Author: Pigweed and Crowhill

With special guest Longinus, P&C drink and review Carlsberg, then discuss Candide as part of their “shortcut to the classics” series.

The boys give a short review of his life. Voltaire was a pillar of the Enlightenment.

In Candide, Voltaire employs biting sarcasm against the idea that this is “the best of all possible worlds.” Candide suffers through “one damned thing after another,” but continues to have the sunny outlook of his teacher, Pangloss. Everything must be for the best.

Eventually, Candide meets Martin, another philosopher with a very different view, which allows Voltaire to have some debates between these two life outlooks.

Leibnitz believed that this is the best possible world because if God is good, he must have picked the best of all possible worlds.

Voltaire thought this was ridiculous, and wrote Candide as a response.

With special guest Longinus, P&C drink and review a Belgian saison, then discuss a few essays by Michel Foucault, who many people say was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century.

Longinus gives a brief biography, then the boys work through two essays: “What is Enlightenment” and “Truth and Power.”

Foucault is considered a post-modernist. The boys try to unpack modernism and post-modernism to put Foucault in context.

His writings are difficult to read. Sometimes it sounds like complete nonsense. But a few things do come out fairly clearly. Most importantly, he believes that all of the things we think of as rational, self-evident truths, are actually dependent on circumstances and the changing fads and customs of a particular time. Foucault would reject the idea of objective truth.

In many ways, Foucault contributed to the craziness we see all around us today, with “my truth,” and the idea that everyone gets to define their own reality.

The boys drink and review Pigweed’s homemade brown ale, then discuss nuclear war.

They distinguish fission and fusion reactions, and how that relates to nuclear bombs and their development.

After Word War 2 there was a mad rush to develop larger and larger stockpiles.

Today, nine countries are confirmed as having nuclear weapons. But for some strange reason we seem less afraid of nuclear war now than we were during the Cold War.

The peace seems to have been maintained by the doctrine of mutually assured destruction. But how does that apply in the modern world?

Where is the biggest risk of nuclear war today? Russia vs. U.S.? China vs. U.S.? China vs. India? India vs. Pakistan?

And what about Iran?

If there is a nuclear war, will we all die? Will it end all of humanity?

If there is a remnant, could they rebuild? What about nuclear winter?

The boys give their take on the Tucker Carlson fiasco in this “nooze and booze” episode, in which they try Pigweed’s homemade apple pie moonshine.

In a matter of a week, there were several big stories in the news world. Fox News parted company with Dan Bongino, Fox News settled with Dominion Voting for an ungodly sum, Don Lemon was fired from CNN, and Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News.

The boys discuss the basics of the Dominion Voting lawsuit but spend most of their time on theories about the Tucker Carlson issue.

Pigweed and Crowhill favor the theory that Rupert Murdoch didn’t like Tucker’s speech to the Heritage Foundation in which he painted modern political disputes as a fight between good and evil, and recommended that Americans pray for their country. Added to that, Murdoch may have believed Tucker wasn’t a team player and was getting too big for his britches.

The boys speculate on what Carlson might do next, and how it might affect the 2024 election.

P&C also spend a couple of minutes on the Bud Light fiasco, and then Pigweed springs a hard question on Crowhill.

The boys drink and review RAR’s Groove City Hefeweizen, then review short selling, the Gamestop story, Sam Bankman-Fried, and FTX.

After watching the Netflix “Eat the Rich” series, the boys remembered their interest in the Gamestop story, so they consulted their financially intelligent friends, Hansel and Gretel, to get up to speed on what happened and why.

It’s a fascinating story where “retail investors” who frequented the “Wallstreetbets” Reddit group stuck it to the institutional investors and caught them in a short squeeze.

The retail investors sent the stock rocketing up, which was putting the institutional investors in a bind, then Robinhood — the platform most of the retail investors used — shut down all purchases of Gamestop.

The story makes you believe the system is rigged for the benefit of the big, instutional investors.

