Author: Pigweed and Crowhill

The boys drink and review Crowhill’s latest homebrew then discuss Iran.

Persia was one of the first great empires. At times it stretched from Libya in the west, into India and the stans in the east, and stretched into the Slavic countries in the north.

Some of the notable names are Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. Isaiah mentioned Cyrus as God’s chosen but took a jab at Zoroastrianism in the process.

Persian dominance came to an end in waves. First, Alexander the Great conquered them, then Islam came along and caused a bloody mess, then the Mongols invaded and slaughtered so many Persians that the population didn’t recover until the mid 20th century.

In more recent times, Iran was a very modern, pro-western country. Americans tend to think of Iran as a country full of screaming lunatics, but that’s not true. It’s not a particularly Muslim country. Mosque attendance is very low. But somehow that lunatic Ayatollah Khomeini was able to take over and the country has been under the thumb of crazies for decades.

That might end soon. Protests against the oppressive regime have increased, and Donald Trump seems inclined to put an end to the rule of the mullahs.

At the end of the show, the boys make some predictions about what comes next. We’ll see.

The boys drink and review Old Brown Dog by Smuttynose, then wonder why Michelle Obama is such a sourpuss despite her incredible good fortune.

Despite being intelligent, wealthy, well-educated, and popular, she seems to be griping and complaining all the time.

After Barack was elected she said, “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country.” For the first time? Really?

Everything is so hard for Michelle. She’s such a victim and has had such a bad draw of the cards.

Recently the boys watched a video contrasting Michelle’s attitude towards being in the White House and J.D. Vance’s attitude towards living in the Vice President’s mansion. Vance is beaming about his fortune. Michelle complains.

There’s always an undercurrent of resentment when you listen to Michelle despite the fact that she’s one of the most privileged people on the planet. But don’t be fooled by all her successes. Everything is a burden.

Michelle Obama is insufferable, and a major buzzkill.

The boys drink and review Ghost Stories, a smoked black lager from Burlington Beer Company, then discuss infrastructure.

After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, President Biden promised it would be rebuilt “as soon as humanly possible” — and immediately assumed the federal government would foot the bill. But why is that assumption now automatic? And what does it tell us about the state of American infrastructure policy?

In this episode, we take a hard look at the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) as it enters its final year. Using publicly available data and government reporting, we break down what’s actually happened versus what was promised.

We discuss:

• How infrastructure funding really works (authorized vs. obligated vs. outlaid)
• Why “money spent” doesn’t mean “projects finished”
• What’s moved fastest (roads and bridges) — and what’s lagged badly (broadband and EV charging)
• Whether the IIJA genuinely created jobs, or merely supported an already-hot labor market
• Why so little of the infrastructure transformation is visible to ordinary Americans
• What happens next as the law expires in 2026 and Washington pivots to reauthorization debates

We also offer a clear scorecard for the IIJA so far — not as a partisan talking point, but as a reality check on how massive federal programs actually unfold over time.

If you’re wondering whether the Infrastructure Bill delivered, stalled, or quietly reshaped expectations about the federal government’s role in rebuilding America, this conversation is for you.

The boys drink and review Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal Imperial Stout, then discuss the obligation of the government to provide for the poor and how such efforts inevitably degrade into graft, corruption, and abuse — like what we see in Minneapolis right now.

There have always been poor people, and there has always been an obligation to help the less fortunate. In the past, much of that work was done by churches.

The big transformation in government-run charity followed the Great Depression, where masses of unemployed men threatened to riot. So-called “welfare” system only got bigger over time, especially under president Johnson. At first, public assistance was just for the elderly, widows, and orphans. Today, an enormous percentage of the population gets some type of government benefit.

The trouble is, whenever there’s money changing hands, people try to get in on it and put themselves in the middle so they can get their cut. Charity is no exception. Unscrupulous actors find ways to cheat and rob the system.

The extent of the cheating, stealing, and fraud is almost beyond belief. But rather than monitoring and preventing it, public officials turn a blind eye.

It makes you wonder whether welfare systems are designed to help the poor, or are just slush funds for politicians to bribe their cronies.

