"Blue Bottle with Kate Berlant" is Episode 471 of Doughboys, hosted by Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell. "Blue Bottle with Kate Berlant" was released on November 7, 2024.
"Tomorrow… with Kate Berlant" - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
Kate Berlant (@kateberlant, Cinnamon in the Wind) joins the 'boys to talk LA eats, massages, and Italy before a review of Blue Bottle Coffee. Plus, another edition of Jingle All The Whey.
Nick's intro[]
“None of them were real marriages. They were legalized affairs. In those days you couldn’t get a lease on an apartment if you were living in sin.” This was Arthur Arshawsky, who achieved worldwide fame as clarinetist and bandleader, Artie Shaw.
Artie Shaw
Exploding onto the jazz scene in the 1930s, Shaw was an innovative virtuoso but a difficult collaborator; the latter quality transposed onto his eight marriages and myriad affairs with some of the most famous starlets of the era. Among his octet of spouses were actresses Lana Turner, Evelyn Keyes, Doris Dowling, and Ava Gardner, who famously trumpeted later partner Frank Sinatra’s clarinet-sized hog. Shaw also had confirmed or rumored relationships with Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Lena Horne.
Such was the cultural preeminence of jazz music in the first half of the 20th century, that a professional clarinetist could earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and become the nation’s preeminent poonhound. But in our time, even a gainfully employed reedsmith who performs regular gigs may struggle to pay the bills.
Such was the case with Oakland clarinetist James Freeman, who found his hobby of home coffee roasting to prove more lucrative than his woodwind concerts. In January 2004, Freeman opened a coffee cart in San Francisco, which became a Bay Area hotspot, and a brick-and-mortar soon followed — as well as a rush of investor money from tech-bro fanboys. The store expanded into a chain and became a favorite of yoga mat-carrying coastal elites; in 2015, a newly-opened Tokyo location reportedly drew four-hour lines. In 2017, the upscale coffee concept was acquired for a staggering $700 million by Nestlé, a glossy sheen over the company’s outrageous practice of thieving drinking water from indigenous communities and then bottling it in non-recyclable plastic.
Today, the original American art form of jazz is viewed as quaint or pretentious; employed as background music on The Weather Channel or used as shorthand to portray a movie character as sophisticated. It feels bizarre that there ever was a time when the so-called “King of the Clarinet” could get more pussy than Derek Jeter. And Freeman’s own path from clarinet player to coffee mogul perhaps also shows that our soul-sick society has shifted its chief aspiration not from artistic achievement or romantic partnerships, but sheer accumulation of wealth.
This week on Doughboys… Blue Bottle Coffee.
Fork rating[]
| guest / host | ordered | rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger |
|
3 forks |
| Mike Mitchell |
|
3 forks |
| Kate Berlant |
|
3.5 forks |
Jingle All The Whey 🎶[]
In this segment, Nick plays a fast-food jingle and Mitch and the guest guess which year it came out.
The closest guess, without going over, wins that question. If you guess it exactly, you get two points (the Arden Myrin rule). If they tie, the guest wins (the Mitchkenna rule). If the second guesser can guess a movie from the first guesser's year correctly, they get an extra point (the Murder Bryan rule).
The theme for this episode is Long John Silver's jingles.
| jingle | Mike Mitchell | Kate Berlant | film guess | actual | score (MM - KB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jingle #1 | 1982 | 1980 | Mitch: Empire Strikes Back (correct!) | 1981 | 1 - 1 |
| jingle #2 | 1989 | 1993 | 1983 | 1 - 3 | |
| jingle #3 | 1986 | 1988 | 1988 | 1 - 5 | |
| jingle #4 | 1990 | 1996 | 1996 | 1 - 7 | |
| jingle #5 | 1984 | 1985 | 1985 | 1 - 9 |
Making this the best day of her life, Kate wins in absolute rout! She is inducted into the Jingle All The Whey Hall of Fame.
Mitch did know when The Fifth Element came out (1997).
Roast Spoonman[]
Dexter
| “ | Texter | ” |
–Alex Browser | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | Mitch: I couldn't say 'caffè' correctly. I was trying to pronounce it and couldn't say it to the lady. Kate: What'd you say? |
” |
–Mitch at Blue Bottle | ||
| “ | I was recently in a foreign town. And by foreign town, I mean Lake Tahoe. I had a Chipotle bowl and I nearly threw it across the room. | ” |
–Kate Berlant re: foreign Chipotles | ||
The Feedbag[]
| “ | I got my wife sauces for her Mother's Day gift. What is your favorite food-related gift you've ever given or received? | ” |
–Matt | ||
| guest / host | food-related gift |
|---|---|
| Nick Wiger |
|
| Mike Mitchell | for Communion, Mitch's aunt brought him a McDonald's Happy Meal |
| Kate Berlant | a friend gifted her the Tom Cruise cake for her birthday |
Drops and Plugs[]
| reference | notes |
|---|---|
| "Am I Gay for Gungan" | in Mitch's drop (by Little Danny) |
Related Episodes[]
| Long John Silver's episodes |
|---|
|
Photos[]
