The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Podcast

Our featured interview tonight is with Tom Kuhn. Tom is a retired band director and a "professional pipe enthusiast". He is the co-host of the weekly Pipes, Tobacco & Whiskey show on YouTube, which is described as "Impressions and helpful information on affordable and readily available pipes, pipe tobacco and whiskey from a perspective of multiple backgrounds and types of pipe enthusiasts." They currently have 3.88K subscribers and 230 videos. At the top of the show, we'll have an "Ask the Pipe Maker" segment with pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.

Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Jesse Kulp. Jesse makes the Oliphant brand of pipes. He's been a pipe smoker since he turned 18 in 2001. He started carving pipes in 2014 and started restoring estate pipes in 2016. He resides in the state of Wisconsin. When he is not making pipes, or smoking pipes, he is smoking meat. At the top of the show we will have a Pipe Smoking 101 segment where Brian will review the pipe tamper.

We have a special show tonight to celebrate the start of our 12th year. In lieu of an interview, Brian will be joined by another popular pipe podcast host - Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the now discontinued podcast, Country Squire Radio. Country Squire Radio ran for 10-years and is still one of the most popular pipe-niche podcasts. Having these two pipe and tobacco brainiacs bouncing off of each other for over 45-minutes will be a blast. We will be preempting our usual first segment to start right off with JD. We will have the usual music, mailbag and rant at the end of the show.

Our featured interview tonight is with Michael DiCuccio. Michael is the President of TinBids.com, "The Pipe Collector's Auction Site" where you can buy and sell vintage and rare tobacco tins, tobaccos, pipes and accessories. He has been collecting for over 30-years, and has a personal pipe collection of over 1,100 pipes. Michael also has his own IT company and is a self-proclaimed "computer geek". At the top of the show we'll get caught up on a backlog of emails and messages from our listeners with some great questions and comments. We will still have our regular mailbag segment at the end of the show as well.

Our featured interview tonight is with J.B. "Brandon" Frady. Brandon is a new pipe maker making the Ash Cooper line of pipes which just launched earlier this year. His pipes are freehand and artistic shapes and designs. He is also a freelance writer for any type of project, but has been published for music reviews, concert reviews, and a single anomalous video game review, and other writings in a couple dozen professional publications. His full time job is with State Farm Insurance. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jay Furman. Jay is the co-host of the Pipe and Tamper podcast. He is a long-time member of the pipe community. He started smoking pipes in the 1980s, and owns hundreds of pipes and hundreds of pounds of pipe tobacco. His first pipe shopping experience was at Wally Frank, a famous New York chain of shops, also nationally known for their large mail order catalog business. Jay loves artisan pipes as well as health and fitness. At the top of the show, our Pipe Parts segment will be Pipes 101 Revisited where Brian will talk about the stem of the pipe.

Our featured interview tonight is with Stefan Cashwell. Stefan is a part-time pipe maker and a full time musician. Looking at his pipes, you would never know that he has only been making them for a few years. They are real masterpieces created in standard shapes, standard shapes with an artistic twist, and some with a Danish design flair. On the music side, Stefan plays guitar, piano, and sings. Look for his album, "Peace Becomes a River" at BandCamp, or where ever you get your music online. It's great music to smoke a pipe to. At the top of the show Brian will have a trip report from last weekend's NASPC show in Columbus, OH.

Our featured interview tonight is with James Conarroe. James is a caricaturist, father of five, and a self-described "Pizza Connoisseur" and "Follower of Christ". This is the 12th in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. At the top of the show our segment will feature pipe artisan Jeff Gracik with another installment of "Ask the Pipemaker".

Tonight's show will break out of our usual format in honor of the late Japanese pipe artisan, Satou Smio. Satou made high-grade pipes that are works of art, and wonders in engineering at the same time. He was trained in both the Danish and Japanese styles of pipe making, and combined both skill-sets in his masterpiece pipes. "Satou Smio, pipe maker, aged 79, died on July 16th, 2023, following a prolonged illness. While not as prolific as in his earlier years, he continued to make pipes until a few months before his death." - From: "A Legend Passes: Satou Smio". The author of that post is Sykes Wilford, founder and CEO of SmokingPipes.com, and he will join Brian for a memoriam for Satou for the entire show. Satou was interviewed on the show back in May 2016 on episode 192. We will still have the end-of-show segments for music, mailbag and rant.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jeremy McKenna. Jeremy is the President of the Sutliff Tobacco Company in Richmond, Virginia. Sutliff is the oldest American pipe tobacco maker at 174 years old. Jeremy has been with the company since 2015. Brian and Jeremy will be talking about the Birds of a Feather line, limited re-issues of old discontinued blends, small-batch tobacco runs, and more. At the top of the show, Brian will report on his pipe smoking trip to Smitty's in Gainesville GA for their pipe show.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the podcast, Country Squire Radio, which ended their 10-year run earlier this year. We'll have JD with the new "From the Country Squire" segment talking about the recent PCA (Premium Cigar Association) Convention. At the top of the show, we'll have Pipe Smoking 101 - Parts of the Pipe.

