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Host Ian Bennett seated with a cigar against a blue wall

A Podcast for Men of Purpose

The bar. The cigar. The convo.

Every Sunday we sit down with men of purpose to talk mental health, faith and community — over a cigar worth the hour.

The conversation has started

Pull up
a chair.

Episode 001 is available now. Listen here, on Apple Podcasts, or on Spotify.

Good cigars. Real conversation. @sundaysandcigars

Sundays and Cigars, established 2026
Ian Bennett exhaling cigar smoke in the lounge
Ian Bennett · Host, Sundays & Cigars

Pull Up a Chair

Half lounge.
Half confession booth.

Half the show is the lounge and the cigar of choice. The other half is the conversation men don't usually have out loud.

Host Ian Bennett opens every episode at the bar — the humidor, the origin story, the pick for the hour. Then the room gets quiet and the real conversation starts: mental health, spiritual health, and the health of the communities we're all trying to build.

We don't perform conversation. We honor it. Ian Bennett, Host

The Format

Three acts. One conversation.

01

The Bar

We start where the room starts. The humidor, the wrapper, the origin story — and why this particular cigar belongs to this particular hour.

02

The Cigar

Every pick carries history. We trace it back, then find the parallel between where that leaf came from and what we're about to talk about.

03

The Convo

The reason we sat down. Mental health, faith, fatherhood, purpose, and the things men carry quietly — said out loud, on the record.

A lit cigar resting on an orange ashtray

The first
conversation
is here.

Pull Up A Chair for a Short Story is available now. One chair, one Hemingway Short Story, and the first conversation on the record.

Ep. 001 Released Sept 20, 2026 The cigar · Hemingway Short Story

Ep. 001 · The Cigar of Choice

Hemingway
Short Story

Arturo Fuente named the Hemingway line after the author's spare, deliberate prose, and the Short Story is the smallest cut of it — a four-inch perfecto that spends the better part of an hour making you reconsider what a small cigar can do.

That's the whole thesis of the show in one stick. It's short on paper and long in the chair. A closed foot that makes you slow down and light it properly. Cameroon sweetness up front, cedar and cocoa through the middle, and it never turns harsh on you at the end. Roughly forty minutes — the exact length of a conversation worth having.

Every pick carries history. This one's named after a writer who said more with less.

Ian Bennett, Host

Listen to the Show

Season One

Pull up a chair for the full conversation. Watch the film or take the audio with you.

The conversation continues

Good conversation.
Press play.

Loading the episode collection. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Inside season one Out now & coming next

Episode 001 is out now. The remaining conversations are planned; guests and release dates may change.

Ep.EpisodeThe CigarDate
001
Pull Up A Chair for a Short Story Ian Bennett · Host
Hemingway Short Story Available now
002
The elder's chair Guest to be announced
To be selected Coming soon
003
The breakthrough Guest to be announced
To be selected Coming soon
004
Culture & context Guest to be announced
To be selected Coming soon
005
The craft Guest to be announced
To be selected Coming soon
006
Room for many voices Ensemble episode
To be selected Coming soon
Black and white portrait of Ian Bennett with a cigar, a visual teaser for The Roaring Lion COMING SOON

A Cinematic Short · Coming Soon

The Roaring Lion

He took the cigar. He got the photograph.

An upcoming cinematic short exploring the story behind a portrait, a cigar, and a moment that says more than words.

The film is not available to watch yet. We'll share it here when it's ready. Until then, consider this a first look at the mood.

A LIFTED production × Sundays & Cigars

The Other Half of the Show

The Sunday Side

Not every conversation belongs to the lounge. Some of them happen in the morning light — high desert out the window, one chair, one cigar, and nothing to prove. These sessions run in daylight and get released as the quieter cut of the show.

Ian Bennett reclined in a lounge chair beside a telescope in a bright desert house
Room 02 · the long view
Ian Bennett seated on a linen sofa in front of a full wall of windows
Windows open, guard down
Profile of Ian Bennett drawing on a cigar in a leather lounge chair
One draw, one thought
Portrait of Ian Bennett in a wide brim hat holding a cigar
Say it out loud
Bright desert living room with a stone fireplace and mountain view
The daylight set

Daylight Sessions

Shorter, softer, one guest. Recorded in natural light with a single camera and no studio lighting — closer to a conversation you overhear than one you tune into.

Two Rooms, One Show

The lounge is the night room: leather, lanterns, the full three-act format. The Sunday Side is the morning room. Same host, same honesty, opposite light.

Booking a Session

Daylight sessions are booked one weekend a month. If a full studio episode feels like too much for a first conversation, start here.

Request a Sunday session

The Guest Chair

Pull up a chair.
Bring a story.

If you're a man of purpose in this community with something worth saying out loud, the chair is open. Tell us the story you would bring to the conversation.

Ask about being a guest

Email lightup@sundaysandcigars.com with your story, the topic you would like to explore, and your availability. This opens your email app; no submission is collected on this page.