Beer and Conversation Podcast

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.

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.

P&C review a Rye Pale Ale from Seven Locks Brewing, then discuss consciousness.

Why does the brain produce the subjective experience of consciousness? Physical things have mass, energy, electric charge, etc., but we don’t typically associate such attributes with physical things.

It’s even more troubling when we consider that it seems possible for a human being to be able to do everything a human does without any subjective experience. Or, in other words, what does subjective experience add?

Is it possible that consciousness is simply a part of the universe, like gravity, and that it manifests to different degrees at different times? If so, what are the triggers that make it manifest?

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Everyday Amber, then discuss the development, history, and significance of the suburbs.

Crowhill mentions his conflict between his preference for free-market solutions, and the reality that some level of governemnt planning is necessary for reasonable civil life.

Longinus gives some historical context for cities and suburbs, and ties the big suburbs — like Levittown — to the ability to construct houses in an assembly-like manner, effective transportation, and the GI bill, which made financing possible.

* Why do we have front lawns?
* How did the suburbs hurt the cities?
* When and why did malls and strip malls develop?
* The relationship between cities and counties.

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Citrus Squall double golden ale from Dogfish Head brewery, then discuss several short stories by John Cheever.

“The Chaste Clarissa” is about a young married woman who vacations on Martha’s Vineyard and catches the eye of the local Cassanova. Try as he might, he can’t break down her defenses, until the very end, when he discovers her weak spot.

“The Housebreaker of Shady Hill” is an interesting morality tale about a man who finds himself on hard times after leaving a stable but boring job. He tries to make it on his own, but isn’t making it, and he ends up stealing from a neighbor to cover expenses. From there his life becomes a moral slippery slope, and everything in life seems dirty and disgusting. He’s tortured by what he has done, and his life starts to fall apart.

In “A Worm in the Apple” the narrator is trying to find the inner rot in everything, but finds a family where things actually are what they seem to be. Happy. Content.

“The Country Husband” has become a bit player in his own story. His life isn’t important. It has to take a back seat to the boring circumstances of daily life. He wakes up to the meaninglessness of his own life and tries to find some solace in an affair with the babysitter.

“The Swimmer” is among Cheever’s most famous stories. A man decides to go home by a route that takes him through every pool in the neighborhood. But his journey takes on a surrealistic quality, and may not be what it seems to be.

The boys drink and review three malt liquors, then discuss Canada.

It’s a beautiful place with very nice people, but politically it’s the worst country in the western world.

Aside from Canada ruining our weather in Maryland with their forest fires, we’ve been hearing too many ultra woke stories from our neighbors to the north.

There’s the case of the father who was fined $30,000 for “misgendering his daughter” and is currently out on bail.

Canada also has a horrifying program that allows people to commit medically assisted suicide. It started with hard cases, but of course it expanded to allow people who are depressed. And now the state can euthanize a child without the parent’s permission. It’s a complete horror show.

Remember the way the Canadians treated the truckers? The government-controlled media flagrantly lied about the truckers, called them racists — all the standard liberal playbook. Then the government shut down the trucker’s ability to speak, they froze their bank accounts, then stole money people donated to their cause (from a GoFundMe account). This is straight-forward totalitarianism.

Canada also banned conversion therapy. If a Christian pastor says that homosexuals can reform, he goes to jail. The modern perspective is that you have to be affirmed in whatever crazy thing you say — unless you say that you don’t want to be gay.

And then there’s Neil Young — that whiny, annoying liberal. He’s Canadian.

There’s also been a rash of vandalism against Catholic Churches in Canada.

The Canadian military is having a hard time recruiting because of the use of “gender analysis.”

The Canadian screen awards are even more woke than Hollywood.

The country is going down the tubes. Wake up people!

The boys drink and review 41 Year Lapse American Pale Ale from Mobtown Brewery then discuss the presidential campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy.

Vivek is a 2nd generation Indian with an impressive record of educational, personal, and professional accomplishments. P&C had previously reviewed Vivek’s perspective on wokeness, and are pleased to see him on the stump for president.

The boys spend some time commenting on his character and style, and do a quick review of his policies.

