The Secret History of the Slave Behind Jack Daniel’s Whiskey

Back in 1866, Jack Daniel’s became the first registered distillery
in the United States; today, it’s the top-selling American whiskey
in the world. For much of the brand’s 150-plus years, the story
went that the young Jack Daniel learned his trade from a pastor
named Dan Call. In reality, he was taught to distill by an enslaved
African, Nearest Green, whose contributions had been written out of
history. In this episode, listen in as Fawn Weaver, the
entrepreneur who has made rediscovering Green’s story her business,
and Clay Risen, the whiskey expert whose 2016 article in The New
York Times launched Weaver’s quest, tell us the true story of
Nearest Green and Jack Daniel—and of American whiskey. Learn more
about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices