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 with us. It's a judgment-free zone!

Looking for excellent Holiday wines that won't cost a mortgage payment? Shop at Pairs With Life Cellars for delicious wines that pair beautifully with all your Holiday meals and parties!

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 Situation wherever you  get your podcasts!

And remember, Tous Les Jours wines are only available online. Click here to order the North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon featured in this episode! 

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 wine pairs with learning the Rules of Ghosts? The 2020 Tous Les Jours Chenin Blanc/Viognier Blend from California. Why? No reason. Like, literally, I have no specifically good reason at all. It's just a super yummy and totally quaffable white wine that only costs $15 and comes with free shipping. So you should get some. Now. 

Remember to follow Pairs With Life on Instagram and to follow Kristen Nedopak, too!

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 that govern what spirits can do? As corporeal beings, the laws of nature and physics determine what we can and cannot do. I can't make an object levitate. I can't walk through a wall. Do ghosts have a similar set of rules? How come a ghost has never come up to me and said, "Hi JT, I'm a ghost?" Is it because they just can't do that.

In the first part of this two-part series, I discuss this strange incident that occurred recently, then take a deep dive into why it may have happened. It's a twisty road, stretching from a haunted castle to Facebook corporate headquarters. The rules of ghosts are not easy to determine. But if we're to solve this mystery, we need to know the rules.

It's no mystery that my new wine brand, Tous Les Jours, brings you fantastic wines at amazing prices (see what I did there?). This week, I feature the 2018 Tous Les Jours Cabernet Sauvignon, North Coast. It's only $19, and shipping is free with 6 or more bottles, or only $9.95 if you're cheap AF and get less than 6. Get you some!

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 it couldn't get any better, it did: Mia, the achingly-unattainable woman of his dreams, landed in The Attainable Zone. But sometimes, dreams collide in a rush to come true, and what Steve thought he held in the palm of his hands started slipping through his fingers...

Steve Taylor joins me on the podcast to discuss the memoir that chronicles it all: The Uninvited - On The Road With The Greatest Rock Band You Never Heard. And it's not just sex, drugs, and rock & roll (well, it sorta is). It's the story of how life should be a story, and how dreams don't die, though they might change a bit along the way.

The Greatest Rock Band You Never Heard probably pairs best with Jack Daniels, but since they don't pay me, I think you should check out the Tous Les Jours 2019 Pinot Grigio from Lodi instead. Crisp, refreshing, light in alcohol, and only $15 with free shipping. Now THAT's rockin'...

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 objectivity.

That said, I'm not above full-on pimping my own wines, including the new Tous Les Jours 2019 California Pinot Noir. At only $15 a bottle, it's the everyday wine your life has been missing, so get you some - in fact, get a lot, because shipping is free with 6 bottles or more. To learn more about Tous Les Jours wines, check it out here.

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 polyamory trends for over two decades. I also take her online survey, The Bonding Project, which helps individuals understand their own feelings about polyamorous relationships. And what wine pairs with polyamory? The 2017 Fogelson Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville, Napa Valley...because it's...complex. Pick it up now for only $29 per bottle!

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 remembrance? And how come you can't bring wine to the tattoo parlor? I mean, aside from potentially bleeding all over the place? So lame. I'm also joined by Andi Wrede of the Wound Up Wino Podcast, whose wine tattoos are something glorious.

One might say that Chardonnay isn't exactly a tattoo wine, but I'd beg to differ. It's hot AF outside, and the Chardonnay I'm pimping is just too freaking good. It's my new 2020 Napa Valley Chardonnay from Fogelson Vineyard. And at $23 a bottle, you're going to want to tattoo the bottle on both arms.

And speaking of great tattoo ideas, all the cool kids are getting tattoos of the cover art of my book, Pairs With Life. You don't have to get that fanatical, but you may want to consider reading it...