Vivek wants to shut down the administrative state, which is a great goal, but it’s unlikely he’d be able to do it.

The boys drink and review Torpedo extra IPA, then discuss El Salvador and their new president, Nayib Bukele.

El Salvador has been a basket case for decades. It was one of the most violent places on earth, corruption was rampant, and the drug cartels ran everything.

Mr. Bukele started his political career in a small town, not far from the capitol, and quickly became very popular. But he didn’t fit with either of the existing majority political parties, so he joined and essentially took over one of the smaller political parties. His career skyrocketed, and he eventually became the incredibly popular president of the country.

His reforms have make life more livable for most of the country, but it hasn’t been a completely smooth ride. Some of his “reforms” seem more like dictatorship, and he’s been criticized internationally for his crackdowns on the cartels.

The boys try to evaluate this career. On the one hand, they prefer the rule of law, and politicians who stay within their designated powers. On the other hand, hard times call for hard measures.

The boys drink and review Crispy Boy Vienna Lager from Black Flag brewing, then celebrate some fantastic recent decisions from the Supreme Court.

The cases involved affirmative action, freedom of religion, student debt, and freedom of speech.

Affirmative action is blatantly unconstitutional. It was passed by a liberal court that knew it was bad law, but hoped it would be a temporary fix to race issues. The Court found that things have gotten worse, not better, so it’s time to be done with it.

In the freedom of religion case, the Court corrected a misinterpretation of previous precent. People thought that an employer could refuse an accommodation if it caused a “de minimis” hardship. In Groff vs. Dejoy, the Postal Service failed to accommodate a postal worker whose religion prevented him from working on Sunday. The Court ruled that employers have to make religious accommodations unless doing so would cause substantial harm.

The Court also shot down Biden’s over-reach on student debt, which even Nancy Pelosi said the president didn’t have the authority to do.

In the final case, the Court ruled that a person can’t be forced to speak — that is, to express a message they disagree with. You can’t make the Jewish t-shirt vendor create a shirt that hates on Jews, and you can’t require the atheist baker to make a person who is against the death penalty to design a flyer that celebrates executions. The important thing about this case is that it’s not limited to religion or religious expression. It’s about free speech in general.

The boys drink and review 395 Rye from Checkerspot Brewing, then discuss the changing expectations in dating, courtship, and marriage.

The traditional formula is first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.

The new formula is something like first comes sex, then comes dating, then you move in together, then you get a dog, then maybe you finally get married.

What happened to “take me down to the little white church,” “no huggie no kissie until you make me your wife,” or “if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”

The problem is that the elite have adopted “luxury ideas” — idiotic, fashionable beliefs that don’t harm them, with their flock and nannies in their gated neighborhoods, but destroy the lives of the middle and lower classes.

Traditional dating and marriage rules spread the wealth, so to speak, in a way that the modern rules don’t. It results in a lot of men and women who have no life partner, and no prospect of getting one.

The boys drink and review a Maryland kolsch, then discuss China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

They start with a quick review of the Persian Royal Road and the Silk Road, then bring things into the modern era with China’s desire to control worldwide commerce.

In the hopes it would lead China towards freedom, the west brought China into the modern world by giving them favored trading status. That pumped cheap goods into the west and revitalized China’s economy.

But China isn’t content with being the cheap labor force for the world, and is trying to become the main superpower. But they’re not following the “cooperation with competition” model we see in the west. They’re bullies. They elbow their way in and take over.

China is threatening to control world commerce with a long-term plan. Our leaders argue about bathrooms and pronouns.

With special guest Longinus, Pigweed and Crowhill drink and review Pigweed’s homebrewed version of Monument’s Steady Eddie IPA, then discuss famous people who are from or have a strong connection with Baltimore, including …

John Aston
Jada Pinkett Smith
Barry Levitson
David Hasselhoff
Oprah started off in Baltimore
Anna Farris
Elmer Snowden
Billie Holiday
Michael Phelps
Julie Bowen
John Waters
Thurgood Marshall
Toni Braxton
Tori Amos
Tupac Shakur
Mike Rowe
Del McCoury

… and many more!