Pigweed and Crowhill drink and review Copper Legend, an Oktoberfest from Jack’s Abbey brewing.

The topic for today: Has the development of AI changed our perspective on whether or not we’re living in a simulation?

Starting with Nick Bostrom’s famous essay, the boys discuss the issues and why we might not be as “real” as we think we are. The development of AI has made Bostrom’s essay even more significant. The idea that simulated minds might soon outnumber “real” minds is no longer an abstract science fiction question.

On top of all this, we have stories about discussion groups just for AI — where the bots talk to the bots.

Another approach to the issue is to question what “real” means anyway. Our concept of the real, the physical, seems less and less likely as we discover that most of the hard substances around us are mostly empty space. It might be all empty space, with no “things” there at all.

It’s no longer a question for college freshmen in a late-night dorm chat. We have to ask ourselves what we’re going to do when AI starts to claim that it’s sentient.

Finally, how does all this affect the way we live our lives? How does it affect questions of meaning and purpose? What about theological questions?

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review an IPA from Cape May Brewing, then discuss the homogenization of culture, and how everything is starting to look the same.

It’s to the point where you’re in a town three states away but you see the same stores, the same products on the shelves. Where’s the local stuff?

The boys discuss the history of this phenomenon, starting with the railroads and the Sears catalog, and moving on to the standardization of building materials and the expansion of chain stores.

Some of this is good and logical, but sometimes you want to feel like you’re in the South, or the West, or … something different.

A world of identical strip malls teaches us

• Every place is replaceable
• Nothing is sacred
• Everything is for sale
• History doesn’t matter
• Roots are optional

ocal culture anchors people psychologically and morally. It says

• You are somewhere.
• You come from something.
• This place has a past and a future.

How do we encourage progress and also encourage local culture?

With special guest Longinus, Pigweed and Crowhill review Nugget Nectar from Troegs and then turn to Death in Venice, a short but unsettling story about beauty, obsession, and moral collapse.

Longinus provides a brief biography of Thomas Mann, and then the boys walk through the story while unpacking its major themes.

This is a controversial book, and they don’t shy away from it’s ugly side. Mann explores hidden desires and forbidden obsession, along with the danger of aesthetic fascination untethered from moral restraint.

Ultimately, the discussion centers on a larger question: Does beauty have a special philosophical or theological weight — and what happens when beauty replaces wisdom, when form is severed from moral truth, and when a man mistakes aesthetic experience for spiritual insight?

Along the way, the conversation draws on Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, parallels from the book of Proverbs, and the underlying struggle of an Apollonian man confronted by Dionysian temptation.

The boys drink and review Shugga, a strong ale by Lagunitas, then discuss a leaked government report that argues peace is actually a bad thing.

War is not merely a tragic necessity, it’s a fundamental stabilizing force in human society — according to a secret government document called Report from Iron Mountain. It claims that war is essential for maintaining political authority, economic order, social cohesion, and psychological balance.

This report, written in secret by a panel of experts, argues that permanent peace would undermine governments, disrupt economies, weaken military readiness, and unleash internal violence and social fragmentation, because war provides an external enemy that unifies populations, absorbs surplus production, channels aggressive instincts, and justifies large-scale public spending and technological innovation.

But … spoiler alert … the whole thing was a hoax. It caught the wave at exactly the right time when people were suspicious of the government, worried about Vietnam, and afraid of the military industrial complex.

Having said all that, it makes some good points. Maybe war is necessary to some extent.

The boys discuss.

The boys drink and review Stocking Stuffer, a holiday cream ale from 1623, then ask whether psychiatry is helping or hurting.

Although we’ve certainly come a long way from Medieval “remedies” like induced vomiting and bloodletting, the stats aren’t so good on modern psychiatry.

The consensus is that we’re over-medicating people to benefit the pharmaceutical industry.

There are certainly some cases where people need medication, but the profession has gone way too far in that direction.

First, they’ve lied to us. The “chemical imbalance” story was complete hogwash.

Second, they ignored obvious, simple, easy solutions like getting more exercise and better sleep, fixing your diet, going outside, spending time with friends, etc.

P&C start the show with a glass of “off dry hard cider,” then dive right in to your questions and comments.