Along the same lines, the boys discuss the Sam Bankman-Fried story, and how he fooled the world with his phony empire built on pretend money.

Pigweed and Crowhill drink and review an IPA from Three Floyds, then discuss whether the United States should pay reparations for the evils of slavery.

P&C agree that the concept of reparations is sound. When you harm someone, you should try to repair the wrong that’s been done.

They review some of the arguments for reparations, and have sympathy for many of them.

The idea is not simply that the ancestors of slave owners should pay the ancestors of slaves, but that the entire system was complicit in slavery, so the entire system should pay.

But who should be paid, and how much? What’s the limiting principle? Should we also pay Native Americans, or the Chinese, who were abused in the creation of the railroads?

Can a group be held responsible for the actions of a group at some time in the past?

It’s almost impossible to parse it all out and unscramble the mess. Isn’t there a statute of limitations?

P&C drink and review “Level Up,” an IPA from a Yard’s variety pack, then discuss things “everybody knows” that aren’t so.

You might be surprised at some of the answers. Here are the topics discussed.

• Who was the first president of the United States?
• Everybody thought the earth was flat before Columbus.
• How did “Caesarean section” get its name?
• Who was the youngest U.S. president?
• Was Cleopatra Egyptian?
• Was St. Patrick an Irishman?
• Did Atlas hold the world on his shoulders?
• Did Paul Revere warn the colonists the British were coming?
• Did Lincoln free the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation?
• Where was the battle of Bunker Hill?
• What is the Immaculate Conception?
• Did Ben Franklin invent the Franklin stove?
• Are Arabic numerals Arabic?
• What is a bellwether?
• Did Marie Antoinette say “let them eat cake”?
• Can castrated men get it on?
• Who is the Baby Ruth candy bar named after?
• Why do bulls hate the color red?
• What is cat gut?
• Do porcupines shoot their spines?

P&C drink and review Double Nickel Session IPA, then discuss January 6 and all the hyperventilating about it.

The over-hyping of the events of January 6 turned Pigweed and Crowhill away from the story. When everyone over-reacts, we under-react.

Now that there’s some distance and the rhetoric has died down a bit, maybe there’s some ability to evaluate it calmly.

First, Trump was absolutely wrong in his belief that Pence had the authority to not certify the election results. Unfortunately, some people believed it.

Second, there have been some persistent lies about that day, such as the claim that six police officers died. That’s not true.

The lies and exaggerations were quite over the top. Calling the event an “armed insurrection” is absurd. If Jan. 6 was an insurrection, it was the lamest, stupidest insurrection that’s ever been attempted. Calling it an attempt to overturn democracy, or destroy the Constitution, is such breathless, mindless stupidity that it beggars the imagination.

The actual threat to democracy from Jan. 6 is the abuse we’ve seen of the justice system: the overly harsh treatment of Jan. 6 protesters, and the fact that exculpatory evidence was withheld from defense attorneys.

The ongoing lies about January 6 are completely outrageous. Pigweed and Crowhill try to parse through it all and present a balanced perspective.

They also discuss recent “insurrections,” where Democrats have stormed state legislatures.

The boys drink and review Bakalar, a Czech dark lager, then discuss the history of religious revivals in the United States, and their effects.

They discuss what makes something a religious revival — what are its signs and effects. What elements are essential and what are accidental?

They review several of the great religious revivals in U.S. history, and mention some of their leading figures.

Also, what causes a revival? What sorts of cultural situations tend to precede revivals? Do they come in a predictable rhythm? Do they always involve a fixation on the end of the world?

There’s also an interesting question of the different talents required for the revival and the people who come afterwards, who need to create lasting institutions.

Crowhill believes a religious revival is the only hope for the United States.

P&C drink and review a dry-hopped pilsner from Nepenthe, then discuss crucifixion.

Crucifixion didn’t start with the Romans, and wasn’t limited to them. The Romans learned it from the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Macedonians. But the Romans “perfected” and systematized it.

