Howey, Stephen and Mark get to explore what it feels like to exist within a perfect society and ecology all underground inside the world's largest and most depressing mall.  The Silo.  Adapted for TV on AppleTV+, this story goes to show how even in a perfectly controlled environment, chaos will always find a way to reign. Keeping their spiri...

What can you possibly forget about the end of the world?!?!?  We'll find out with Copper & Cask!

This is the way the world ends.  This is ALL the ways the world ends!  Pour a glass of Castle and Key, build your bunker and hold onto your butts, because it's game over, man.  Game over.

It's not out fault!  Cosmic horror causes madness, and we were bound to forget something.  But the Uncle Nearest should help jog our memories.

It's cosmic horror and madness as Stephen and Mark explore "By The Light of Dead Stars" by Andrew Van Wey.  As they lose their marbles and their souls, they'll try their luck with Puncher's Chance Bourbon.

Have we ever done an oopsisode on a theme show?  We can't remember, but it's sure to haunt us later on down the road.

On tonight's episode, Stephen and Mark will discuss ghosts in the stories and movies they have seen.  To keep them from dying of fright, they will amor up with Buffalo Trace.

Our theme show where we discuss the use of shadows in story and movies and we drink some Piggyback Rye to make ourselves less afraid of the dark!

Oh look!  The oopsisode where we talk about the stuff we forgot about in the book about forgetting.  Irony??  I can't remember.