The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Podcast

Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Rick Newcombe. Rick is a well-known author of several pipe books, and he is a prominent collector of Danish pipes, and vintage tobaccos. We catch up with him and see what he's looking forward to at the Chicago pipe show this coming weekend. Rick was in Chicago when the show was first conceived of, and provides quite an interesting early days look at the show. Later, he chats with us about alternative sources of nicotine. At the top of the show in our Pipe Parts segment, Brian relays a quite interesting and nostalgic history and background on small batch and/or limited edition tobaccos.

Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Bo Parker. Bo is the new co-host of the Pipe and Tamper Podcast, which is the second longest running pipe podcast after this one. Bo started as the co-host in January 2025, and he is also a member of the Heretics Pipe Club. He is a professional coffee roaster and has the best "first time I smoked a pipe story" ever. At the top of the show, we will have another edition of the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with four more Smio Satou pipes.

Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Ben Smith of Redeemed Pipes. Ben is a pipe restorer, buyer and seller. He helps collectors find the estate pipes they are looking for. He started Redeemed Pipes in 2022 at his first Chicago pipe show. He deals with all types of pipes from artisan to factory-made. He actually started smoking pipes in 2017, and soon became obsessed, and quickly progressed to collecting artisan pipes himself. At the top of the show Brian will discuss "Estate Pipe Buying 101".

Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Nate King, the "King of Pipes" and of In-N-Out Burger. Most people know of Nate as an excellent pipe artisan. He also has an honorary Master of Pipes degree from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club, and is a member of the prestigious Confrérie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude. Prior to becoming a pipe maker in 2005, Nate worked in the Indy race business as a transmission specialist. At the top of the show Brian will have a tobacco review of Low Country Atalaya. It is a Virginia/Perique blend made in the Cornell & Diehl factory.

Our featured interview tonight is with Mike Morales. Mike showed up at the Vegas pipe show last year with a bunch of professional video equipment and spontaneously arranged interviews with show exhibitors and Brian. The video he produced was at a professional level of a TV show, so Brian had to have him on the show. Mike is a pipe smoking enthusiast that is quite intrigued with the community aspect and history of pipe smoking. He is on a journey to devour as much of this information and experience as possible. 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 Rich Esserman. Rich is one of our regular guests that has been on the show many times, and is returning after a one-year hiatus. Rich has penned innumerous articles about pipes and tobacco for several publications, and he is known for collecting quite large pipes. We’ll get caught up with Rich and see what's new with him. At the top of the show in our Pipe Parts segment Brian will talk about the "Delayed Gratification Technique" or "DTG" as we call it in the forums.

Our featured interview tonight is with Simon Bosko from the YouTube Channel London Calling with Simon. He also produces the LCS Briars line of handmade pipes. London Calling has over 9,000 subscribers and over 2,000 videos. In his pipe making, Simon focuses mainly on 9mm filter pipes in both classic shapes and artistic styles. Simon has lived in London his entire life. He bought his first pipe, which was a Butz-Choquin at the Segar and Snuff Parlour in Covent Garden. At the top of the show in our Pipe Parts segment, we will have Brian's last discussion on the fallout of the STG buyout of Mac Baren and Sutliff with the mass discontinuation of tobaccos.

Our featured interview tonight is with J.B. “Brandon” Frady. Brandon was first on the show as a new pipe maker back in 2023. He was already making amazing pipes then, and now he has evolved to even better pipes that are functional works of art. 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 other writings in a couple dozen professional publications. On March 12, he will be performing in a live comedy competition. At the top of the show, Brian will have what he thinks will be an "unpopular and controversial tobacco review" on McClelland 5100 that Brian blended himself in 2019, and has been aging since then.

Our featured guest tonight is Glen Whelan. The first time we had Glen on he was the Director of Sales for Peterson of Dublin. Now he is the Managing Director. Peterson is a family tradition for Glen. His father worked in the factory for 50 years, eventually serving as Factory Manager. Although Glen now serves as Managing Director, he started as a part-time retail associate in the Peterson store at the age of 16. After more than a decade in Peterson retail, Glen joined the sales team in Sallynoggin, and kept moving up from there. At the top of the show, we will have another edition of the virtual tour of Brian's pipe collection with four more pipes that are not the usual shapes and styles that he collects.

