Conversation on Tap

Episode 26: We Eat It

Welcome to another episode of Conversation on Tap! It's been a few months since our last episode, unfortunately. But that was due to the fact that Jose's baby came a few weeks early and completely dominated his time. Now that Frankie is a few months old and Jose and Christina are a little more settled, Jose is ready to jump back into the Podcast!

This episode is quite a bit old, as a consequence. Joel and Jose recorded this episode at around Oktoberfest and Halloween, so those will be the references made during the show. As they move into the main topic, Jose and Joel are joined by their wonderful friend Deanna. The trio discuss food, Small World, tri-tip, and more! In the final segment of the show, Jose discussed the slanderous letter by Archbishop Vigano, which called on Pope Francis to resign; Joel talked about a documentary on Netflix that highlighted the exploitation of the incarcerated by private prisons.

We have two more episodes in the can, though they are old at this point. Regardless, they were fascinating conversations and Joel and Jose want to share them. After those are posted, the Podcasts that follow will be up to date!

 

Thanks for listening!

 

Cheers!

Episode 25: We Catch Up On Comics

Welcome to another episode of Conversation on Tap! In this episode of Conversation on Tap, Jose is joined once again by his brother Jesse in order to talk about upcoming comic book movies. Before they get started, Jose drank some delicious Hoppy Poppy by Figueroa Mountain Brew, while Jesse drank a New York Seltzer. As we moved into the FRED Talks, Jesse talked about his preference for DVDs and Blu-Rays over streaming devices, while Jose talked about how the Vatican is the world's smallest sovereign nation. In the main segment of the show, Jesse and Jose talked about some comic book movie updates. Unfortunately, due to Jose's busy schedule, this episode was delayed in posting by a couple of weeks, so some of the news is a bit "old," but we nonetheless enjoyed the conversation. So, we began by breaking down the Captain Marvel trailer, then segued into the images of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, which looked a bit like Cesar Romero meets John Wayne Gacy. We then spent a good deal of time talking about the impending departure of Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill from the DC movie universe. Once again, DC really shows how they can take perfectly good comic book characters and completely destroy them! In the last segment, Jesse talked about LA Beast's YouTube Channel about competitive eating, while Jose talked about Frasier. We look forward to next week's episode, which will be on food. Thank you for your patience and for continuing to listen to our show! Cheers! 

Episode 24: We Support Abraham Melendrez for School Board

In this episode of Conversation on Tap, Joel and Jose interview Abraham Melendrez, a candidate for the Santa Maria-Bonita School Board. Abraham has been endorsed by local teachers, and, as teachers, Joel and Jose are very honored to have him on the show. Before the show got underway, Joel and Jose talked about their drink: Rincon, which is Spanish for "corner" or "the spot." In their FRED Talks, Joel talked about the true meaning of some celebrations, such as Cinco de Mayo; Jose talked about the Catholic bishops document called Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship; and Abe talked about taking some time off to camapaign. As the conversation started, Joel and Jose asked  Abe a series of questions about his background, experience as an EL (English Learner) student, and his priorities for the school board. As they wrapped up, Jose talked about Bob Woodward's latest book entitled Fear and Ike Ndolo's latest album called Shine; Joel talked about an article called Everything You Know About Obesity is Wrong; and Abe talked about catching up with Stranger Things. That was our show! We hope you will encourage your friends and family to vote for Abe for school board! Cheers!

