Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

Latest Episodes:

290: Commercials: Sales or propaganda? Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review Unicorn Farts by DuClaw, then discuss what they love and what they hate in commercials.

We've become accustomed to the idea that we pay for free television by suffering through the commercials. Consumers want humor in commercials. Like in the Super Bowl. But what we get is posturing and lecturing by the woke.

There are several trends and themes in commercials that the boys review. For example, if there's a man and a woman in a commercial, the man almost always plays the part of the idiot, or loses the argument. It's also acceptable to make fun of a man's sexuality.

In some ways, the social agenda has become more important than the sale of the product. Many commercials have a completely fake-feeling, forced emphasis on diversity, for example.

Commercials are an interesting indicator of the culture. What do today's commercials say about our culture?

289: State-sponsored vice Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review a homemade batch of Krupnikas, a Christmas cordial, then discuss how states often sponsor morally questionable behaviors, like gambling and drug use.

Maryland voters recently approved a referendum legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Is this a good idea?

Some people try to put a positive spin on this by taxing the drugs and using the revenue for some good purpose.

Does decriminalization cut out the criminal element? Does that justify decriminalization?

And what about gambling? Is legalized gambling a good thing for society? Does winning the lottery actually help anyone? Does the lottery disproportionately affect the poor?

What happened to all the traditional arguments against gambling? Have we countered them, or just ignored them?

288: Ray Bradbury Dec 12, 2022

Show notes

Along with special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Space Dust IPA by Elysium brewing, then discuss a few short stories from The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.

The premise of the collection is that you can see the stories in the collection played out by looking at the tattoos of a carny.

This podcast includes reviews of the following stories.

The Veldt - problems arise when spoiled children get addicted to their "smart room."

Kaleidoscope - a tale of how people react when facing certain death on their own in space.

The Other Foot -- all the Earth's black population has moved to Mars. The remaining population on Earth destroy the planet and come to Mars begging for help.

The Man - Space farers, moving from planet to planet, just miss "the man." The captain becomes obsessed with catching up with him.

The Rocket Man - Working in space is addictive. When you're in space you want to be on Earth, and vice versa. The story inspired Elton John's song.

287: Daoism and the Tao Te Ching Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review a smoked maple porter from Flying Dog Brewery, then discuss Daoism and the Tao Te Ching.

Longinus starts with a general introduction to Daoism, looking at it from three perspectives: as a philosophy, as a New Age, self-help system, and as a religion.

Daoism competed with Confucianism in China and was often repressed by the Chinese government.

Daoism is both practical and mystical, and often frustratingly vague. It can be approached from several different perspectives.

The Tao Te Ching, allegedly by Lao Tzu, doesn't have a plot or a narrative. It's a collection of wise sayings, somewhat reminiscent of the biblical Proverbs.

The boys review some of their favorite quotes from the Tao Te Ching, and reflect on its message and enduring value.

286: On Paul Pelosi, gun violence, the world cup, Trump, and more Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

In the November 2022 edition of "five for five", the boys drink and review a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout from Guinness, then discuss five topics in five minutes each.

1. Gabby Giffords and the courage to fight gun violence. What is the "courage" here? Who is going around threatening people who oppose gun violence? None of the things her group are advocating for require any courage at all.

2. Qatar's World Cup. Why is it in Qatar to begin with? Where are all the woke opposing Qatar's human rights? And to add insult to injury, two days before the start they reverse their position and decide not to have beer in the stadium.

3. The Paul Pelosi story. In two months we get two weird stories about Paul Pelosi, and in neither case do we get the straight story from the media. What the heck is going on? And why the tyrannical insistence that we believe the first-day version of events, which almost always turn out to be wrong?

4. Candace Owens and The Greatest Lie Ever Sold. Once again, the media isn't playing it straight with us. It's entirely possible to believe that the officer murdered George Floyd without turning Floyd into a saint. So many elements of the story have been suppressed in the interest of a BLM narrative.

5. Trump is running for president. Will he make it to the election? Will he dominate the Republican primaries? Will his legal troubles catch up with him? The boys give their opinions and make predictions.

285: Hunter Biden Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review Glacial Drift, a spiced winter ale, then discuss the controversies surrounding Hunter Biden.

Hunter isn't really the issue. The question is whether the president of the United States has been compromised by foreign powers. It certainly looks that way. It seems that Joe is under the thumb of China and others.

What about the laptop? In hindsight, the old "this is Russian propaganda" thing seems to have "all the earmarks" of a cover-up, and both the FBI and the legacy media seem complicit.

Now it seems beyond dispute that Hunter used Joe's political connections to get lucrative deals, and kicked back some of the money to Joe, aka "the big guy."

The new GOP Congress may investigate it, but will anything come of it? Probably not.

The boys finish out the show with an installment of "Just Not Woke Enough."

284: Should we redraw state lines? Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review a 2-year-old bottle of Raison D'Extra, then discuss proposals to redraw state boundaries.

They start off with a review of federalism, and the idea that the country is a collection of states, not simply a mass of people, which is why tiny Rhode Island and sparsely populated Montana get as many senators as California.

What happens when residents of a state feel they don't fit in that state?

The idea is being tested in Oregon, where the conservative, agricultural residents of the majority of the state differ drastically from the urban liberals in Portland. They'd rather join up with Idaho.

A similar thing is going on in Maryland, where the conservative eastern and western ends of the state don't feel represented by the liberals in Annapolis.

But where does this end? Do county lines need to be redrawn? City lines? Neighborhoods?

The solution is not to keep redrawing lines, but to respect minority rights and making most political issues as local as possible.

283: Happy Thanksgiving Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

In this quick episode, the boys share their favorite Thanksgiving foods and thoughts about this quintessentially American holiday, and reflect on why it's important to be thankful and grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

282: Bail reform and going easier on criminals Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review Imperialis from Avery Brewing Company, then discuss bail reform.

The point of bail is to make sure that an accused person will appear at his court appearances. If you pay the bail and show up, you get the money back.

Unfortunately, bail has been set too high for many citizens, and they have to go through the ridiculous bail bonds process, which is a complete racket.

This has led some jurisdictions to eliminate cash bail in many cases. It's part of a larger movement that seeks to dial back police power, redefine crimes, and refuse to prosecute other crimes. Homeless camps are allowed to grow in our major cities. There's public defecation and urination. It's a horrible mess.

Bail does need to be reformed, but the liberal solution has been a disaster.

281: Cognitive Biases Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

The boys drink and review a fresh hop IPA from Stone Brewing, then discuss common biases in the way we think.

Cognitive biases are examples of ways in which our brains can point us down a non-rational path. But why do we have these biases? Why did they evolve?

Could it be that there are situations where it's better not to be rational?

The boys discuss as they review the following examples.

* Reactance

* The framing effect

* The availability heuristic

* The sunk cost fallacy

* Groupthink

* Declinism

* Self-serving bias

* The Placebo effect

* In-group bias

* The halo effect