Our featured interview tonight is with Christian Probst. Christian is the Pipes & Tobacco Category Manager for Cigar World in Düsseldorf, Germany. He initially became interested in smoking a pipe from his friends back in 1996. His father and other family members also smoked pipes, and then he was lucky enough to turn pipes and tobaccos into a job in 2004. In Pipe Parts, we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.

Our featured interview tonight is with Les Young. Les has been a fixture at pipe shows for many years. He is the 2023 U.S. Slow Smoking Champion, and goes by "lestrout" on the PipesMagazine forums. Hailing from the Philadelphia area, he worked for Dupont for 40 years and is now retired. He started smoking a pipe while attending MIT in Boston in 1961 - the good ol' days when you could smoke in the classroom. At the top of the show we will have a Pipes 101 Revisited segment with a discussion of the draft hole.

Our featured interview tonight is with Rich Rosseli. Rich has been making the Smith House brand of pipes for about five years now. His path to pipe making was paved by two gifts he received. First, he received a pipe from his uncle and discovered that he loved pipe smoking. Later, his wife gave him a pipe making kit for Valentine's Day, and the rest is history. At the top of the show, Brian will go over the JDRF Fundraiser Pipes and accessories items to bid on.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jason Lynn. Jason is a lobbyist working in Washington, D.C. He primarily focuses in the areas of energy, environment, and transportation infrastructure. This is the 11th in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. At the top of the show our segment will feature pipe artisan Jeff Gracik with another installment of “Ask the Pipemaker”.

Our featured interview tonight is with Kevin Foster. Kevin is a part-time pipe maker residing in Atlanta. His full time job is flying Boeing 767s for a commercial airline in and out of Atlanta, South America, and Europe. Kevin started smoking a pipe in college, on and off. He got back into smoking during the 2020 COVID lockdown, and while reading Rick Newcombe's book, "In Search of Pipe Dreams" where the author described the special way he liked to have his pipes drilled wider, Kevin became curious and inspired. He is just two years shy of pipe making experience, and has already developed quite a following. At the top of the show we will have a Pipes 101 Revisited segment with a discussion of the pipe shank.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jacob Hundl. Jacob is a licensed geologist residing in Charlotte, NC. He has a bachelor’s degree in economic geology and a master’s degree in engineering geology. He had the exciting opportunity to tie together his vocation along with his enjoyment of pipes by exploring a meerschaum mine in Turkey. This is the 10th in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. At the top of the show, Brian will provide his selection of books for gift giving for Father’s Day.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the podcast, Country Squire Radio, which ended their 10-year run earlier this year. There was a big event to close out the show that we’ll hear about, as well as JD’s first experience as a vendor at the recent Chicago pipe show. At the top of the show, we’ll have an extended “Pipe parts” discussion with two user submitted questions – one about aging tobaccos and if there’s any difference between topped and non-topped tobaccos related to aging, and the other asking for suggestions on how to slow one’s pipe puffing cadence.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jason Smith. Jason has lived in Cincinnati most of his life, and his first influence towards pipe smoking was from his grandfather who seemingly only didn't smoke his pipe if he was sleeping. This is the ninth in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years, and Jason has a great journey to tell us about. At the top of the show, Brian will have a review of Solani Blue Label Blend No. 369.

Our featured interview tonight is with Dr. Kyle Andrew a.k.a. "The Pipe Professor". Kyle holds a PhD in the field of educational leadership. His "The Pipe Professor" YouTube Channel has 93 videos, and 2.3k followers, and he has been at it for eight years. He reviews all kinds of pipe tobacco, and does an occasional cigar review as well. At the top of the show we will have an installment of Pipe Smoking 101 covering the inside of the bowl, or the tobacco chamber.

Our featured interview tonight is with Steve Davenport. Steve is a geologist working in the field of environmental consulting. This is the eighth in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. At the top of the show we will have Jeff Gracik reporting on the "Battle of the Briar" pipe making competition that was held at the Chicago pipe show.

