I enjoyed writing this piece.

In which a CIA analyst laboriously erects a straw man and bashes the stuffing out of it, but for what purpose?

The NBA is very concerned about the multiple arrests made as a result of the FBI’s sports gambling code. Use code “MULTIPLEARRESTS” for a 30% Profit Boost on a three-leg parlay with Draft Kings, the official gambling partner of the NBA.

Hip Hops: Atrium Brewing's new owners are familiar faces. Meanwhile Asheville, NC's Hi-Wire Brewing has closed its Louisville taproom, and Hop Atomica is hosting Apron Inc.'s Happy Hour Friend-Raiser TODAY, with a bonus photography exhibit by Dan Dry. foodanddine.com/hip-hops-hop-a…

Barry Sears' visitation is Thursday, and the funeral (we'll be there) tomorrow morning. I was thinking back to the way Barry changed my life over lunch ... and yes, I have an explanation for the photo, although you'll have to follow the link to read it. rogerbaylor.com/2025/10/30/r-i…

Hip Hops: We remember the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald with a classic song from Gordon Lightfoot, and a robust dark ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co., prompting a long overdue Porter reverie. foodanddine.com/hip-hops-porte…

Sad, though not entirely unexpected. Note that AtG remains in the business of brewing; the company is leaving the business of restaurant operation.

Memories.

On Thanksgiving Eve (Wed., Nov. 26), Osteria Italian Seafood will offer La Grande Cena — “The Big Dinner” — all day long, only on the 26th. It's a feast served family-style, with 10% of all sales benefiting Feed Louisville. Reserve at Osteria's web site. foodanddine.com/la-grande-cena…

Democratic voters are working hard to stop fascism. It would be nice if the leaders of the party joined them.

Ramiro’s Cantina (149 Spring St., Jeffersonville) has announced a winter break, and will reopen in the spring of 2026. Catering and food trucks are unaffected. foodanddine.com/a-winter-break…

Alas, the "bad seed."

Hip Hops: Roger's book that wasn't, plus Gravely Brewing’s new taproom opens Friday in NuButcher, and our current print edition contains a profile of Schnitzelburg's Hop Atomica brewery + distilley + pizzeria. foodanddine.com/hip-hops-a-boo…

At first glance, these looked like beers to me.

The pit bull or the owner?

The Station Nightclub fire happened in 2003. No smartphones. No Instagram. 100 people still died because they stood watching the flames, thinking it was part of the show. I've retrofitted fire safety for some of the largest property portfolios in the UK post-grenfell. You

When I’m anywhere I look for locally owned independent coffee shops, and breweries, and

Welcome to the way my brain works (or doesn't) on a Monday morning.

40 Years in Beer (now 44, but the title endures): In Louisville and Southern Indiana during the late 1990s, the cadence of progress was belated and choppy as we crept toward a state of “microbrewing,” soon to be known as “craft” brewing. It's here: rogerbaylor.com/2026/01/06/40-…

I will again repeat my basic formulation on speeding-- we enforce too much on empty interstates, where it's pretty safe to go very fast but it's easy to write tickets. We enforce too little in populated areas, where the reverse is true.