Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

P&C drink and review Sierra Nevada's bottle-conditioned porter, then discuss Ayn Rand and objectivism with special guest Longinus. They quickly review the basic tenets of objectivism, then discuss how those ideas play out in three works: Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead, and Anthem. The boys discuss what Rand's ideas mean, and whether they're useful and applicable in the real world.

P&C drink and review a hazy IPA from Sam Adams, then do five topics in five minutes each. #1 - What's up with the Game Stop / WallStreetBets / Robinhood deal? #2 - Has the pill changed what women like in men? #3 - Will the Biden administration forgive student loans? #4 - Awards shows have become pointless #5 - What is right-wing?

P&C drink and review Pigweed's homebrewed winter warmer, then discuss executive orders. What is the function and purpose of an executive order? Is it a way to get around Congress? What are the limits? Is this one of the ways the imperial presidency has usurped the legislative function, or is it a valid power of the executive? The boys look at the history of this strange executive power and comment...

P&C drink and review Dirty Little Freak, a flavorful brown ale from DuClaw Brewery, then discuss the Enlightenment.  What was the Enlightenment, when did it happen, and what ideas did it produce? Why has it come under fire from some quarters today? Should we value the Enlightenment, or is it just another example of racism and white privilege? 

P&C drink and review Sierra Nevada's Celebration Fresh Hop IPA, then talk about totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and fascism. Following up, they evaluate Rod Dreher's "soft totalitarianism" from "Live Not by Lies." P&C think Dreher has the label wrong. We're at a cross-roads. Is there time (or the will) to stop the growing tech-inspired soft authoritarianism?

P&C drink and review Old Speckled Hen, then talk about ACAB.  Is the central intent of policing to surveil, terrorize, capture and kill marginalized populations, specifically black folk? There are people in our society who are promoting that view. The media, politicians and similar cretins keep feeding us a narrative that we have an epidemic of white cops killing unarmed black people. Is it true?

P&C drink Southern Belle, an imperial brown ale, then discuss problems in science. It would be nice to believe that we can rely on science. Scientists are supposed to be dispassionate, purely rational people who follow the evidence where it leaves. P&C call BS. Science is as influenced by politics, ideology, ambition, egos, trends and fads as anything else. So how are we supposed to "trust the sci...

P&C drink and review a Mexican stout, then discuss Mao's cultural revolution. They review some of the basic history, and then explore whether there are similarities between the cultural revolution and modern wokeness. And in fact ... there are. Weaponizing students. Standards that are so vague and ever-changing that you can never know if you're in or out. Overthrowing everything that seems outdate...

P&C discuss the Georgia elections and the prospect of Democrats controlling the Senate, then address the big story -- the attack on the Capitol. There are a few important points to be made. First, this kind of violence needs to be condemned in no uncertain terms. Second, Trump's behavior and language was completely unacceptable. Third, the long-term implications of this event are hard to predict,...

The boys drink and review a Kolsch from Sky Blue Brewing, then discuss the influence of an old sociology paper by Cloward and Piven. These 60s-era "intellectuals" lamented that not enough eligible people had signed up for welfare benefits. They proposed overwhelming the welfare system by deploying an army of activists and troublemakers to (1) get more people to sign up for benefits, and...