Mike Bratton is sadly no longer part of Car Con Carne, due to the fact his family is moving back to New York. I can’t properly articulate how important he was to the show, and how much I’ll miss our biweekly conversations over various meats. You can hear our last show together here.

I decided to take the opportunity to rebrand and rebuild the show. My first decision was to run without a formal co-host. For the time being, each episode of Car Con Carne will run with a guest host. Former Q101/Rivet colleague Alex Quigley will be my first co-host. “Hot Doug” Sohn will come back to Car Con Carne to guest host the following week. Felonious Munk will sit shotgun shortly after that.

I’ve also made the decision to open up the scope of exactly what I’m eating in my car. I love barbecue. Love. It. Like, can’t get enough. But the simple fact is until the podcast is making money, I can’t drive to far-flung locations just to eat it. Realistically, the list of barbecue restaurants that are driveable from my house will eventually run out. So, informally, I’ve transitioned Car Con Carne to “The World’s Only Food Podcast Recorded in a Car.” Mike and I flirted with the idea for a while, but now seemed like a great time to make it official. I’ll still try to hit every possible BBQ restaurant out there, but I need the flexibility to go for hot dogs and tacos.

I also want you to be part of the show. One of Mike’s best, unused ideas was to include bite-sized restaurant reviews (“Car Con Carnitas”) on the show. It’s a great idea: I want Car Con Carnitas to come from the people who listen to Car Con Carne. If you go somewhere interesting, cool or just plain awful, review it! You can record audio right into your smartphone. Car Con Carnitas don’t have to be long–in fact, 30-60 seconds may be all you need! Email audio to [email protected].

Finally, I got a new logo. Just because.

I wasn’t sure about the fork and spoon at first, but then I realized they make the logo look like a steering wheel. Cool. Subtle.

I should mention Mike donated his recording apparatus to me to ensure the future of Car Con Carne. I would’ve been dead in the water had he not. Thanks, Mike. Miss you already.

-JVO 11/3/15