Cuties is a French film that shows the tensions of a young girl trying to navigate two worlds: the conservative Muslim life of her family, and the contemporary world in France. It's a good story and, from one perspective has a good message, but it does go too far in sexualizing these little girls. 

P&C summarize the movie, then give their commentary.

The culture produces the language, but the language then becomes a vehicle for continuing the culture. Does the structure of a language limit the way people think about the world?

P&C discuss Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which has been called the first existentialist novel.

The main character is smart and well educated, but he's paralyzed by introspection and self doubt.

In part one, we hear the older man explaining himself. In part two, we go back to an event in his earlier life that may have contributed to his present state.

The book's themes are timely: they relate to the idea of the perfectibility of man, and the nature / nurture debate.

With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the left has gone apocalyptic and Republicans are trying to say "never mind" about the things they said re: Merrick Garland.

While RBG became a feminist icon later in life, feminists didn't like her at first, for two reasons: first, her friendship with Scalia, and second, the fact that she transfered to Columbia to accommodate her husband.

P&C review the political circus surrounding her replacement and talk generally about the Supreme Court.

The unfortunate truth is that some of our neighbors are psychopaths. According to the scientists, sociopaths can be cured, but psychopaths cannot. They challenge the idea that we should only punish people who have moral agency, since they are unable to reform. But some of them have been arrested hundreds of times. They're incorrigible criminals. What are we supposed to do with them?

P&C drink and review Hawaii Five Ale, a blonde ale with lots of fruit additions.

Voice recognition and facial recognition have come along faster than the boys anticipated. The new technologies offer lots of new possibilities, but there are also new privacy concerns as a result.

Are we on a path to blanket, continuous surveillance?

The boys discuss some of the positive aspects and potential benefits of facial recognition, as well as some of the concerns.

P&C recently listened to a few interviews with Bret Weinstein: one regarding the Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson debate, the other regarding Bret's conversation with Richard Dawkins. P&C review some of the key points, and add their own evaluation.

According to Weinstein, progress was made in the Harris / Peterson debate, but there's room for more.

Although Weinstein praises Dawkins for The Selfish Gene, he claims Dawkins made a mistake that has held back evolutionary science for decades.

In the mid 80s and early 90s, workers at several daycare centers in Canada and the US were accused of ritual satanic abuse of children. P&C review the cocktail of social trends that led to this madness, where hundreds of people were falsely accused of horrible crimes on the basis of "recovered" memories.

Investigators asked children leading questions, basically encouraging them to come up with outlandish stories. Many lives were destroyed as a result of this hysteria.

P&C review Double Duckpin from Union Brewing, then talk about grammar mistakes that even smart people make, plus a few others.

"I could care less" vs. "I couldn't care less."

That vs. which. Irregardless. Who and whom. Shoo in. Sleight of hand. Home in vs. hone in. Affect vs. effect. Misuse of apostrophes and quote marks. Bated breath. Accept vs. except. Insure, assure, ensure. Whet your appetite. Must've, should've, would've, could've. Plus many more.

Labor day started with a one-day strike in New York in 1882, and became an official day to celebrate workers under Grover Cleveland. P&C evaluate the development and idea of labor unions.

P&C are generally on the politically conservative side of things, but still like the idea of labor unions for several reasons: (1) as a counter-balance to management, (2) to set standards for the profession, (3) to train the next generation of skilled workers.