Beer and Conversation Podcast

The boys drink and review Flannel Fest, a dunkel from Sam Adams, then wonder whether our electronic devices are spying on us.

There are levels of spying. A pixel phone is always listening to you because it has to be ready to respond when you say “Okay Google.” The question is not whether it’s listening, but whether it’s recording what you say.

A lot of people their phones are spying on them because they talk with friends about some topic, they then see ads on that topic. Is that confirmation bias in action, or is it actually happening?

The tech platforms claim they are not doing this, but there are companies that claim they are doing it, and are trying to sell that service to advertisers.

It’s not just the phones. Video doorbells are spying on us. The maps we use in our cars are spying on us. Health devices are spying on us.

The boys discuss the positives and negatives of these services.

For some other information on the same topic, try these.

Mark Hurst: “Even more devices are spying on you.”

Skeptoid: “How Your Driving Is Being Tracked”

Joseph Cox: “Here’s the Pitch Deck for ‘Active Listening’ Ad Targeting

The boys discuss the origins of the Oktoberfest custom, then drink and review a couple Oktoberfest beers. They discuss and explain the differences between three different styles: Marzen, Oktoberfest, and Festbier.

In Germany, only 6 breweries are allowed to brew authentic Oktoberfest beer. The boys drink an authentic Oktoberfest beer from Hacker-Pschorr and an American Oktoberfest beer from Sam Adams.

The German Oktoberfest beers have moved more towards the “festbier” style, which is less intense and less malty than a Marzen. American Oktoberfest beers generally stick with the Marzen style.

In general, the German Oktoberfest beers are going to be a little lighter in body and alcohol than the American versions.

With special guest Longinus the boys drink and review a “cold IPA” by Jailbreak Brewing, then discuss a short novella.

Crowhill starts with a brief bio of the author, then the boys review the structure and plot of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

The book was written at a time when large numbers of the so-called intellectual elites were enamoured of communism.

The novel starts on Mr. Jones’ farm. He’s not the best or kindest of farmers, and the animals decide to rebel. They take over the farm with some high ideals.

All animals are equal, and they don’t serve humans.

One of the big themes in the book is the appeal to “equality,” but that doesn’t last. (It never does.) The pigs quickly take over leadership and become “more equal than others.”

The pigs go on to break all the original commandments of the commune, but they maintain their authority.

It’s an interesting allegory for the Soviet Union and other communist states, which pretend to believe in equality, but never practice it.

The boys drink and review an IPA from Cigar City, then discuss the communist manifesto.

With special guest Longinus, Pigweed and Crowhill review the famous manifesto, starting with a brief bio of Marx and Engels.

In order to understand Marx and Engels, you have to think about the context — the industrial revolution and the horrible circumstances of workers in those days.

The boys start with giving the manifesto an honest shot. What does it say, and what does it mean?

Marx says that all of history is the story of class struggle: the oppressor vs. the oppressed. There are two groups: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. There is no bond between men but naked self interest. Capitalism is about profit at any cost.

After giving the document the fairest reading they can, the boys move into criticism.

Longinus and Pigweed have a few points they want to defend. Crowhill despises the whole thing.

The boys work through the main premises of the manifesto and tear them to shreds.

P&C drink and review an English pale ale from Guilford Brewing, then discuss Matt Walsh’s new comedy, “Am I Racist?”

The movie is a combination of a documentary and a comedy — if you consider Walsh’s incredibly dry humor funny. It’s often Office-style cringe humor. Walsh has a gift for allowing situations to get incredibly awkward and letting them play out.

Here’s the premise: Walsh goes on a journey to discover if he’s as racist as the race experts claim. In the process he gets certified as a DEI expert!

He also sneaks his way into a “Race to Dinner” event, where “DEI experts” help white women deal with their racism.

Walsh has several interviews with leading DEI “experts,” exposing the wackiness of the whole race-hustling, DEI-grifter, “anti-racist” perspective.

After talking to the DEI “experts,” he asks some ordinary folk about race. The responses are quite illuminating.

The movie is definitely worth seeing. Don’t expect too much humor, but it does a very good job at deflating the whole racist, race-hustling industry. You’ll never think of “DEI” the same way again.