Episode 23: We Boycott Boycotts

In this week's episode of Conversation on Tap, Joel and Jose explore the topic of boycotts. Before we do, however, Joel and Jose pour themselves some delicious Samuel Adams Boston Lager. For their FRED Talks, Joel talked about the Keto diet, which emphasizes fatty foods over carbs and sugars; Jose talked about the release of a letter by the former Vatican nuncio to the US, which called on Pope Francis to resign. As we moved into the main topic of the show, Jose's wife joined them for their conversation. Joel, Jose, and Christina explored the etymology of the word "boycott," as well as some historical examples of boycotts, such as the Boston Tea Party and Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s-- and we even give a shout out to the woman who first refused to give up her seat: Claudette Colvin. Our discussion also turned to current boycotts of Chik-fil-a and In-N-Out. But we really got into the weeds of how the recent controversy over Colin Kaepernick and Nike's decision to highlight him as a spokesperson for their 30th anniversary ad campaign. We pondered over why this has suddenly turned into a test of people's patriotism by the right. As the show wrapped up, Joel, Jose, and Christina talked about the new Jack Ryan show, and Jose talked about Bishop Barron's Pivotal Players series, specifically the episode on St. Francis. That is our show for this week! We hope that we will join us for our next episode! Cheers!

Episode 22: We Get Serious About Comedy

Welcome to another episode of Conversation on Tap! In this week's episode, Joel and Jose are joined by their good friend Andy to discuss comedy. But, first, they opened up some delicous Anchor Steam beer, which Andy was kind enough to bring for us. For the FRED Talk, Joel and Andy talked a little bit about being "preacher's kids," as well as the particulars of their fathers' respective denominations: Lutheranism and Church of Christ/Methodist. Jose, on the other hand, took a break from his series on the pope to address the recent uncovering of decades of child sex abuse in the Church, the overwhelming number of which took place before the 2002 Dallas Charter written in the wake of the Spotlight reporting. Once the trio started discussing comedy, they covered the history of comedy, the rise of confessional or autobiographical comedy, and the controversial comedians were also mentioned. The issue of whether it is possible to separate the person from their comedy also came up, especially for comedians like Bill Cosby or Louis CK. The question that they keep returning to is whether or not there is a line that the PC police should stand guard of. This segment ended with a look forward to women and minorities in comedy, as well as the prevalence of comedy specials on Netflix. In the final segment of the show, Joel talked about the pop/punk band entitled Joyce Manor. Andy also shared a little about Aki Kumar, who plays blues harmonica with a Bollywood flavor. Jose discussed the Brave New Films documentary entitled Healing Trauma: Beyond Gangs and Prison. This episode took a little long to edit-- Joel and I are back to work again, but we will do our best to be more regular with our episodes! We will see you next week! Cheers!

Episode 21: We Say Whatever We Want

Welcome to another episode of Conversation on Tap! In this week's episode, Joel and Jose are joined by John, who is Joel's neighbor, to discuss free speech. But before the conversation began, Joel and Jose talked about the delicious Quadruple Boulevard Brew. It was a delicious and sweet beer! For their FRED Talk, Joel talked about a TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky that he watched, which was about the power of words to shape our thoughts; Jose continued his talks on the pope by discussing the pagan temple that Christ used as a backdrop in Matthew 16:18. Once the conversation began, John, Joel, and Jose discussed the controversy circling Sarah Jeong and the New York Time's refusal to let her go. They also dived into the troubling trend on some college campuses to create "safe spaces" for students who are triggered by contradictory viewpoints. This then led to some discussion about the recent decision by some media platforms to delete InfoWars and Alex Jones' content: should we be doing that sort of thing? Is his content worth protecting? The conversation ended with a little discussion about how public education must really emphasize critical thinking if we are going to have a citizenry capable of seeing through the nonsense of some public figures. For the outro, Joel talked about Stephen Malkmus and his great music, while Jose got philosophical about Pinocchio. That's all for this week, but we hope that you continue the conversation on our Facebook page-- please share the episode with your friends and family. Thank you for listening to this week's episode and we look forward to seeing you next week!

