pntcast – Surmise Media

  Well, we finally did it. We drank vermouth. Are you happy now??

  Cheers for Friday! Join Josh and Kate as they learn about toasts, salutations and honorific libations of all kinds, from Vikings to the British Navy.

Kate teaches Josh about scurvy and limes and pomegranates and Josh salutes punching fascists. Join us!

We’re a bit rusty at this, but we’re back like hipsters drinking from Mason jars. Cycle 2.0 begins with a discussion of the crazy variety of drinking glasses a well-stocked bar can have, but then veers off to talking about Mount Everest because Kate has a one-track mind. Join us!

Strap on your big shoes and grab the salt shaker, because Josh and Kate are exploring the cactus-fueled world of Mexican regret juice. Join us!

We’re back, and our snifters are full of that most grape-y of base liquors, brandy. Josh learns how to test booze by exploding it, and Kate learns that Winston Churchill was getting free Turkish hooch long after he was dead. Join us!

The spicy grain that makes the spicy bread turns out to make a spicy whiskey, too. Plus, Kate and Josh bag on a popular musician. Join us!

Raylan Givens says bourbon tastes like a warm summer day, and who are we to argue? Our survey of base liquors alights on the patriotic choice of all Kentuckians. Josh discovers the forgotten states of Kentinia and Virgucky. Kate has trouble with the “ch” sound. Join us!

Sorry, Scotch snobs. We talk a lot about Vicki Lawrence in this episode and only a bit about Scotch.

We drink vodka! All the hacky Russian jokes you expect, you’re gonna get in this episode. Kate discovers Russian demolition derby. Josh goes on a crusade with the Livonian Knights. Join us!

Yo-ho-ho! Rum is the by-product of sugar, but it’s the whole subject of this week’s show. Josh pitches Kate on Laurence Olivier in an eyepatch (not a hard sell). Kate laments the awkwardness of dads. Join us!

Kate and Josh begin a look at the base liquors that make up your favorite cocktails with a dive into the history and vibrant present of gin, the juniper-est sauce in the Navy. Kate explains chaps to Josh. Josh explains why he’d never be able to AirBnB. Join us!

Our shallow dive into party food reaches its briny depths with this week’s discussion of the humble shrimp cocktail. Kate teaches us about Fanny Cradock and the Major. Josh ponders the theology of the Blue Oyster Cult. Join us!

Classy fish eggs lead to a discussion of why air doesn’t have more fans, followed my memories of Exhaust Pointe, Kate’s favorite childhood amusement park. Join us, won’t you?

Lil Smokeys. Vienna sausages. Cocktail wieners. Call them what you like, tiny sausages are our entryway into the wide world of finger food. Kate and Josh explore the differences between canapés, hors dóeuvres and crudités before watching “Runaway Train,” the 1985 action movie that features enough scenery to sustain the appetites of both Eric Roberts […]

The Mudslide mixes three sweet things into something impossibly sweet and yet still pretends to be a cocktail and not a dessert. After discussing the history of phone books and the gender politics of buying the wonder drug Domicil, Kate and Josh watch “The Believers,” a forgettable thriller from 1987.

Drink too much for some reason lately? Feeling down for some reason? Some reason we won’t mention? Need to take a mental health day and stay at home and watch comfort movies? For some reason? We got ya covered in this new world we’re all living in.

Remember November? Remember back before things happened and we all were just relaxing out on the patio with a blender full of frozen margaritas and some teriyaki on the old hibachi? Travel back to this vintage, pre-election episode with Kate and Josh and enjoy 2015’s “Cop Car.”

Kate and Josh endanger their immortal souls by praising the men who flouted God’s will by creating ice from mere water. Hear the harrowing tale of America’s first battle between Frankenwater and all-natural ice. Long about the time we finish, the Hagg boys are stirring up a whole mess of trouble in 1975’s “Moonrunners,” a […]

Josh has a new hero! Kate introduces him to Frederic Tudor, the man who made icy beverages as common as they are. Join us as we salute this great American and watch “Ironclad” from 2011.

It was surprisingly easy to end Prohibition. All it took was the Great Depression, rampant crime, and dozens of state conventions! Join us as we celebrate the end of a national mistake and watch Brian de Palma’s “Obsession.”

When the hurly-burly’s done, Kate and Josh will have celebrated 100 episodes of Prefer Not To! Join them for a look back through the fog and filthy air of Prohibition bootlegging before diving into the toil and trouble of 1983’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”

Kate and Josh are back from vacation! Remember that time America did something crazy and voted for a crazy idea that was crazy? Thank goodness that’s behind us. Also, 1977’s “Audrey Rose” manages to be both bizarre and boring. Think that’s impossible? THINK HARDER.

In the first of a three-part look at the history of liquor laws in America, Kate talks about the run-up to Prohibition and about the reform movements of the 19th century. Then, Albert Finney fights giant wolves in the South Bronx with Gregory Hines in “Wolfen” from 1981. Join us!

This is where the fun starts! Add wine to sugar and bubbles and put on a pastel linen jacket, because Kate has wine coolers and we’re watching “Terminator Genisys.” And we thank you for your support.

Like Kraft French Dressing and naming your daughter Angelique, the Boulevardier is more trashy and American than it is classy or Gallic. Join us!

He lived fast, died young and left a delicious cocktail. Kate explores the legacy of Rudolph Valentino as we drink the Blood and Sand, then we turn to “Goosebumps.” Join us!

