Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Podcast

Introducing The Manual Podcast: ‘Beards, Booze, and Bacon’

Cator Sparks
By

Our team is fortunate enough to have a helluva lot of fun at work. We get to sample rare whiskeys, meet chefs and taste their latest dishes, and travel to destinations (from Rwanda to Raleigh) to report back on the best new spots — not to mention meeting menswear designers, crafters, and amusing tastemakers.

While we showcase all of this work on our site, social media, and even video, we felt like one key piece was missing: a podcast. So we started one.

Beards, Booze and Bacon is hosted by our in-house podcast maestro, Greg Nibler, and features a weekly round table of editors, writers, and special guests discussing our favorite topics. Regulars include Editor-in-Chief, Cator Sparks; Managing Editor, Nicole Raney; Associate Editor, Chase McPeak; and Spirits Editor, Sam Slaughter. While booze tends to dominate the conversation, we touch on all of our categories, from travel to grooming to food to style. Shout out to Portland-based No Kind of Rider for our intro/exit music!

Beard, Booze, and Bacon : Episode One

Image used with permission by copyright holder

In our debut podcast episode, we give a little background on The Manual publication — how we started and what we cover. The total solar eclipse is also on the agenda: Our Portland staff welcomes the eclipse into America while Cator Sparks is in Charleston, South Carolina on a “Path of Totality Farewell Tour” cruise. We also give a recap of our great Scotland adventure series, an essential guide to that great green getaway. Sam discusses his trip to Tennessee, where he experiences nine distilleries on the Bourbon Trail, as well as the rise, fall, and rise again of our favorite brown spirit. Our favorite quote from him? “Many cocktail bars worth their salt rim…”

So pop open your favorite brew, step into your man cave, and start streaming Beards, Booze and Bacon: The Manual podcast.

Further Reading

Image used with permission by copyright holder

A Fond Farewell to The Great American Eclipse 2017 from Charleston, South Carolina: A mid-day cruise on the Charleston Harbor had everything you would ever need for such an important affair, including an open bar, a guy named Captain Bob, and Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Photo by David Handschuh/Distilled Spirits Council David Handschuh/Distilled Spirits Council
If You Haven’t Visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, What Are You Waiting For? When it comes to bourbon, there is no place more sacred than Kentucky, where 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is made. Once you’re in Kentucky, though, what do you do?. Created in 1999 by the Kentucky Distillers Association, the goal of the Kentucky Bourbon was to give eager visitors a chance to see all that goes into making America’s spirit. Afterwards, you can check out the Tennessee Whiskey Trail.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

From the Hebrides to the Highlands, This is Our Essential Guide to Scotland: Though this ancient land is steeped in a wild and rich history, it endures as a refreshingly progressive and welcoming European nation. Read on to learn more about Edinburgh, tartans, and chutney, as well as notable Scottish menswear brands, restaurants, and (of course)whisky.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cator Sparks
Cator Sparks
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cator Sparks was the Editor-in-Chief of The Manual from its launch in 2012 until 2018. Previously, Cator was covering…
Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Whole Animal Cooking Episode
the cannibal restaurant

What new bourbon are we pumped about? Which hiking trail are we exploring? Why is the next supercar so cool? The Manual is dedicated to helping men live a more engaged life. Each week, our editors and guests get together for a round-table discussion about what’s new, exciting, and unique in the men’s lifestyle world. So pop open your favorite brew, step into your man cave, and start streaming.

For this week’s episode of Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Manual Podcast, the round-table — managing editor Nicole Raney and our wonderful host, Greg Nibler — chats with Ryan Skeen, executive chef at The Cannibal. There's no human on this New York City restaurant's menu, but there is a whole lot of meat. And when we say "whole," we mean it. Skeen specializes in whole animal cooking, a culinary practice that encourages us to cook and eat as much of an animal as possible.
Originally from Portland (The Manual's headquarters), Skeen was inspired to craft The Cannibal by his experience with butchering, sausage-making, and fine dining in San Francisco and NYC. The result is a very traditional form of cooking that is elevated in a modern, succulent setting.
But you'll have to listen to the episode to hear Ryan's breakdown of the Lord of the Flies experience at The Cannibal — his words, not ours. It's a lot more decadent (and a lot less violent) than it sounds.

Read more
See The Manual Podcast Crew Live at the Portland Podcast Festival
beards booze and bacon

Beards, Booze, and Bacon hit its one-year anniversary in October. For 12 months (and counting!), The Manual podcast crew — host Greg Nibler, managing editor Nicole Raney, and food and drink editor Sam Slaughter with regular pop-ins from Associate Editor of Lifestyle Chase McPeak and Live Content Producer Jake Rossman — has been bringing you the best interviews, thoughtful discussions, and awful puns about topics ranging from barbecue to men's style to camping and, of course, drinking.

(Left to right) Chase McPeak, Sam Slaughter, and Greg Nibler. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Read more
Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Cocktail Party Etiquette Episode
beards booze bacon cocktail party etiquette hendricks gin episode the manual podcast and

 

Previous

Read more