Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

Family, Legacy, and Bourbon with Wright Thompson

What can bourbon teach us about legacy, nostalgia, and consumer trends? Pappy Van Winkle is some of the most coveted bourbon in the world, but it took three generations of labor and loss to reach this pinnacle. Author Wright Thompson spent years with the third generation Van Winkle, who brought the family business back from the brink, studying the careful craftsmanship and rich history that goes into every barrel they produce. With a drink so inextricably tied to a distinct time and place, Wright found an opportunity to interrogate the mythology of the South, the seduction of nostalgia, and what it means to make things that last.RELATED READING:<a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780735221253" target="_blank">Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last</a> by Wright Thompson<a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780670016839" target="_blank">Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey</a> by Reid Mitenbuler

Every week Chris Hayes asks the big questions that keep him up at night. How do we make sense of this unprecedented moment in world history? Why is this (all) happening?

This podcast starts to answer these questions. Writers, experts, and thinkers who are also trying to get to the bottom of them join Chris to break it all down and help him get a better night’s rest. “Why is this Happening?” is presented by MSNBC and NBCNews Think.