Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

P&C drink and review Geralt's Gold, a no-alcohol Helles brew, then discuss how our views of children have changed.

In the latter half of the 20th century our culture turned away from the previous "seen and not heard" attitude and tried to be more interested in what children say. We also started to be obsessed with childrens' feelings and their self esteem.

P&C don't remember anybody caring about their feelings, their self esteem, or whether they were anxious when they were young. It's as if we're teaching children to have mental problems.

In the modern environment, the most unruly kid sets the agenda for the classroom because the teachers and principals can't do anything to them.

This has evolved into the modern "gender" confusion, which seems to have no end of foolishness. Now we have "gender minotaurs" and other ridiculous concepts.

But it's not just "gender." The anti-straw hysteria was invented by a nine year old who made up phony statistics that the media swallowed whole. And then he did a TED talk.

Nobody thought to check it. I guess the children were leading.

The boys drink and review a lime and salt no-alcohol brew from Dos Equis, then discuss Chris Lunsford, who some people think is named Oliver Anthony.

Mr. Lunsford recently appeared on both Jordan Peterson's and Joe Rogan's podcast. Pigweed and Crowhill try to determine if Mr. Lunsford is the man people think he is -- a simple, authentic man of the people.

He seems to be. He has a disdain for commercial success, a love for people, and a desire for his music to be more of a ministry than a monetary venture.

Along with special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Sam Adams' Just the Haze, a no-alcohol IPA, then review some short stories by Kurt Vonnegut.

"The Foster Portfolio" has an investment advisor who finds a client who appears to be poor, but secretly has enormous wealth, which he has no interest in. It examines one man's struggles with his moral failings.

"All the King's Horses" is about a horrifying chess game played with real people's lives, including a Colonel's wife and two sons. It's a parable about parents' choices in sending their children off to war.

"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" is clever and fun story about a dog who is smarter than Thomas Edison.

"Welcome to the Monkey House" is a futuristic story about an over-populated planet where society takes extreme measures to reduce the number of people. But then Billy the Poet comes along and throws a wrench in the works.

"Harrison Bergeron" is a brilliant anticipation of modern nonsense about "equity." The only way to make everyone equal is to make the smart people stupid, the pretty people ugly, and the talented just as dull as everyone else.

Along with special guest Longinus, the boys review an Amber "non-alcoholic brew" from O'Douls, then discuss planned cities.

Pigweed was curious who was secretly buying lots of land near Travis Air Force Base. The fear was it was the Chinese, but it turns out to be Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires. They want to create an "ideal city" -- because they know best about everything.

There is, of course, a long history of people believing they could design the perfect city. It's not an encouraging track record.

Longinus starts off the show with the development and history of cities and city planning.

Such planning was usually a response to the organic growth of the city rather than a pre-emptive plan to design it from scratch, although there are exceptions. Philadelphia, Williamsburg, and Washington, D.C., were all planned cities.

Crowhill reviews a list of nine planned cities that turned into disasters.

* Brasilia

* Chandigarh

* Ordos

* Magnitogorsk

* Pruitt-Igoe

* Home

* Palmanova

* New Delhi

* Milton Keynes

* Arcosanti

* Skopje

* Jonestown

And when it comes to planning, you also have Homeowners' Associations!

The boys drink and review a light copper near bear from Athletic Brewing, then discuss the GOP debates.

The participants were Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, and Asa Hutchinson.

The candidates are all so far behind Donald Trump at this point that it was almost like a debate to see who wanted to be Trump's VP, except that Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, and Mike Pence were clearly competing for the anti/never-Trump lane.

Vivek is widely seen as the winner, but Crowhill wasn't all that impressed with his performance. He was a little too silly, and he was legitimately criticized for not having any experience.

DeSantis was surprisingly low key, but did well.

Pence tried to defend his actions on Jan. 6 and to push himself out in front by being very aggressive, but it didn't do much for him.

Haley scored some good zingers on Ramaswamy and helped herself some, but she's still way behind.

Scott, Christie, Burgum and Hutchinson didn't distinguish themselves.

P&C also discuss the elephant not in the room -- Donald Trump. Is there any hope that we can get somebody other than Trump on the Republican ticket?

The boys drink and review Partake IPA, a no-alcohol beer, then discuss game theory.

Game theory is an attempt to express the calculations that go on in a game as mathematics. It makes certain assumptions.

1. The game has to include multiple players

2. The players must interact with each other

3. There needs to be a reward

4. You assume the players act rationally

5. You assume the players act in their own personal interest

Those things are not always true in real life.

One goal of game theory is to figure out what the best choice is no matter what the other player does. This is called the "Nash equilibrium."

Two common games in game theory are The Prisoner's Dilemma and The Ultimatum.

"The Ultimatum" game shows that people don't always act rationally in their decisions.

The boys drink and review a non-alcoholic black ale from Hairless Dog, then discuss cracks in the intersectional coalition.

When the Democrats abandoned the working class as their primary consituency, they decided to try to create a coalition out of all the misfits and complainers. People who think they're "oppressed."

They allegedly form a "coalition." All for one and all that. But the truth has turned out quite differently. Members of the coalition aren't sticking together.

. Gays don't like the trans agenda.

. Muslims aren't a fan of gay marriage or pride month.

. Not all Latinos want open borders.

. Not all black people are against gun rights.

The alleged coalition is built on sand.

352 Pigweed quizzes Crowhill on the Bible

The boys drink and review Penn's Best NA, then discuss non-alcoholic beers. How they're made, why anyone would want them, etc.

Then Pigweed tries to stump Crowhill on some Bible trivia.

Starting with the National Geographic's "50 Influential Figures of the Bible," then moving on to some internet Bible trivia, Pigweed tries to find the holes in Crowhill's biblical knowledge.

The boys drink and review Sam Adams' Wicked Easy Light and Hazy Session IPA, then discuss the Manhatten Project and the recent film, Oppenheimer.

In 1938 some German physicists discovered nuclear fision, which could potentially become a chain reaction, which could potentially become a bomb. The Americans and the Brits were scared the Germans would make an atomic bomb first, so they worked together to beat the Germans to the punch.

Col. (later General) Lesley Groves ran the project along with Robert Oppenheimer.

It wasn't just the physics. They had to coordinate a huge manufacturing operation, plus the enrichment of the plutonium and uranium. The whole effort was about the size of the U.S. auto industry.

After an overview of the Manhattan project, P&C discuss the "Oppenheimer" movie, which they both liked, but found it a bit long.

The boys drink and review Guinness and port, then discuss some show updates.

The boys suggested that if we rush into electric vehicles to make the world safer and better for the environment, perhaps we should ensure that EVs will do that. Of course they don't. And they're a serious fire hazard.

It turns out Canada sucks even worse than the boys had suggested. They're making it easier and easier to qualify for the "medical assistance in dying" program. Pretty soon you'll be able to kill yourself just because you're a Canadian.

After a story about a dispute on a plane, where a large passenger was impinging on the space of another passenger, Pigweed suggested charging passengers by their weight. New New Zealand Airlines has opened the door.

Italy has decided that P&C were right about a Chinese-built "new silk road" and now they regret the "villanous decision" to join China's belt and road initiative.

P&C predicted that kids who have been through "gender transitions" will start suing their parents and doctors. It's happening, and it's delicious.

In one episode the boys discussed a goofy Valentine's Day show where people were "sending out their love" to themselves. Now we're seeing stories of women marrying themselves.