The boys drink and review one of Pigweed’s homebrews then discuss censorship (starting about 4:25).

There seems to be an increase in censorship around the world.

We seem to have lost our understanding of why free speech is important. P&C review.

– In the sciences, if people can’t bring up new ideas, you get stuck. You need a free marketplace of ideas.

– Free speech acts as a restraint on government power.

The governor of California recently signed a bill outlawing “deep fake” videos that “misinform.” Since when do we trust the government to decide what is true and false information?

In the UK, Scotland Yard is going after citizens (maybe even American citizens!) who say things the government doesn’t like.

The censorship industrial complex has evolved to the extend that they now have new words for us. Misinformation. Disinformation. Malinformation.

Some legislation wants to stop the spread of “hate.” But who defines what hate is?

What has happened to make censorship such an issue today?

– Technology allows it to spread faster.
– Government has access to new tools.

P&C review all the issues and come to some clear conclusions. Take a listen.

The boys drink and review Troegs Graffiti Highway IPA, then discuss the movie “Her” and the idea of having a romantic, emotional relationship with AI.

“Her” was made in 2013, but many of the concepts are still applicable today — even more than they were in 2013!

Joaquin Phoenix plays the lead character (Theodore Twombly), who decides to use a new AI-powered operating system, which allows him to organize his life, but also becomes a daily companion and confidante. The AI (Samantha) becomes part of his life, and he slowly falls in love with her/it — and, if you can believe it, she/it with him.

The movie challenges our concepts of love and personality at a fundamental level.

Eventually, Theodore finds out that Samantha (the AI) is having a similar relationship with 8,000 other people. He’s heartbroken, because one element of human love is exclusive.

The movie is worth watching, but P&C evaluate how the insights from “Her” apply to modern technology, and where we seem to be going with sexbots and AI agents and so on.

Ex Machina is another film that addresses some of the same themes.

So … Can you fall in love with AI? You’d better watch out, because yes, you can.

The boys drink and review an English trappist ale, then discuss some strange news in the world of woke.

It used to be that corporations were Republican, buttoned-up, and conservative. Recently, corporations are at the forefront of woke stupidity.

About the time of Obama’s presidency, there was a huge switch. The Democrats used to be the part of the poor and the working class. They were the party of peace. Republicans were the darling of the corporations.

Now it’s the opposite.

After FLOVID, DEI and woke BS went into overdrive in the corporate world. Inclusive advertising, pronoun policies, LGBYIOASDF parades, an over-emphasis on climate issues, ….

It goes beyond the individual corporations. Blackrock and other investment firms sometimes set the agenda and corporations have to say “yes sir,” and do as they’re told.

It makes sense that Starbucks would go woke. How did Harley Davidson, John Deere, Tractor Supply Company, Jack Danield, and Lowes fall for this nonsense?

Do they know who their customer are?

The boys drink and review Snakeden Saison by 7 Locks Brewing, then review their impressions of The Sound of Hope.

The story starts in Possum Trot, Texas, when Donna Martin is grieving the death of her mother. She feels a calling from God to help some of the children in the foster care system. Her husband, Bishop Martin, reluctantly comes along, but then he decides they’re not only going to adopt — they’re going to take the hardest cases.

Bishop Martin does a deep study on what the Bible says about adoption, and starts preaching on it. This starts a movement in the church and this small church eventually adopts all 77 of the kids out of the foster care system.

This is a heart-warming, inspirational movie, and the best part of it is that it’s based on a true story.

The boys drink and review Founders Vanilla Porter, then discuss the slow-motion self-immolation of England as the island cowtows to woke nonsense.

Why is this happening? How did the west get to a spot where we’re so sold on multiculturalism that we excuse migrant crimes and crack down on the people who point them out?

When a violent, disrespectful Syrian boy threatens to rape two young girls, he’s the good guy, and the older brother who stood up for his sisters is the bad guy.

When the police cover up grooming gangs, that’s good and right, but the people who don’t want their wives, sisters, and daughters to get raped are the bad guys.

The idea that the government cares about and respects the will of the people has been revealed as a total farce. The agenda of the elite prevails and the people need to suck it up and go along with it.