Our featured interview tonight is with c. Ben is the Director of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum. He became the director in 2015, but has been involved with the museum since 2013. He was the Co-founder and Secretary of the Amsterdam Pipe Smokers Club from 2000-2010. The museum has over 2,500 pipes on display and "ten times that in reserve". They were all collected by one man over 60+ years. So, next time your wife tells you that you have too many pipes, tell her that it's all relative. At the top of the show, Brian will a tobacco review of the new Captain Black Platinum.

Our featured interview tonight is with Josh Whitehead. Josh is an artisan pipe maker from Florida. When he is not making pipes he also does woodworking projects, crafts pens, does ink drawings, and makes bread. Josh has been making pipes on a part time basis for ten years. He works in IT for his regular job. At the top of the show, Brian will have a trip report on the Chicago Pipe Show from last weekend.

Our featured interview tonight is with Kirk Keener aka "Kaptain_Kirk32". This is the seventh in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Kirk has worked as a machinist, and played guitar in bands in the past, and he has a YouTube Channel with 604 subscribers and 236 videos devoted to pipe smoking and tobacco reviews. At the top of the show, Brian will start a new series of segments devoted to Pipes 101 Revisited.

Our featured interview tonight is with Paul Lucas. Paul is the pipe maker behind the Paw brand of pipes. By looking at his pipes, you would never guess that he's only been making pipes for three years. He started in 2020 during lockdown when he had nothing to do except to make pipes. One year later, he quit his job and became a full time pipe artisan. He makes both freehand and standard shape styles, but even his standard shapes are artsy. At the top of the show, Brian will answer a listener's question about the paper liners that are typically found inside the tins of tobacco.

Our featured interview tonight is with Portland Paul. This is the sixth in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Paul is a professional musician currently in three bands and working on album number 15. One of the bands that he plays guitar and sings in is Cicero, which is a 90's emo throw back trio. We will feature one of their songs in the music segment. Paul has been smoking a pipe since 2013. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review on McBaren HH Old Dark Fired Ready Rub.

Our featured interview tonight is with Adam Floyd. Adam is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, and the host of the Get Piped Podcast. He has the best, most unique story ever on how he got started with pipes. The first tobacco he smoked was an aromatic in a corn cob, but you'll never in a million years guess the rest. As an extra bonus, Adam is actually in-studio with Brian. At the top of the show, Brian will will have a tobacco review of The Seattle Pipe Club's Deception Pass.

Our featured interview tonight is with Pastor Joda. This is the fifth in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Joda grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and knew several people working in the tobacco business. Before he became a pastor, he had a graphic design business that took on a job from Scandinavian Tobacco Group, which left some pipe tobacco in his office. It wouldn't be until years later that he would become a regular pipe smoker though. His pipe smoking journey will have you knowingly nodding, if not laughing a little. At the top of the show, Brian will report on his trip to Tennessee and The Muletown Pipe Show.

Our featured interview tonight is with Neville Smith. This is the fourth in our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Neville is from Perth, Australia and is a Senior Consultant with The Illuminate Group. He is a company director with over ten years working in the corporate training and speaking industry. He is a renowned public speaker and an award winning Toastmaster. At the top of the show our segment will feature pipe artisan Jeff Gracik with another installment of “Ask the Pipemaker”.

Our featured interview tonight is with Andre Tessier. Andre was born and raised on Long Island, New York and still resides there today. He is a member of the New York City Pipe Club, and is the Secretary for the United Pipe Clubs of America. He is also a member of New York Sky Blues which is New York City’s Official Supporters Club branch of Manchester City. At the top of the show, Brian will give us an update on his custom-blended tobacco that he's been aging since December 2019.

Our featured interview tonight is with Dan Croxall. This is the third in our series of interviews with "Journeymen Pipe Smokers" - guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Dan is a professor at his alma mater, the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Prior to returning to academia, Dan practiced law at the world’s largest law firm (DLA Piper LLP) as a complex civil litigator and white-collar criminal defense attorney. He then opened the world’s smallest law firm (Croxall Law) in 2013 to focus his practice on representing California Craft breweries and related parties. At the top of the show, Brian will have a trip report on his visit to Jackson, MS to The Country Squire for the party and last recording of the Country Squire Radio Podcast.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the co-host of the podcast, Country Squire Radio. After a 10-year run, and approaching their 500th episode, it was announced that they would record their last episode live on March 4 at a big party in Jackson, MS. In addition to talking about the podcast and the retail store, our main discussion will be JD's recommended pipe tobaccos in each genre that are readily available for purchase, as opposed to vintage collectible tobaccos that are hard to get. At the top of the show, Brian will answer a question on how to proceed when your friend wants to try smoking a pipe for the first time.