Our featured guests tonight are Jonni Adams and Grey Van Kuilenburg. Jonni makes the J. Adams line of pipes. He is originally from Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, and moved to the US in 1997. Grey makes the Van Kuilenburg line of pipes. He is a tattoo artist full time, and also hand carves custom electric guitars and basses for the last 30-years. Both Jonni and Grey have been making pipes for five years. They will be telling us about their trip to Denmark to work with Tom Eltang. At the top of the show Brian will answer a listener question about aging flake tobaccos.

Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about sales trends for pipes and tobacco at the shop, and other news. This will be an extended conversation, so we will skip the usual Pipe Parts opening segment.

Our featured guest on tonight's show is Ronnie Pecorini. Ronnie is the VP of the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club and the Director of the Chicago Pipe Show. He has been in the club for 17 years, and has attended 27 of the shows. Ronnie is also co-host of the Great Cigar & Pipe Show Podcast, which is coming up on seven years. He has been in FM sports radio for 20 years. You'll hear about his background and what to expect at the upcoming Chicago pipe show. 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 guest on tonight's show is Sykes Wilford. Sykes is the Founder and CEO of SmokingPipes.com, and Laudisi Enterprises. Brian and Sykes will discuss the Japanese pipe maker Hiroyuki Tokutomi. Unfortunately, Tokutomi passed a week ago on January 28, 2025 at the age of 76 after being hospitalized with pneumonia. Sykes knew him well from a friendship and business relationship that spanned over 20 years. He was considered by many to be one of the best pipe makers in the world with his innovative designs. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review of Low Country Waccamaw, which is a Virginia-Perique blend with some Izmir Orientals.

Our featured interview tonight is with Canadian pipe smoker and book author Fraser Moss. His first book, "The Unknown Canadian Pipe Smoker" discusses five companies that have shaped the Canadian pipe-smoking landscape. The book also guides readers new to the hobby on what to look for when buying their first pipe, and much more. It will soon be in stock at SmokingPipes.com. Fraser has been smoking a pipe for 25-years. He lives in rural Manitoba with his wife and their Samoyed, Luna. You can check out his YouTube channel at Prairie Piper. At the top of the show, Brian will chat about three special pipes that are a permanent part of his collection.

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 what’s new at BriarWorks, and about their upcoming Muletown Pipe Show. At the top of the show, we will get caught up on a backlog of listener comments and correspondence. We will still have the regular mailbag segment near the end of the show as well.

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. Brian and Jay will have an extended conversation that will preempt the Pipe Parts segment. We will still have music, mailbag, and rant.

Our featured guest tonight is Dr. 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 has also done extensive research on nicotine, and that will be the focus of the discussion tonight. Nicotine has often been cast as a villain, but it is not really harmful. It naturally occurs in the nightshade family of plants, which includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. At the top of the show, Brian will talk more about the Sutliff/McBaren/STG situation that has the serious pipe smoker segment of the market furious.

Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about Jon David's personal pipe collection, sales trends for pipes and tobacco at the shop, and the challenges presented by the pending closure of Sutliff Tobacco. They have been the supplier of many component tobaccos for several of The Country Squire's house blends. If you haven't heard the news from earlier this year - Scandinavian Tobacco Group bought Mac Baren, which owned Sutliff. Internal documents were leaked from STG showing that they will shutting down Sutliff completely, and eliminating most of the products. This will be an extended conversation, so we will skip the usual Pipe Parts opening segment.

Our featured interview tonight is with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl and is featured in our recurring series, “Ask the Tobacco Blender”. However, tonight he will be the interviewee as we learn about how he became a pipe smoker and collector, when he got his first pipe and how he progressed from there. At the top of the show, Brian will have a review of the rare German tobacco blend, Tumblin’ Dice.

Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Ben Rapaport. Ben has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and book author. His first book on pipes was published in 1972, and his latest book - his 11th - is out now in very limited quantities. The distribution has already sold out, but you can still get a copy of "The Wide World of Wood Tobacco Pipes. Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Creativity" by contacting him directly at ben70gray@gmail.com. At the top of the show we'll be turning the tables on our recurring Ask the Pipemaker segment. This time, Jeff Gracik will ask the questions, which Brian will answer as a pipe collector, and you can give your answers too.