There’s a conspiracy against the will of the people. An unholy alliance of the government, media, courts, police, celebrities, entertainment …. They collectively gaslight, intimidate, and insult the people to push their agenda.

If you criticize their agenda, you go to jail.

If Hamas has a violent demonstration, that’s okay. If English patriots have a rally, they’re right-wing extremists who should be hunted down, fined, jailed, and destroyed.

The media won’t report on it. It’s only the alternative media that tells us what’s going on.

The boys drink and review 2 award-winning beers from Heavy Seas, then special guest Longinus joins them at the bar to review Pedro Paramo, a Mexican novella. This is part of the P&C “shortcut to the classics” series.

Pedro Paramo is a confusing book. The structure, timing, the use of punctuation, who’s speaking, and even whether people are alive or dead is never quite certain.

The book is named after the central character, Pedro Paramo, who is a powerful and tyrannical landowner in the town of Comala. He’s also the father of Juan Preciado, the novel’s primary protagonist, who is sent to Comala by Dolores Preciado, his dying mother, to get what they’re owed.

On his way to find Comala, Juan meets Abundio Martinez, another of Pedro’s illegitimate sons.

Comala is a ghost town in two senses. Not only is there almost no one there, it’s full of ghosts.

Rulfo’s work is an example of magical realism, where seemingly impossible things happen and are accepted by the characters as if nothing special is happening.

The story pursues themes like death and the supernatural, memory and time, despair and hoplelessness, power and corruption, religion and guilt, isolation and loneliness. The themes combine to create a haunting exploration of human existence, where the boundaries between life and death, past and present, are fluid.

This is an interesting but difficult book. If you give it a try, plan to read it twice.

Did the Democrats provoke the assassination attempt against Donald Trump with their over-the-top language? They repeatedly called him Hitler, a threat to democracy, a dictator, that this will be the last election, etc.? Did that inspire the Trump shooter?

It’s easy to imagine. Everyone has had the sophomoric argument about going back in time and killing Hitler before he took power. If you’re faced with an actual Hitler — right here and now — what are you going to do?

Aside from that, how could this have possibly happened? Why did the Secret Service fall down on the job?

The level of incompetence demonstrated by the Secret Service is almost unbelievable. Was it all just a big cluster frack, or was the Secret Service in on it?

What’s the role of DEI in this disaster? Was the Secret Service encumbered by a bunch of unqualified DEI hires?

The head of the Secret Service had a mission to promote women. That was the chip on her shoulder. Did that become more important than fulfilling the actual mission of the Secret Service?

This level of buffoonery and clown-town behavior is close to impossible. It’s almost necessary to believe it was a setup.

But then there’s Hanlon’s razor: never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity and incompetence.

P&C drink and review Crabtown Classic, a local Vienna Lager from Jailbreak Brewing, then discuss Julian Assange.

The Assange case brings out the contrast between freedom of the press and national security.

Assange had a libertarian streak and was suspicious of authority — especially governmental authority. He believed information should be free, particularly when it exposes the misdeeds of governments.

Many believe Assange was supporting whistleblowers, and that his case was a test case for freedom of the press.

Some of the things Assange revealed allegedly betrayed “sources and methods” and compromised national security.

Assange’s prolonged legal battle over extradition from the UK to the US raises concerns about fair trial standards, the potential for politically motivated charges, and the treatment of whistleblowers and journalists under international law.

Is Assange a whistleblower deserving of protection, or a criminal who recklessly endangered lives? The debate is central to the case and reflects broader societal questions about the ethics of leaking classified information.

P&C drink and review a Pretzel Wheat Beer from Aldus Brewery, then discuss how “the left” has changed over the last few decades.

In many areas, the left of the 60s and 70s has been turned on its head by the modern, woke left.

The contrasts become clear when you think about the attitude towards …

• Authority and government
• War
• Drugs
• Free speech
• Multinational corporations
• The working class
• Individual rights
• The rule of law
• Civil liberties
• Free markets
• Individualism

Wokeism has replaced the liberalism of the 60s. The woke require lockstep conformity to a far-left perspective on race, gender, sexuality (and maybe climate, and vaccines), or we’ll ruin your life. There’s no individual rights. There’s no free speech. You must comply.

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