Three Questions, Three Drinks with Chris Mikolay

UNDERRATED / OVERRATED / PROPERLY RATED. In a special 3-part series of shorter episodes designed to pair nicely with a relaxing summertime hammock ride or walk in the park, Amanda Adams, Matt Jordan and Chris Mikolay debate everyday items and activities that are either “Underrated, Overrated or Properly Rated.” This episode is a lot like fireworks displays, s’mores and brunch: you’ll either love i...

PETS & ANIMALS! According to 3Q3D regular Amanda Adams, how you speak to your pet speaks volumes about you. In this episode featuring the OG 3Q3D crew and bound to become an instant classic, you’ll find out why Amanda refuses to refer to her pets as “fur babies” and what she’s naming her future podcast (spoiler alert: it’s called “Stats on Cats”). This conversation is as wide ranging as the an...

LIVING LA VIDA LAS VEGAS. Vegas gal pals Mahsheed Parsons and Ashley Bryant Dowd, with their billboards and bling, could easily pass for reality TV stars. They lead a life wholly unfamiliar to 3Q3D creator Chris Mikolay, but over several drinks designed to cure his Sin City hangover, Chris finds that “Mash and Ash” are so much more than skin deep. Hear how Mahsheed used the power of positive think...

WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU? As he mixes up an old timey cocktail that smells like your Grandma’s favorite jar of potpourri, Matt Jordan captains 3Q3D for the first time, hosting the original podcasting trio for a thought-provoking and wide-ranging conversation about the evolving nature of friendship and community. Over drinks both hot and cold, the group ponders the declining state of friendship...

RUBBERDUCKS, JUMBO SHRIMP, AND THE JOY OF MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. At just 32 years old, Ken Babby left a thriving career at the Washington Post to purchase a struggling minor league baseball team in Akron, Ohio, a city completely unfamiliar to him and located several hundred miles from his hometown. Akron, though, had a beautiful ballpark in the heart of the city, and Ken had a vision for transform...

FATHER, SON, GAMBLER, THIEF. At just 14 years of age, George Berk gambled for the first time, placing a $4 longshot bet on a horserace at an Off Track Betting parlor in New York City. As luck would have it, that longshot bet paid off and returned $73 – and ignited a compulsive gambling addiction that would lead to financial and personal destruction. Over the course of 4 decades George would experi...

LUCK, FATE & SERENDIPITY. Leaving every major decision to chance – where they go, what they do, and even what drinks to order – Amanda, Chris & Matt embark on an unusual Friday night adventure that ultimately proves providential (well, at least for two of them). As they depart the cozy confines of their suburban enclave for the big city lights of Cleveland, the 3Q3D crew is picked up by an...

DAD JOKE CONTEST! Did you know that if you sneeze and fart at the same time, your body takes a screenshot? It’s true. Also, if that joke offends you, then you should probably just go ahead and skip this episode (seriously). But if not, and you need a few good laughs, then you’re in for a treat. Like a bad rash, Colt McCutcheon and Doug Harvey return once again on the 3 Questions, 3 Drinks podcast,...

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Lamenting the current state of his Dad Bod and looking for sympathy from his wife but finding none, Chris assembles the OG 3Q3D squad for a discussion on Personal Responsibility. The group begins by throwing caution to the wind and downing a shot of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, and then ponders how much of their success in life is self-determined, whether to be offended by “...

BECOMING A CRITICAL THINKER. As Mark Twain once famously said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” To that end, 3Q3D gets the New Year off to an inquisitive start, with an episode designed to make you think about…thinking. Joined by Nick Chiorian, an educator who has taught one of the most fascinating high school classes in Ame...

THE YEAR IN REVIEW (SORT OF). As 2022 draws to a close, the OG 3Q3D crew shares feel-good stories you may have missed from the past year, revisits favorite questions from the last 12 months that Matt and Amanda never got to answer, and Matt and Chris predict they will finally (and rightfully) be named People Magazine’s co-Sexiest Men of the Year in 2023. And, while Matt reveals the secret to a hap...

TAYLOR & ELON & THE ROYAL FAMILY, OH MY! In a 3Q3D first, Chris relinquishes his podcast hosting duties and, feeling liberated, holds nothing back in this particularly spirited episode about the celebrities dominating today’s headlines. With Amanda piloting the pod, the OG 3Q3D crew gets started early and pours several cocktails usually found at brunch; it quickly becomes clear that Chris has a Mu...

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR! 3Q3D returns to its classic format in this Halloween themed episode as OG contributors Amanda Adams, Matt Jordan and Chris Mikolay conjure up 3 seasonal elixirs sure to please even the prickliest vampire. Contemplating their own mortality with questions about Death, Dying and Halloween, Matt makes creative use of candy corn, Chris sets up a chemistry lab and makes a...

