Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

The boys drink and review Phantasm Double IPA from Elder Pine brewery, then discuss all the other ways humanity might come to an end -- other than global warming.

Here's a list of other ways the world might come to an end, starting with natural causes.

* Asteroid Impact

* Supervolcanic Eruption

* Gamma-Ray Burst

* Magnetic Pole Reversal

* Global Pandemic

* Solar Superflare

* Going back into the ice age

* Loss of pollinators or other essential critters

* Methane Clathrate Release

But that's not all. There are also human causes.

* Nuclear War

* Artificial Intelligence

* Biological or Chemical Warfare

* Environmental Collapse

* Technological Catastrophe

* Economic Collapse

* Resource Wars

* Cyber Warfare

* Collapse in human fertility

* Lack of confidence in the system

* Universal Islam or Liberalism

The boys drink and review White Chocolate Dream Blonde Stout by Black Beauty Brewery, then (starting at 3:43) discuss the history of blacks and the GOP.

The Republican Party (GOP) started with the explicit intention of stopping the spread of slavery in America. The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves.

Democrats have a horrible record on votes that affect black people. Most Democrats votes against the 13th amendment (to free slaves). No Democrats voted for the 14th amendment (making freed slaves citizens). No Democrats voted for the 15th amendment (giving slaves the right to vote).

The first black Senators (in 1870) were Republicans. The first black Representatives (in 1871) were Republicans. The first 23 black Representatives were Republicans. The first black Democrat Senator was in 1993!

Democrats founded the KKK. Democrats started Jim Crow laws. By percentage, more Republicans than Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Given all this, why do blacks predominantly vote for Democrats?

P.S. -- Crowhill is not a Republican.

The boys drink and review St. Bernardus Ale, then discuss the obesity epidemic.

Why is it that videos from the 1920s up to fairly recent times show mostly slim, fit people, but everybody at Walmart is fat? What has happened?

According to Dr. Peter Attia, the standard American diet is a solution to a business and marketing problem, in four parts.

1. Quantity. Too many people were undernourished and we need to produce calories at scale

2. Cost. We don't want food to cost too much

3. Storage. It has to be non-perishable and portable

4. Taste. It has to taste good

We've definitely solved that problem, but we've created another. About 43 percent of U.S. adults are obese.

What happened? P&C review the stats and the possible explanations.

The boys drink and review Hare Chaser Grapefruit IPA from Flying Dog brewery, then discuss the ignorance of most protesters.

You would think that if a person is willing to take time off of school or work, jeopardize their education or job, or their future, to clash with police, to protest an injustice -- that they might know something about the topic!

The Ben Franklin Players come on the show to illustrate a common experience with modern protesters.

When a pro-Palestinian protester says "from the river to the sea," odds are good he doesn't know which river or which sea.

Then we have to consider the different treatment protesters get from law enforcement.

Damage public property, steal and burn the U.S. flag and assault police officers? That's free speech.

Pray outside an abortion clinic? Jail.

P&C discuss the protest culture and our response.

#1 -- (2:58) Is it even possible that the Secret Service is as incompetent as they were in Pennsylvania? The security failures were epic and strain credulity. Could competent, trained professionals be this bad?

The boys review some of the emerging details and wonder what in the heck went wrong. Was the Secret Service complicit in the attempt, or were they impossibly incompetent?

And what about the DEI component? What were those short women doing trying to protect 6'3" Trump?

#2 -- (17:40) Is Ben Shapiro right about Social Security? Ben argues that the program was never designed to support people for 20 years of retirement. As life expectancy increases, shouldn't the retirement age?

The boys are big fans of Shapiro, but aren't convinced of his argument for several reasons. Listen in.

#3 -- (23:18) Pigweed calls BS on the "my life is hard" narrative. Everyone these days has to have a persecution narrative. Society is expecting too much. It's so hard. "Everybody told me I couldn't be a scientist." Baloney.

#4 -- (27:38) Two views of technology: it will kill us, or it will usher in a golden age. This reflects two instincts that are necessary for humans -- the need to explore and find new things, and the need to protect against contagion and unknown threats.

#5 -- (33:20) Everybody wants to save the world but nobody wants to do the dishes. Sometimes you hear people say they want to do work that will make the world a better place. Do they have the competence? Do they have the necessary knowledge? The world is a complicated place. If they can't keep their own house neat and orderly, what makes them think they can make the world neat and orderly?

The boys end the show with a letter to the show from Inigo Montoya, who accuses P&C of being "raw doggers."

The boys drink and review Pigweed's Seal Team 6 -- a homebrewed Black IPA -- then discuss eugenics.

Humans have been breeding animals and plants for a very long time. Most of the foods we eat are the result of thousands of years of careful breeding by farmers, and "man's best friend" was bred from wild dogs.

Why shouldn't we do the same with humans?

Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin who was very influenced by The Origin of Species, proposed just such a plan and called it "eugenics." Darwinism convinced Galton that an organism’s most important characteristics must be biological rather than shaped by environment or experience.