Our featured interview tonight is with Ethan Talley. This is the second in our series of interviews with "Journeymen Pipe Smokers" - guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Ethan has been a Level 4 Kayak Instructor, an instructor in Canoe, Kayak, and Raft Rescue, and has a Masters in Professional Counseling. He got his first taste of pipes and tobaccos in 2013 at Boda Pipes and Cigar Lounge in Greenville, SC. At the top of the show, Brian will answer a listener's questions on some behind the scenes tobacco manufacturing practices.

Our featured interview tonight is with Beau York. Beau is the co-host of the soon-to-be ending pipes and tobacco based podcast, Country Squire. After a 10-year run, and approaching their 500th episode, it was announced that Country Squire would record their last episode live on March 4 at a big party in Jackson, MS. Read the press release here. In addition to co-hosting Country Squire, Beau is the CEO of Satchel Player, creator of Podastery Studios, and host of several podcasts including Flash TV Talk and Panel to Screen. Brian has worked in the pipe and tobacco industry for the majority of his life, and at the top of the show, he will have an industry-insider story from his past.

Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Scott Thile. Scott has been making pipes since 2004. In addition to making pipes, Scott is a piano tuner and re-builder, and a bass player. Scott also founded Pipedia.org, and he was on the show way back in 2012 on Episode 10. Scott's son, Chris is also a musician, and his band, Nickel Creek will be our featured music with their Platinum record, "In The House Of Tom Bombadil". At the top of the show, Brian will be answering a listener question related to other collectibles in the pipe and tobacco world.

Our featured interview tonight is with Gabe Skypala. This is the first in our series of interviews with "Journeymen Pipe Smokers" - guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Gabe is a native Texan from Amarillo. He grew up helping out on his uncle's cow farm and thought that might be his trade at the time. He also played college basketball (he's 6'9"), was pre-med at Samford University, did some youth ministry, and is now in sales in the electrical equipment business. Gabe also is a BJJ white belt, and amateur pipe maker. At the top of the show, Brian will give us a list of pipe makers that have quit making pipes that you should seek out on the estate market.

We have a pipe personalities packed show tonight. We've been running two different series with two different prominent pipe collectors and authors. We have "Inside Fred's Head" with Fred Hanna. He is the author of the book, “The Perfect Smoke”, and known for collecting straight grain pipes. The other series is a follow-up to Fred, "Rich Responds" with Rich Esserman. Rich has penned innumerous articles about pipes and tobacco for several publications, and he is known for collecting quite large pipes. We'll be featuring the final remnants of those two series all in this show. As if that's not enough, at the top of the show our segment will feature pipe artisan Jeff Gracik with another installment of "Ask the Pipemaker".

Our featured interview tonight is with Pete Prevost. Pete is a pipe maker and the President of the BriarWorks pipe factory in Columbia Tennessee. BriarWorks is a a pipe maker co-op with several other pipe makers, including Todd Johnson, who co-founded it with Pete. Brian and Pete will be talking about that as well as the up-coming 2023 Muletown Pipe Show which is held at BriarWorks. In a past life, Pete was the guitar player in the band Sanctus Real. Our music segment will feature one of their Grammy-nominated songs. At the top of the show, Brian will give us his comparisons between three different vintages of Sutliff's Kringle Flake tobacco from the last three years.

Our featured interview tonight is with Matthew McCranie. Matthew is the third generation from McCranie's pipe and tobacco shop in Charlotte, NC. Matthew tells us of the founding of McCranie's by his grandfather in 1979. There's a fun Florida connection including inspiration from Edward's Pipe & Tobacco in Tampa, and some streets named McCranie in Lakeland. We'll also hear about McCranie's long-running, highly popular tobaccos, and how things have evolved from the early days. At the top of the show, Brian will give us a recap of his pipe trading from the Chicago and Columbus pipe shows.

Our featured interview tonight is with Rich Esserman. This is our third episode with, "Rich Responds" where we go back to a previous discussion with Fred Hanna, and Rich gives his take. Both Rich and Fred are prominent pipe collectors, researchers and writers on pipes and tobacco for several decades. They are both well-known and well-respected in the pipe enthusiast community. We'll see where Rich agrees with Fred, and where he has his own take on different aspects of pipes and tobacco. At the top of the show Brian will talk about how to build up your tobacco cellar and what to do in the meantime.

