Month: August 2023

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.