In an episode as unusual as it is powerful, Chris sets out on a 600 mile road trip in a bright yellow 1973 Volkswagen Beetle with a man he hasn’t seen in 27 years named Jerry Dorneker. Departing before sunrise from Jerry’s home in Columbia, South Carolina, Chris and Jerry hope the Beetle’s 60 horsepower engine can power them through the West Virginia mountains and ultimately, to the town in Ohio w...

FATHERHOOD & MODERN MASCULINITY. Having sired 13(!) children between them, Chris Mikolay, Matt Jordan and 3Q3D newcomer Ed Fink discuss how their concept of masculinity has changed as they reach middle age, the most difficult challenges they’ve faced as fathers, and the wisdom they hope to pass on to their kids. Like a well-made cocktail, this episode balances disparate ingredients to create somet...

STRENGTH, COURAGE & RESILIENCE. On today’s episode of 3Q3D I’m joined by two remarkable women who prove that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. MaryJo Rischitelli-Clark and Jen Yozwiak are the founders of 100 Women Strong Ohio, a growing community of women committed to improving the lives of people in need in Northeast Ohio. As they answer questions about strengt...

SPEECHWRITING, SUBMARINES & TOP SECRET CLEARANCE. Today’s guest has not only led an utterly fascinating life, but he’s also my younger brother, Justin Mikolay. As a speechwriter, Justin spent years joined at the hip with several of the most powerful men on the planet, including four-star General David Petraeus, Secretary of Defense and four-star General James Mattis (twice), and Secretary of Defen...

COCKTAIL PARTY CONVERSATION STARTERS! Friends of the 3 Questions, 3 Drinks podcast, now you, too, can hold your very own 3Q3D-esque cocktail party – simply invite over a few fun friends, mix up several boozy drinks, and use the questions from this episode to create a conversation that will surely get more interesting with every sip. You’ll quickly learn just how shallow your friends really are (se...

What would compel someone, particularly a middle aged, suburban Dad who had never before climbed a mountain, to fly to Kathmandu and hike 85 miles to Mt. Everest Base Camp, at an altitude of nearly 20,000 feet? This episode of 3Q3D is told in two distinct parts: before leaving for Everest, and the lessons learned after setting foot on the world’s tallest mountain. You’ll get to know Jeremy Starche...

Oftentimes what we don’t understand, we fear. What we fear, we sometimes judge as evil. Wouldn’t we all be better off if we sought first to understand, before being understood? Proving this episode of 3Q3D is no joke, Chris sits down for a wide-ranging and uplifting conversation with 3 very wise men. Representing Judaism, Christianity and Islam respectively, Rabbi Michael Ross (Rabbi of Temple Bet...

DISTRACTION! 3Q3D returns at long last from a hiatus fueled as much by Chris’ inability to focus as his need for a break. Over several drinks worth sipping slowly, Amanda, Chris and Matt discuss the many ways in which society has stolen our focus while examining the antidotes to inattention. Questioning whether he’s the only one who can’t focus anymore, Chris turns to sloe gin and a classic cockta...

Chris shows up at the home of 2003 British Open Champion and former PGA Tour star Ben Curtis to tee up a few of the best cocktails in golf. Ben shares his tips for mental toughness, why he knew he could beat Tiger Wood in his prime, and what it’s like inside the locker room of a winning Ryder Cup team (and who showed up to the afterparty). Chris, on the other hand, proceeds to tell a rambling and...

Chris cracks a cold Molson Ice and sits down with embattled former Mayor of Hudson, Ohio, Craig Shubert, to understand how ice shanties lead to prostitution, whether Mayor Shubert believes writing prompts used in a Hudson High School college credit class were truly child pornography, and – after making national headlines 3 times over the past year – who’s responsible for the current state of Hudso...

As 3Q3D nears its 50th episode, we’re taking a look back at an early episode you may have missed. With a new introduction but originally aired as Episode 6, this episode is the 3 Questions, 3 Drinks podcast in its purest form, as Amanda, Matt and Chris have a conversation that gets livelier with every new drink and each new question. Find out why our nation is so obsessed with putting various size...

ADDICTION. Today, Timothy J. Hillegonds is a successful writer and advertising agency executive. But as a rebellious teenager longing for a connection with his absentee father, Tim’s life became a series of increasingly destructive and volatile behavior: kicked out of high school, arrested multiple times in multiple states, fathering a child at age 19 while part of a toxic relationship, and ultima...