The idea caught fire with the intellectual elite. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Theodore Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger and Alexander Graham Bell all promoted the idea to one degree or another.

The Supreme Court even weighed in. In upholding a Virginia law that permitted compulsory sterilization of individuals thought unfit to reproduce, Oliver Wendell Holmes said in Buck v. Bell, "three generations of imbeciles are enough."

38 States adopted some form of eugenics laws and more than 60,000 Americans were sterilized without their consent.

Adolf Hitler read about this and thought, "gee, what a good idea."

After the horrors of World War II, the west turned away from eugenics. It still stands as a reminder that fine-sounding ideas approved by intelligent people can still be horribly stupid.

The boys drink and review Crowhill's homemade gin, then give a broad overview of liquors.

P&C discuss ...

Fermentation vs. distillation

The history of liquor

Liquor vs. liquer and fortified wines

What "proof" means

White vs. colored liquors

The main types of liquor

- Vodka

- Gin

- Tequila

- Rum

- Whiskey (vs. whisky)

- Brandy

The science of getting drunk

The science of hangovers

... plus a few anecdotes and common myths about liquor.

Does red wine need to breathe before you drink it?

Does the shape of a glass make a difference?

Can "hair of the dog" cure a hangover?

The boys drink and review Brooklyn Brewery's Sunny Pale Ale, then discuss Star Wars and the enduring influence of the hero's journey.

The Star Wars movies struck quite a chord with the public. On the one hand, it seems like silly kid's stuff. On the other hand, Pigweed's literature professors referred to Star Wars as a classic example of the hero pattern, or quest journey.

The lives of Jesus, Moses, King Arthur, Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and many others follow a very similar pattern.

Their stories follow a very predictable pattern that includes the call to adventure, resistance to the call, the role of the mentor, facing a challenge, winning the prize, then bringing that achievement back to the people.

There are other background elements to the life of the hero, like a suspicious birth, the absense of parents, some connection to royalty and maybe divinity.

Star Wars follows this myth in each individual episode, and across episodes.

Some people have said that Star Wars has abandoned this pattern in the newest iteration of Star Wars -- the Acolyte. Others have gone so far as to suggest that The Acolyte has turned the entire myth on its head.

Pigweed and Crowhill discuss the role of this pattern, and then, with some help from a letter from Nephew Will, evaluate some of the radical claims about The Acolyte.

P&C drink and review a summer ale, then discuss OnlyFans.

The site serves as a medium for paid content. It's not only about sex. It can be used by artists, musicians, authors, and so on. But it's largely about sex.

There are some possible benefits to women who choose to do "sex work" on OnlyFans. There are no pimps. They can set their own boundaries. They're at less risk for STDs. And it's possible to make a lot of money.

But the possible benefits are outweighed by many negatives.

Once a woman has agreed to do this work, she's lost an important part of her dignity, and it's hard to go back. They start to think "oh well, I guess I’m this kind of girl now.”

While women can set their own boundaries, they will be constantly pressured to do more.

The woman who does this kind of work on OnlyFans becomes a sexual object, and she will be treated that way. Sexual harassment is part of the job, and it gets very ugly. You’re no longer a person. You're a product that exists to satisfy strangers sexually. It’s dehumanizing.

Stalkers are a real problem.

There is a false sense of privacy, since the content is allegedly behind a paywall. But it won't stay private. People will find a way to download it and post it for free on the Internet.

A woman's future plans for career and family will be negatively affected, and it will affect the woman's ability to be intimate with a real person.

Time as an OnlyFans star is very limited. There’s an endless stream of younger, hotter women ready to replace you. You decline in value as you age.

High-value men don’t want to date sex workers. No man wants to share his wife. And it's already hard enough to get married.

The promise of OnlyFans is a delusion.

In addition to the negative effect on women, OnlyFans has a negative effect on society. It normalizes sex work, lowers the collective morality of society, and traps young women in a dead-end career.

Agenda 47 is a series of policy initiatives Trump intends to enact if elected. In the telling of one hair on fire liberal commentator, Agenda 47 includes ...

* massive deportation

* death sentence for human trafficking

* close dept of education

* put prayer in school

* close race based advantage programs

* end affordable care act

* ban gender affirming care for adults and children

* term limits for congee

* investigate Biden crime family

* pardon Jan 6ers

* increase juvenile sentences, strengthen immunity for police, deploy national guard in woke cities

* reassessment NATO

* Muslim travel ban

* Freedom cities

* End federal EV mandates

* Drill of gas and oil domestically

* increase tariffs on Chinese goods

* extend 2017 tax cuts

* extend right to conceal, carry

* get Europe to pay back money we gave to Ukraine

* remove federal subsidies from woke Universities

The boys review each of these items to determine if they're as scary as the frightened liberals imagine.

They also discuss Joe Biden's debate meltdown and what might happen next for Democrats.

P&C start the show by drinking and reviewing Eliot Ness Amber Lager from Great Lakes Brewing Company.