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Author: Crowhill

132: Lockdown, take 2

P&C drink and review Gaffel’s Kolsch, then discuss the lockdown. Was it worth it?

What was the original purpose of locking us all in our homes? How did we get into this weird situation in the first place? Why did we allow it to go so long? What were the consequences, and the unintended consequences?

In making this unprecedented decision, did anyone count the costs of the lockdown? Apparently not. It seems that the allegedly free governments of the west saw that China got away with it and decided to give it a try. To their surprise (and glee?), it worked.

The lockdown was a one-size fits all response to a disease that was known to affect demographic groups very differently. It was a hammer solution to a tweezer problem.

Think of the damage that’s been done to our culture as a result of the lockdown. The media is in cahoots with the government, promoting one story and suppressing another. We’ve accepted the idea that there’s an orthodoxy of thought, and it’s infiltrated science. Big tech, big government and media are all in a conspiracy to shoot down dissent.

P&C discuss these issues, then review the lockdown from three perspectives: what it’s done to freedom, health and the economy.

131: Biden’s first 100 days

The boys drink and review Spaten’s Optimator — a delicious dopplebock from Germany — then discuss Biden’s first 100 days in office. How has he done?

While there are some decent, or even positive points, the overall rating is poor.

Pigweed and Crowhill discuss Joe’s sharp left turn, his oversight of the vaccine program, his spending proposals, his cowardice in the face of the teacher’s union, his mismanagement of the border, his foreign policy, climate issues, social justice, police reform, accusing the United States of racism …. Biden seems on track to be Jimmy Carter 2, or worse.

130: The Hound of the Baskervilles

P&C drink and review an IPA from Mully’s Brewery in Southern Maryand, then — with special guest Longinus — review the classic horror / mystery novel featuring the world’s most famous detective. 

The boys review the story of the spectral hound (with spoilers) and evaluate Conan Doyle’s writing style, as well as his well-known characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. What kind of a man was Sherlock Holmes? And what kind of a relationship did he have with Watson? 

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a classic tale, full of mystery,  romance, intrigue and horror, and a good introduction to these famous characters. We hope this short episode gives you a taste to dig further into the affairs of the man who made 221B Baker Street famous.

129: The hero quest pattern

The boys drink and review an imperial red ale from Mully’s Brewery, then discuss the hero quest pattern and how it applies to different stories.

The common elements of the hero quest include …

  • An unusual birth,
  • Separated from father / mother, sent to live with aunt / uncle,
  • A call to Adventure,
    • Sometimes from an animal, which symbolizes our gut instincts
    • Sometimes from a wizard, or spiritual guide
    • sometimes it requires leaving the influence of your family, or your mother,
  • Leaves the familiar world.
  • At the boundary of familiar and unfamiliar, the hero encounters the threshold guardian — often his shadow.
  • Goes into strange and threatening lands where he might fight monsters to find the hidden potentials.
  • Death and rebirth — old self dies, new self emerges with new strength and purpose

They see the pattern in the stories of Moses, Krishna and Mithridates. (They wanted to add Jesus and Buddha, but there wasn’t time.) Then they discuss the larger issue of patterns and archetypes.

What’s the origin of this hero quest pattern, and why do so many compelling stories follow it? What does the hero quest say about each of our lives? Where are these archetypes from, and how do they play out in society?

128: Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli's The PrinceThe boys drink and review Holy Roller, a hazy IPA, and talk about Niccolo Machiavelli, the infamous author of The Prince.

Do the ends justify the means? (And did Machiavelli mean that?)

The boys discuss Machiavelli’s historical context, the work for which he is mostly known, and the meaning and application of the term “Machiavellian.”

Machiavelli satirizes the classic view of virtues, espoused by Cicero. Those virtues might be nice, he says, but they won’t keep you in power.

The Prince is contrary to both Roman and Christian values, and was almost scandalous in its time.

127: The Beer Episode

In which Pigweed and Crowhill, long-time homebrewers, talk about beer for 40 minutes.

They start with hop classifications, and review Pigweed’s 3 categories of hops

  • Tobacco / Earthy (Fuggle, Mt. Hood, Northern Brewer, Saaz)
    • Even skunky
  • Piney (Chinook, Northern Brewer, Simcoe)
    • Resins and stickiness
  • Fruity
    • Grapefruit
    • Tropical fruit?

About what about cold beer? Why is it so important to drink beer cold? For much of history, beer was drunk warm, or at least not cold, and in cold climates, a mug of warm ale would revive you. But Americans seem to like their beer very cold.

A relatively new craze on the beer scene is sour beer. What makes a beer sour, and why do people like that? (Our friends at Hysteria Brewing make a lot of sours!)

The boys also take issue with their fellow beer geeks who seem to think they have to criticize Budweiser.

They end the show with a pair of homebrew beer challenges. 

126: Crybaby America

P&C drink and review Joyous IPA from Troegs, then talk about tattletales and crybabies. The boys are sick of them, but it seems their ranks are swelling.