On tonight’s show we will have an episode succinct on questions, but deep on answers as we eavesdrop on Brian’s Zoom Pipe Club meeting. We will pose two questions, but get answers from several different pipes smokers from varying demographics, geographics and experience with pipes and tobacco. The virtual meeting took place on December 24, 2022. Since we are still in the holiday season, we will continue with holiday music. As usual, Brian will read fan mail and answer listener's questions.

Our featured interview tonight is with Rich Esserman. This is our second episode with, "Rich Responds" where we go back to a previous discussion with Fred Hanna, and Rich gives his take. Both Rich and Fred are prominent pipe collectors, researchers and writers on pipes and tobacco for several decades. They are both well-known and well-respected in the pipe enthusiast community. We'll see where Rich agrees with Fred, and where he has his own take on different aspects of pipes and tobacco. At the top of the show we'll have Pipe Artisan Jeff Gracik with another segment of "Ask the Pipemaker".

Our featured interview tonight is with Chris Morgan. Chris makes the Bones Pipes and Morgan Pipes brands. Chris makes some extremely creative high grade pipes as part of the Morgan line. The Bones pipes are named as such as they are bare bones pipes that are great for beginners, or outdoors activities where you can throw it in a tackle box. He says, they are "the absolute least expensive honest briar pipe on the market." Chris initially made his mark almost ten years ago with his introduction of the "Briar Cigar". At the top of the show, Brian will have two interesting questions from newer pipe smokers, and he provides some impressive answers.

Our featured interview tonight is with Rich Esserman. Rich has been smoking, collecting, and writing about pipes for over 40-years, and he is best known for collecting large-size Dunhill pipes. Brian and Rich are going back to the discussions with Fred Hanna to see where Rich agrees with Fred, and where he has his own take on different aspects of pipes and tobacco. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review on Savinelli's Janus blend.

Our featured interview tonight is with Tim Beaumont from Papa Bear's Pipes. In 2018, Tim quit his job to pursue his passion of wood-working, and began making furniture. He had a piece of walnut wood that looked like it would make a nice pipe, so he made one. Next, he made one from the more traditional briar. Then he made another, and another and so on. We've heard similar stories before. Tim's pipes are beautiful works of art in classic, and freehand shapes. At the top of the show, Brian will have his annual gift giving ideas for pipe smokers.

Our featured interview tonight is with Sergio Castello, a pipe smoking enthusiast from Mexico. He lives in the capital city of Sonora, Hermosillo, near the border with Arizona. He is a vintner by profession, growing table grapes in his family's business, Viñedos 2000. His grandfather, a doctor, smoked a pipe, and although he never saw him smoke, he did see the pipe rack in his office as a kid, and would play with them and pretend he was smoking. When he was 18-years old he got into cigars, and then pipes. At the top of the show we have a tobacco review of a surprise gift that went missing for a year and a half of an L.J. Peretti blend.

Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Yiannos Kokkinos. Yiannos is from the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus. He studied Graphic Design in Greece and Fine Arts in Italy and used to work as a designer. His pipes are completely handmade from Mediterranean briar. At the top of the show in Pipe Parts, we will have an "Ask the Pipemaker" segment with Jeff Gracik.

Fernando is a collector of predominantly Leeds-era Ben Wade pipes along with seconds brands, pipe catalogues and price lists. His collection also includes cigar and cigarette holders and match vesta cases, boxes, pipe sleeves and pamphlets. He has also collected print matter including a company history and advertising. As if that's not enough, he has also conducted interviews (to the extent possible) with the living descendants of Ben Wade and children of the final proprietors of the company before its sale to Hermann Lane. In Pipe Parts, we have a large mailbag to get caught up on that includes some pipe smoking 101 refreshers.

Our featured interview tonight is with Shane Ireland. Shane is the Vice President of Retail for SmokingPipes.com. Brian will be talking to Shane about which current production tobaccos he thinks are the best. In Pipe Parts, Brian will recap his trip to Las Vegas for the Las Vegas International Pipe Show (formerly the West Coast Pipe Show).

On tonight’s show we have a new episode of an ongoing segment of what Brian likes to call “Inside Fred’s Head” with Fred Hanna. Fred is a well-known pipe collector, author, and speaker at pipe shows. He has a PhD. in psychology and teaches the same at the Chicago Campus at Adler University. He is also author of the book, “The Perfect Smoke”. This is the 12th in the series with a long form discussion. Tonight, the guys will discuss the future of pipes. In Pipe Parts, we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.