Coffee/Lunch/Beer

In this episode, we talk to the most likable man in Texas politics (according to Darin, who has never met anyone else in Texas politics), Justin Till. Justin talks to us about how high school debate sparked his interest in politics, transitioning from student body government to real-world politics at the Texas capitol, getting a gun pulled on him while campaigning, deciding to go to law school, and much more.

Today we’re joined by a very special guest: The Soul Food Scholar, dropping knowledge like hot biscuits, Adrian Miller. Prior to becoming a James Beard award-winning author and preeminent scholar on soul food and the culinary history of African Americans, Miller earned degrees from Stanford and Georgetown, served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton, and served as a senior policy analyst for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.

Adrian Miller is the author of three books. His first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014. His second book, The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, From the Washingtons to the Obamas was a finalist for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction,” and the 2018 Colorado Book Award for History. And his upcoming work, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, is scheduled to come out later this month.

In this episode, we talk to Adrian about leaving the comfort of his political career to pursue his dreams, working with publishers, dealing with rejection, finding inspiration, the best soul food and barbecue places in Colorado and the country, tips for a barbecue road trip, and much, much more.

Today we’re joined by the Director of the Birth Equity Advocacy Project, Morgan White. We talk about her family’s deep roots in political activism, eating nothing but lasagna during her internship for Congressman John Lewis, transitioning to work for then-Senator Kamala Harris, and much more.

In this episode, we talk to Clearscope Founder Bernard Huang about the many ups and downs of his career, including a successful stint as a poker player, a brush with homelessness, a failed BBQ business, getting shut down by SXSW, and much more.

Book Recommendations:

A Note From Mark & Darin: You may notice references to the former name of this show, The Mentor, in the episode. This episode was recorded before we switched to the current name: Coffee/Lunch/Beer. The new name is derived from a common question in outreach emails, "Would you be interested in meeting up for coffee/lunch/beer?"

There are a lot of misconceptions about lobbyists and Tyler Mounsey is here to clear the air. In this episode, we talk to Mounsey about how he started his career in politics, why he loves being a lobbyist, what it is like to work on a political campaign, and more.

Book Recommendations:

A Note From Mark & Darin: You may notice references to the former name of this show, The Mentor, in the episode. This episode was recorded before we switched to the current name: Coffee/Lunch/Beer. The new name is derived from a common question in outreach emails, "Would you be interested in meeting up for coffee/lunch/beer?"

In our first episode, we talk with Denver-based attorney Dan Culhane. We discuss how he happened upon a career in litigation, working as in-house counsel for a major corporation, hanging his own shingle, leaving his practice for a year-long trip around the globe, starting a SaaS company, and much more.

Book Recommendation:

A Note From Mark & Darin: You may notice references to the former name of this show, The Mentor, in the episode. This episode was recorded before we switched to the current name: Coffee/Lunch/Beer. The new name is derived from a common question in outreach emails, "Would you be interested in meeting up for coffee/lunch/beer?"