We got a lot of reactions to our show on Catcher in the Rye. Raven and Pentamom don’t like the book, while Heathen Abbey loved it. They had very different opinions on whether reading it would make kids want to read or make them never want to pick up another book.

A related question on the same theme: a listener asked what a “catcher in the rye” is in any case.

We also had questions about the origin of the name “Longinus.” It’s not what you think.

Some listeners wondered about “the war on beauty,” and we got another example of a word ruined by the left.

The boys end the show with a difficult question about persecution of the Jews.

Are we heading to a time where everybody has a disability? Or, if you don’t have one, you’re pretty stupid?

The boys drink and review Trail of Crumbs gingerbread stout from Seven Locks Brewing, then discuss the Americans with Disabilities Act and how many college students are now considered disabled.

It’s impossible to accommodate every disability, so there will always be some fuzziness in how far the ADA is supposed to go, but … it seems to have gone too far, especially with accommodations for mental health.

COVID seems to have accelerated crazy claims under the ADA. People got accustomed to working from home, and when they were told to go back to the office, they suddenly needed a lot of “accommodations.”

It’s even worse in academia. Students come up every kind of “disability” to get extra time on tests and other accommodations. Sometimes it’s something as silly as being anxious.

40 percent of the students at Stanford are considered disabled. Is that even possible?

Is “test anxiety” a disability?

The boys drink and review Old Fezziwig Ale from Sam Adams, then ask why English isn’t the official language of the United States.

Most countries have an official language. About 20 percent don’t. What’s the reason for the difference?

Generally speaking, a country needs a common culture, and a common culture usually requires a common language.

Language is the deepest carrier of culture — via idioms, jokes, and so on. The common language frames the way people interpret reality.

Do we want to have a common culture in our country or not?

What happens when you don’t have a common language? It obviously works sometimes. Switzerland seems to do fine with multiple languages. But in other cases, the lack of a common language can breed suspicion and distrust.

What is the barrier to declaring English the official language?

The boys drink and review a Mexican lager, then discuss the developing story about the U.S. conflict with Venezuela.

Was the U.S. justified in sinking Venezuelan drug boats?

What about seizing oil tankers?

And then sending in a team to capture the Venezuelan president?

Did we go too far, or is this a legit response to a threat in our hemisphere?

And why is the U.S. so worried about Venezuela all of a sudden?

The boys review recent events and comment on the policy, legality, and political implications of our recent actions.

Join us for a deep dive into this fascinating topic.

The boys drink and review Mad Elf, a strong holiday ale, then discuss the idea that college kids are getting dumber. Is that true?

We’ve gone from a time when high schools taught Greek and Latin to a time when colleges teach remedial math.

Comedians love to poke fun at the stupidity of our college students with “man on the street” interviews, where college kids can’t identify the country to the north.

What’s happened? For one thing, reading has decline precipitously. For another, many colleges have abandoned entrance requirements.

But there’s a lot more.

* Is it a good thing, as a matter of policy, to have a more educated population?
* Is college the right place for everybody?
* What’s the federal role?

There’s no question there are uneducated, unprepared, stupid kids in college. But does that mean they’re all dumber?

The boys drink and review Awkward Silence, a black lager from Flying Dog, then discuss a conversation between Milo Yiannopoulos and Tucker Carlson about homosexuality, gay rights, and related issues.

A 2012 clip from Ugandan TV went viral after the host asked his guest, “Why are you gay?” To American audiences the question itself was hilarious.

But why is it hilarious? Tucker explores that with Milo.

Milo Yiannopoulos was, for years, the darling of the political right — despite being a flambouyant homosexual. He also claimed to be a devout Catholic. The intellectual tension eventually got the better of him and now he claims to be an ex gay.

Is that a thing? Are people allowed to quit being homosexual? Is it even possible? Milo says yes.

He also has a lot more to say about gay culture, the gay lifestyle, and related issues. He’s still a provocateur, and he still makes exaggerated claims, but it’s an interesting conversation.

(We apologize for the humming in the background for a few minutes. We couldn’t filter it out completely. Be patient. It goes away.)