Rash discussion is followed by rash decisions as Kate and Josh discuss alcohol flush reactions and 2014’s “Black Sea,” starring Jude Law. Join us!

Too bad the name is a tad racist, because the drink sure is delicious. Join Kate and Josh to sample the citrusy wallop of the Kamikaze and learn the history of the shooter, every college kid’s first worst mistake. Then watch some fictional college kids make their last worst mistake in 2008’s “The Ruins.” Join […]

We dodge the revenuers and lead poisoning to sample moonshine and watch the Arnold Schwartzenegger zombie drama “Maggie.” Join us!

In the first installment of her history of cocktail luminaries, Kate digs into the life of imbibing’s Johnny Appleseed. Then we watch “The Haunted Mansion,” a movie that disappoints despite starring show favorites Eddie Murphy and Terence Stamp. How is this possible? Join us!

It’s a clip show! Saunter through our first 10 episodes, back from when jazz was king and kids knew the value of a dollar — an elegant age of rail travel, chivalrous knights and mighty ocean schooners. Don’t worry, though! A new show is coming later this week. Honest.

Shit weasels! Join us! Also, an unsolicited plug for the local meadery that changed Josh’s tune on honey booze: https://starrlightmead.com/

Everyone’s invited to Kate’s sloe gin party! It’s fizzy fun and has Elizabeth Banks manhandling a roast in “The Uninvited,” an American K-horror remake from 2009. Join us, won’t you?

Why spend that refund on a map to Skull Mountain when we’ve found it already! Join Kate and Josh as we sip the Income Tax, a cocktail that’s almost a Bronx but different enough to avoid an audit. Then we slip back to the tax-dodging days of Wesley Snipes with the zombie western “Gallowwalkers.” Join […]

Ever drunk a martini from the remains of the Hindenburg? Ever seen someone get hemi-defenestrated? Join Kate and Josh as they talk about the history of cocktail shakers and watch “Superstition,” a movie about a creepy witch ghost who microwaves people to death. Join us!

A nonsense word? Nonsense! The syllabub is a delicious wine, sugar and cream cocktail that sets the stage for Kate and Josh’s deep dive into 2014’s “The Forger,” starring John Travolta and Christopher Plummer. Join us!

No liquor needed! Kate and Josh explore mock cocktails and initiate a discussion about BBC detective shows before talking about “Blackhat,” Michael Mann’s hacker thriller from 2015. Join us!

Prepare to hear the worst Irish accents ever as Kate and Josh talk about the history of adding green coloring to beer and watch the bizarre and implausible “Ricochet,” starring Denzel Washington, John Lithgow and Ice-T.

This week, we enjoy beer, tomato juice and just a pinch of Old Norse. The spicy beer goodness of the Michelada leads Kate and Josh into the 2007 Karl Urban Vikings-vs.-native-Americans epic “Pathfinder.” Join us!

Black velvet? Yes, please! Join us as Kate explores the not-so-secret society responsible for the creation of this black and tan drink that isn’t a Black & Tan. Once you’ve got your drink in hand, sit back and enjoy “Godsend,” starring a barely interested Robert de Niro, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Greg Kinnear.

Should ghosts only haunt species higher than themselves on the food chain? Should Donald Sutherland learn that a spit-shake deal is not binding in a court of law? Can plaid and stripes ever get along? These questions and more hover in the air as we drink the port-and-nutmeg flavor of the Sangaree and watch “An […]

Come taste the bitter colonial sass of the Stone Fence, Ethan Allen’s signature drink, before venturing south to Puerto Rico and the generically titled thriller “Under Suspicion,” starring Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman. No need for a statement from your web browsing provider, either! Just join us!

Neither a hairstyle nor a wrestling maneuver, the Porto Flip melds the sweet-tart joy of port wine with the syrupy goodness of sugar and eggs. Down a couple of these and you can climb K2 like Chris O’Donnell and Robin Tunney in “Vertical Limit,” from 2000. Join us!

Would Satan make the best moonshine? Did Papa Hemingway invent a ketchup-based cocktail? Who is the hottest movie Satan? Your answers to these questions and so much more this week as Kate and Josh enjoy Death in the Gulfstream and watch “Devil’s Due” from 2014. Join us!

This drink. It hurts. It hurts like a brick made of licorice delivered to the head. We drink Papa’s own Death in the Afternoon and chase it down with the strangest fantasy-heist-romcom of 1983, “Two of a Kind.” Join us!

Enjoy the strangely time-looped history of the Sazerac Cocktail and stick around for our dive into Reese Witherspoon’s back catalog with 1996’s “Freeway.” Join us!

Celebrate the new year and our 75th episode with a game of the Boomer-friendly 1981 edition of Trivial Pursuit! Kate rewrites Night Ranger, Josh mixes up his First Ladies, and eggnog is enjoyed by all. Join us!

This week, we play hide the vermouth with the help of some rum and Curacao, the tart-sweet El Presidente inspires Josh to new levels of terrible impressions, and Kate walks us through the cheaty mysteries of 1997’s “Kiss the Girls.” Join us!

Can a hastily improvised mixture of syrupy malted drinks ease the confusion of 1999’s “Double Jeopardy,” a movie whose central premise rests on a misreading of our constitutional rights? Only Kate and Josh know for sure!