What’s causing this? Could it be instant gratification, the daily outrage, helicopter parents, participation trophies, people get extremely upset over the most ridiculous things, and the malaise of safety?

How have we come to this place? How did we become so coddled and spoiled?

The boys discuss possible causes from three angles: technology, culture, and the geopolitical situation.

125: Witches

P&C drink and review “Unforgivable Curses” by Peabody Heights brewery, then discuss witches and witchcraft.

What’s up with witches? Nowadays we mostly think of them as fun and sexy, but there was a time when people were scared to death of witches, hunted them down and hanged them. Why?

The boys discuss various pogroms against witches over the years, trying to sort out what’s true and what’s a misconception. They cover …

  • Saul and the witch of Endor
  • Joan of Arc
  • The Malleus Maleficarum
  • The witch’s mark
  • Salem
  • How many witches were actually killed?

… and much more.

124: Sue, boycott and punch back!

P&C drink and review a hop-infused cider (what?), then discuss how lawsuits and boycotts might be the only hope of saving western civilization from the assault by woke, racist morons.

The boys don’t like litigation or boycotts, but it seems those might be the only tools to fight critical race theory and the other woke idiocies that are ruining lives and destroying the culture.

Corporations are buying into these explicity racist, illegal, and immoral diversity struggle sessions to avoid lawsuits. Conservatives need to show them that lawsuits and boycotts can come from both sides, and that the law is on our side. Critical Race Theory is clearly racist, and therefore it’s unconstitutional for the government to promote it.

And now we have Major League Baseball getting into politics. Rather than being the non-political escape that we all were able to enjoy together, sports organizations are injecting partisan politics into our free time.

As distasteful as it is, we need to boycott the idiots until they get some sense and grow a pair.

123: Voting Laws

P&C review Pigweed’s most recent pale ale, then discuss voting laws.

Are the “one-time” voting accommodations for the pandemic going to change things permanently?

The last election was weird. Mail-in (late) ballots. Ballots mailed to everyone on the roles. Votes counted after election day.

Both sides recognize there’s cause for some sort of clean-up, but we have different visions of what that should be. There’s (so far) a federal approach, and a state (GA) approach.

P&C weigh in, discussing the role of the federal and the state governments, and how we balance keeping things local vs. national standards.

122: Does God exist? P&C review some of the more common arguments

P&C drink and review another Pastry Archy offering: Oatmeal Cream Pie, an imperial honey wheat ale.

With their minds sufficiently lubricated by delicious beer, they review arguments for the existence of God, starting with Anselm’s ontological argument.

They move on to several of Aquinas’ arguments, which mostly revolve around the concept of an infinite regress.

Some of the arguments involve the old “can you get something from nothing” question, and the idea of gradation. When we compare things, are we assuming an ultimate standard? What about morals, and miracles, and ….

They can’t cover it all, but P&C review some of the more well-known arguments and add their commentary.

120: Food fads: Organic and GMO

P&C drink and review an abbey ale, then discuss food fads, and worries some people have about new agricultural innovations. 

Organic food. GMO. “All-natural.” Does it really matter? Or is this just a big marketing ploy? What does “organic” really mean? And aren’t all of our foods genetically modified?

The boys weigh the costs and benefits of scientifically modified food. 

121: Korea

Captain Crunch made a surprise trip the Mid-Atlantic region, bringing a very strange Korean rice beer, and regaling Pigweed and Crowhill with tales of her travels in Korea.

What’s different over there as far as shopping, weather, living arrangements, technology, driving, trash? What’s it like having a wacko neighbor to the north? And what kinds of snack foods do they eat?

Listen in and hear all about it.

119: Jordan Peterson as Martin Luther version 2

P&C drink and review the latest Pastry Archy offering from DuClaw, then discuss the similarities between Martin Luther and Jordan Peterson.

Crowhill is convinced Dr. Peterson is on the edge of a major transformation, and can see similarities between Dr. Peterson and Dr. Luther — especially in how they deal with the righteousness of God.

Peterson seems unable to deal with the moral weight of God’s existence in a healthy way. It crushes him. It terrifies him. As it did Luther.

JP will have to solve this. And soon.

There are also parallels between the social and cultural environments in 1517 and 2021.

And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out Dr. Peterson’s interview with Bishop Barron.

118: Milo Yiannopoulos

P&C drink and review Shiner’s Candied Pecan ale, then discuss the recent shenanigans of Milo Yiannopoulos.

Milo used to be the flamboyant gay darling of the far right, until he seemed to advocate pedophilia, and then he dropped off the radar. We haven’t heard much of Milo until he recently decided to come out as ex-gay! He’s relegated his husband to the status of housemate, he’s leading an online devotion to St. Joseph, and he’s starting a new center for the much-despised “conversion therapy.”

Is this just another attention-getting prank? What are we to make of Milo?

And why is “conversion therapy” such a unique problem? You can get goof-ball therapy to change any aspect of your personality that you like, except this? Why?