Ah, Thanksgiving! A time to celebrate and give thanks for all the blessings in our life. A time to get together with our family...and dread the inevitable, uncomfortable conversations. But this is why we drink wine, people! And for today's episode, Carrie Flaspohler and I talk about the Top 3 Thanksgiving wines we'll be pounding...errr...sipping while mom points out those few extra pounds we seem to be carrying and that maybe that's why we're undeserving of a serious partner. We're pairing our favorite wine with our favorite uncomfortable conversations, so pour yourself a glass and commiserate ..read more

In this special bonus episode, we say farewell to the spooky season with Ellen Clifford, host of the popular wine podcast—and perhaps the only goth wine podcast—The Wine Situation. Together, we count down six of our favorite all-time scary movies, along with the wines that pair best with them. Spolier alert: Apothic Red is not involved at all. So, pour yourself a glass of something luscious, light the candles, and compare notes as we reveal the six scary movies that rocked us the hardest! Be sure to follow Elle Clifford on Instagram @ellenclifford, and listen & subscribe to The Wine Situat ..read more

In the final episode of my two-part series on the Rules of Ghosts, I reveal the life-changing event that shaped the way I now look at the world beyond our own. Yet, I'm still left with questions. Namely, why hasn't a ghost just come up to me and said, Yo, JT, I'm a ghost, and we need to talk?"  To get some insight into this answer, I reached out to writer, witch, and spirit medium Kristen Nedopak.  Kristen's own incredible story—and the way it shaped her worldview—gives some fascinating perspective into the spirit world, and why it's something important to be in tune with. And what w ..read more

Something strange happened to me not long ago. Something that kind of freaked me out. A bizarre incident that reinforced my growing suspicion that perhaps not all is as it seems here in the material world. I've long been a skeptic about ghosts, or spirits, or lost souls, or whatever you want to call them. I'm an empirical guy. Show me data, show me proof, give me the evidence. But my mind is changing, because of this recent incident and another one that occurred almost ten years ago. But even as my mind opens to the possibility of ghosts and the spirit world, I have questions. Are there laws t ..read more

In 1998, Steve Taylor reached up and touched the golden underbelly of rock stardom as leader of the greatest rock band you never heard, The Uninvited. Following ten years of struggle in Los Angeles—the epicenter of the dream/reality splatter zone—his band inked a major label deal with Atlantic Records, pulling back the velvet rope on the most exclusive club in the world. (I was there the whole time, BTW. Steve's my brother, and we formed the band together). For two incredible, sweat-drenched and mind-altering years, Steve had fame by the tender bits and squeezed hard. And when it looked like i ..read more

What brings joy to your life (besides OBVIOUSLY this podcast...and wine)? Is it things & stuff? People & places? A big bank account and an even bigger wine store? What are your favorite things? This week, Wine Goddess Carrie Flaspohler joins me to talk about three of our very favorite things - things that make our lives just a little bit better during the Epic Early '20s Shitstorm (which is. the official title of the new decade, by the way). And no, we're not getting paid to pimp our favorite things: these are all brought to you sponsor-free & brimmin' with old-fashioned objectivit ..read more

According to a study released in May 2021, one in nine Americans have tried a poly relationship, and one in six would like to try one. In fact, according to a YouGov study, half of all Millennials do not want a "completely monogamous relationship." So what's the attraction to polyamory? Is it the thought of not having one sexual partner for the remainder of your life? Is it the prospect of sharing resources? Like being able to plunder more than one wine collection at a time? (That's what got me started). On this episode, I talk to Dr. Elisabeth Sheff, a sociologist who has been studying polyam ..read more

After decades of priding myself as the only musician in the world who doesn't have a tattoo, I finally decided to give in and get inked. So what's it going to be? A tramp stamp? A Samoan tribal band around my arm? A screeching bald eagle carrying a banner that reads "Peace Through Superior Firepower" across my chest? The first tattoo is a tough decision. Actually, it wasn't. I had an idea for my first tattoo that has been simmering in my brain since the 4th grade. The real question is, why did I wait so long? What held me back? Does it have anything to do with how our society views ritual and ..read more

It's the 100th episode of The Pairs With Life Podcast! Who'd of thunk back in December 2018 when this podcast got its start on a kitchen table that it'd grow to the over-leveraged corporate media monstrosity that it is today? To celebrate 100 episodes of unfounded opinions, bad advice, weird-ass stories (along with about a thousand gallons of wine), I'm making a major announcement. Like, major-major. And it's all for YOU! (except the part where I make money from it. That's for me. Sorry). There's plenty of amazing things to come from the Pairs With Life Podcast. The 100th episode is just the s ..read more

Strange but true, the idea of Natural Wine creates all kinds of controversy within the wine community. Some say it's a misnomer, an oxymoron, or just generally bad-tasting wine. Others say Natural Wine is a fad created just to appeal to Millennials, and that the whole notion denigrates the class, sophistication, and indeed the craft that goes into making fine wine. My guests on the podcast this week—winemakers Jack Sporer and Randy Czech—beg to differ. On the forefront of a new wave in viticulture and winemaking, these gentlemen offer up an alternative theory: that Natural Wine goes a lot deep ..read more