Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

584: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice

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.📬 Send us your thoughts: pigweedshow@gmail.com 🌐 More episodes: pigweedandcrowhill.com👍 Like, subscribe, and tell a friend

583: What if war is a good thing?

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.

582: Is Psychiatry helping more than it's hurting?

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. 📬 Send us your thoughts: pigweedshow@gmail.com 🌐 More episodes: pigweedandcrowhill.com👍 Like, subscribe, and tell a friend

581: Letters on Catcher in the Rye, Beauty, and the Jews

The boys 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. 📬 Send us your thoughts: pigweedshow@gmail.com 🌐 More episodes: pigweedandcrowhill.com👍 Like, subscribe, and tell a friend

580: Will all Gen Zers be disabled soon?

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? 📬 Send us your thoughts: pigweedshow@gmail.com 🌐 More episodes: pigweedandcrowhill.com👍 Like, subscribe, and tell a friend