Episode 20: We Get Organized

Welcome to another episode of Conversation on Tap! In this week's episode, Joel and Jose are joined by a local community organizer named Hazel Davalos. But before we spoke with her, we poured ourselves a few pints of Stockyard Oatmeal Stout, Danish Red Lager, and some more of that tasty Mississippi Mud. For their FRED Talks, Joel talked about the Redwood trees of California, while Jose continued his talks on the papcy. Once the show was underway, they spoke with Hazel about her work with CAUSE. The organization is focused on organizing members of the community, especially the disenfranchised, marginalized, and undocumented. Hazel also talked about the impact ICE has had on our community and how that has been an organizing force. But Hazel also talked a bit about how her faith has aligned with her organizing work. We were so glad to have her (and her one year old) join us on the show! As they wrapped up, Jose talked about the Netflix show Bobby Kennedy for President, while Joel talked about the article Lane Davis' Civil War-- and said that he enjoyed Mission Impossible: Fallout. Thank you so much for joining us this week! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We will see you next week! Cheers!

Episode 19: We Take Your Questions

In this week's episode, we welcome Joel back from his vacation! As the episode got started, Joel and I poured ourselves a pint of Moose Drool, by the Big Sky Brewing Company, but we drank almost all of it before recording! For our FRED Talks segment, Joel talked about surfing ettiquette, while Jose talked about the fact that Pope Francis is the 266th pope, the first being St. Peter. In the main segment of the show, Joel and Jose took some listener questions: (1) what has Joel been up to? (2) Which is better: Star Wars or Star Trek? (3) How does Jose feel about being a dad, and does Joel have any parenting advice? (4) Should we forgive Hulk Hogan and James Gunn? (5) What's our take on conspiracy theories, such as the Sandy Hook false flag conspiracy? In the final segment, Jose talked about Bishop Barron's DVD series on the mass, and Joel talked about Dave Matthew's latest album. But Joel also talked a little bit about President Barack Obama's speech recently in South Africa. This was a fun episode for us, and we look forward to getting more questions from you! Please join us on Facebook and leave us your questions! Next week, we will be having an awesome interview, so you will want to hear that conversation. See you next week! Cheers!

Episode 18: We Have a Therapy Session

In this week's episode of Conversation on Tap, Jose continues the podcast without Joel. The guest this week is Tony The Beat, who hosts the Spread Hope Like Fire Podcast. Tony The Beat not only has a Podcast, but he is also a self-published author. He joined Jose to talk about mental health issues. They talk about the unfortunate stigma against mental health disorders, which leads many to refuse help. Many of these issues are perpetuated by Hollywood, media, and by the constant drive to blame mass shootings on mental illness-- rather than taking steps to pass sensible gun control laws. This was quite the somber topic, but Jose and Tony were both in agreement that laughter sheds light on the dark issues tucked away out of sight. As they ended the episode, Tony The Beat talked about his love for The Office, while Jose talked about the amazing Pixar film Inside Out. We hope that you enjoyed this episode! We will see you next week. Salut!

Episode 17: We Dive Into the Marvel and DC Cinematic Universes

In this episode of Conversation on Tap, Jose is joined by... Jose, who was a guest in a previous episode. We begin the episode by drinking the delicious Barrel House Mango IPA-- a drink so good that Jose (the regular co-host) got slightly drunk and spilled his beer. For their FRED Talk, Jose (guest) talked about the cancellation of the Roseanne show after a series of racist Tweets; Jose talked about the exact date of Jesus' crucifixion. They also discussed the Janus decision by the Supreme Court and how that will impact public sector unions. But, once they got started, the two Joses took sides: Marvel or DCEU. On the one hand, DC has been raking in the dough at the box office, but Marvel has a visionary in the guise of Kevin Feige. They also take some time to discuss moustache-gate and the fact that both Superman and Batman have mothers named Martha. It was quite the nerdy chat, but as the Mango IPA flowed the two Joses focused more and more on DC and less on Marvel. As they wrapped it up, Jose (guest) talked about watching Netflix's The Toys That Made Us; Jose talked about how Queer Eye made him cry. Hopefully, you enjoyed the discussion! If you did, then please share this episode with your friends on social media. We will see you next week! Salut!