Want a drinks podcast with celebrities?
You’re in luck.
Today, Feral Audio launched the podcast Drinky Fun Time hosted by bestselling wine and spirits author Dan Dunn and British entertainment journalist Emma Patterson. The weekly podcast delivers pleasures in the form of adult beverages and celebrity guests, and probably enough sexual innuendo to get you through the day. The teaser podcast featured Anthony Bourdain, who rubbed Scotch snobs the wrong way, but the first official episode features “Rick and Morty” creator Dan Harmon, pop star Halsey and “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal. Other upcoming guests include Kurt Russell, Allison Janney, director Guillermo Del Toro, Everybody Loves Raymond writer Tom Caltabiano, Dan Harmon, Walton Goggins, chef Curtis Stone, Aisha Tyler and many more.
I caught up with show host, Dunn, a longtime drinks writer and former writer for “Talk Soup” and co-producer for a Fox TV pilot based on his book Living Loaded.
So, this is a big break from your books. You do like to talk, though. But can you really talk that long...for a podcast?
I come from a family of marathon talkers back in Philly. Take my mother, for instance. My mother is like the Haile Gebrselassie of chatter… except, you know, she’s not from Ethiopia. And my dad hasn’t shut up since the Nixon Administration. So ya, I’m very comfortable with the idea of spewing nonsense for hours on end. I feel as though it’s my calling.
You're one of the longest-tenured drinks writers. But you have quite the entertainment industry past. Are you weaving your two careers into one here?
I’m actually weaving THREE careers into one here. During breaks in podcast taping, I crochet mittens. Which, I must say, have been fetching a pretty penny on eBay.
You also worked with Hunter S. Thompson. What was that like?
It was like juggling fish bowls full of dynamite in a tornado. Exhilarating, but quite dangerous.
Have you ever sniffed glue?
A few times, ya. But only to get right after smoking too much weed.
How will the show work? Will you have big guests every week?
Our guests will vary in size. Most of them will be fairly well known, though. We’ll go to bars, hang out, drink, talk… hopefully go home together.
How did you get a reputable journalist like Emma Patterson to work with you? I mean, she realizes she’s trapped in the room with you, right?
Emma is the real star of the show. She’s extremely good at making sure things don’t go bad… without her, things would probably spiral out of control pretty quickly. And she’s British, which adds a much-needed air of sophistication to the proceedings.
Do you ever get bored when interviewing somebody?
Not so much bored as, say, venomous.
The drinks profession has become pretty serious of late. Is that good or bad for the consumer?
As long as you’re comfortable telling a pompous bartender to “shut up and make my vodka-RedBull,” you’ll be fine.
If you could have any three people guest on “Drinky Fun Time,” who would they be?
Dunn: Dead or alive?
Minnick: Either.
Dunn: Mo, Larry and Shemp… fuck Curly!
So, you’re crossing into the mainstream. Perhaps the most mainstream drinks personality is Jon Taffer, who’s hated by the bartender community. Do you have any Taffer jokes planned?
Jon Taffer is my spirit animal!
Fred Minnick is the author of Bourbon and Rum Curious. Sign up for his free drinks newsletter.