Crucifixion was reserved for crimes against the state: rebellion, treason, and religious dissent.

Modern research suggests that there wasn’t a single way to crucify someone. Arms might have been nailed to the cross, or sometimes just tied with ropes. The feet may not have been nailed together, but sometimes nailed separately on different sides of the cross.

The torturers had some liberty to improvise.

The Romans used crucifixion to warn the population not to dare to mess with Rome. It was state-sponsored terrorism.

After a general review of crufixion, the boys speak briefly about the crucifixion of Christ.

The boys drink and review Dark and Righteous, from Jailbreak brewing, then discuss their recent experiences with destination weddings.

P&C both attended Roman Catholic weddings — Crowhill was the father of the bride at a wedding in Nashville, and Pigweed was at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, near Puerto Vallarta.

The boys discuss similarities and differences in their experiences at the weddings, as well as travel, accommodations, and entertainment. They reflect on the whole package — what they liked and what they didn’t.

On the way home, Pigweed had the unfortunate experience of sitting next to someone who didn’t fit in the airplane chair. P&C spend some time discussing this frequent problem, and how airlines ought to deal with it.

The boys drink and review Lagunitas’s Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, then discuss this new word Latinx — where it came from and why. They also ask whether vacations are actually relaxing.

Our language overlords have insisted that Latino and Latina are inappropriate in our new woke universe, so they imposed a monstrosity: Latinx — which makes no sense.

Spanish is a gendered language, but white woke people in America figured they had to fix that, because those stupid Latinos didn’t know what to do with their own language.

Pigweed takes a woke, revisionist Spanish document with him to Mexico to ask some actual Latinos what they think of this Latinx business. They didn’t like it, and stats bear that out. Latinos don’t like it.

What happened to the left’s rejection of cultural imperialism?

Pigweed and Crowhill also attended destination weddings, and discuss vacations in general, and their experiences.

P&C drink and review Xingu black lager and then take a look back at the government response to the Covid crisis. Do you remember all of this?

• “Three weeks to flatten the curve” became “everyone must stay inside until we have a vaccine.”
• From the start, they tried to crush the lab-leak explanation as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory.
• We were given contradictory nonsense about masks.
• We were told to wipe down surfaces to prevent the spread.
• We had to stay 6 feet apart.
• We were told that natural immunity is no good.
• Healthy young people were told they needed to get the vaccine.
• Everyone had to stay indoors, even though Vitamin D helps against Covid.

Why did virologists and epidemiologists make all the rules? Why didn’t we consult other experts? Economists, educators, psychologists …? Did our leaders consider the human cost? The economic cost?

Why did the government, academia, the media, and social media all sing the same tune and promote the same agenda? Isn’t that a little scary?

The boys drink and review Troeg’s Nugget Nectar, then discuss how men are stealing all the top places in women’s rankings.

While thinking about transgender ideology, the boys look at …

• Contradictions in transgender ideology
• What “transgender” means
• Can people be “trapped in the wrong body”?
• Examples of how men are stealing women’s thunder
• Where have all the feminists gone?

The gender fluidity / trans perspective is internally inconsistent, illogical, unscientific, and mind-bogglingly stupid.

Pigweed and Crowhill try their best to inject some sense and logic into the debate.

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Paulaner pils, then discuss Lent and fasting.

Lent is the penitential season before Easter. Crowhill gives a basic history of Lent, and the boys discuss some common Lenten customs.

The 40 days of Lent are symbolic, similar to other 40-day events in the Bible.

Modern Lenten fasts are usually not as stringent as fasts in the past, and especially not as strict as the fasts the monks used to do.

Which leads us to Pigweed and Crowhill’s beer fast.

The Paulaner monks came up with a particularly strict fast in which they ate nothing and only drank beer and water for Lent.

Pigweed and Crowhill tried their own version of this fast and had nothing but beer and water for three days. They describe their experiences.