Conversation on Tap

Episode 7: We Play the Race Card: Part 1

In this week’s episode of Conversation On Tap, Joel and Jose pour themselves some delicious coffee, care of Keurig’s k-cups. We struggled to get our schedules aligned, so we ended up meeting early on a Saturday morning. For our FRED Talks, Joel dived into the similarity between the languages in Hawaii and Madagascar (with a shoutout to the Disney movie Moana), while Jose talked about the “Thoughts and Prayers” controversy, particularly after Kevin Smith's heart attack and all the empty Tweets following mass shootings. Once we got over the pleasantries, we tackled the issue of race. Joel and Jose shared their racial and ethnic backgrounds, but the bulk of our conversation centered on the racist dog whistle Trump blows, beginning with the birther controversy to his campaign and through to the “fine people” comments after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. The conversation also touched on the reality of white privilege, then hopped over to the controversy of cultural appropriation and how it has now embroiled Bruno Mars. As we closed the show, Joel talked about a band he's into called Snarky Puppy, while Jose talked about how great Black Panther was and how it shared a theme with Coco. We hope you enjoy the episode! And we hope that you will join us next week! Salut!

Episode 6: We Talk About Death

In this week's episode, Joel and Jose talked about one of the most taboo topics in our culture: death. We begin our episode by opening up a bottle of Syrah, by Cambria Estate Vineyard and Winery. Unfortunately, we ate a cookie beforehand and didn't enjoy the first sip. But as you can tell throughout the epidose, we guzzled that delicious bottle down! For the FRED Talks segment, Joel talked a little bit about how marijuana might be related to hops; Jose talked about the Greek and historical origin of the word Catholic. We then talked the issue of death. As noted in a previous issue, Joel had a family emergency to attend to, which was the worsening condition of his mother-in-law. Sadly, she passed away, and Joel discusses in this podcast what that experience was like for him and for his family; he even took some time to celebrate the work of the hospice that took care of her in her final days. We referenced Sarah Palin's spooky "death panels," which were nothing more than end of life planning with a patient and their doctor. Unfortunately, too many families never discuss the issue, so many famillies end up not knowing what to do at the end of their loved one's life. For the end of our episode, Joel was absolutely drooling over a jazz band called Bad Plus, while Jose was gushing over the Netflix show Daredevil-- to which he was embarassingly late to viewing in the nerd world. This was a sobering episode to record, though there were moments of levity. Our advice: be present with your loved ones in every moment. We hope that you will join us next week! Salut!

Episode 5: We Go to the Movies

This week, Joel and I hosted our buddy Jerry for a conversation about our favorite movies, as well as some of our favorite stars. This was a two-hour conversation, which I laboriously whittled down to an hour and thirteen minutes. We started our show by enjoying a delicious Belgian brew, the description of which sounded an awful lot like a sexy woman. For our FRED Talks, Joel talked about the bizarre fact that Reno, Nevada, is actually further West than Los Angeles, and Jose talked about the breathy quality of the word “Yahweh.” Once our conversation was underway— and we had a few beers in us— we jumped feet first into dramas, starting with Dances With Wolves and Silence, both movies that feature beautiful landscapes and superb cinematography. We also talked about our favorite sci-fi films, particularly Star Wars and Star Trek, and then spent a surprising amount of time talking about horror films. We mentioned the Oscars a few times, but we hadn’t really watched those movies (except for Dunkirk, which was good albeit boring). We bid farewell to Jerry toward the end of the episode and finished our chat with a discussion about Fargo. This week, Joel was reading John Grisham, while Jose has read Michael Wolff’s salacious Fire and Fury. This was a whirlwind episode, and we hope you enjoy it! Salut!

Episode 4: We are Union Strong

Unfortunately, Joel was unable to be on the Podcast this week, due to a family emergency. Our thoughts and prayers are with Joel and his family, as they go through this period of grief. But our first guest was gracious enough to be our first substitute cohost, so this was the week of two Joses. This week, Jose and I drank his homebrewed beer, called Fire in the Hole, made with his PicoBrew kit. For our FRED Talks, Jose talked about his fascination with Climate Change Deniers: people who do not seem to understand the interconnectedness of our planet's ecology. While they bury their heads in the proverbial sand, the world is experiencing insane changes in weather conditions around the globe. This is definitely a pro-life issue! I talked about Lent, the 40 day period of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer that prepare Christians for the Easter celebration. Once we get into our conversation, we dive into the issue of what it means to be a teacher. But we also spend much of our time talking about the Janus V. AFSCME case before the Supreme Court. In all likelihood, the rightward leaning court will decide in favor of Janus and thus weaken the ability to public sector unions to work for their members. This case, obviously, is backed by big money, anti-union forces that are pushing for right to work laws across the country. In the closing segment of the show, Jose talks about a new Japanese (JPop) band that he's been getting into: BABYMETAL. The band has an incredibly rockin' sound, which is juxtaposed by the three singers anime-esque voices. The production values of their music videos and concerts is off the chart. Jose also shared that he and his wife have been listening to the Los Angeles Times' Podcast entitled Dirty John. We won't give you any spoilers here, but let's just say that it is riveting! And I shared this week that I watched The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro. It's an Oscar contender, so give it a watch! This was our longest Podcast to date, and I did my best to edit it down, but there was just so much great content in this conversation. Please share this with your friends, and be sure to check us out on Facebook. God willing, Joel will be with us again next week. And we hope you will be with us, too! Salut!

Episode 3: We Shoot Off at the Mouth About Guns

In this week's episode, Joel and I focus our conversation on guns and our need to sensibly regulate them. But we first start the show by drinking some delicious Figueroa Mountain Brewery beer, particularly Lizard's Mouth, which has 9% alcohol content. Once we get a little loose in the lips, we each share our FRED Talk. Jose talks about the Janus V AFSCME case before the Supreme Court, a case that will only serve to undermine labor unions. Of course, Jose has to mention the Catholic thing by reminding listeners that the Catholic Church in the United States filed an Amicus brief on behalf of AFSCME. Joel's pithy FRED Talk was on the acceptability in Hawaii of eating dogs. But we dive face first into the issue of guns in the United States, looking at how the lack of gun control has devastated our communities and desensitized our nation to the horrors of mass shootings. We look at the undue influence of the NRA and it's ability to prevent any gun control legislation. Jose discusses the second amendment and ties it in to the District of Columbis V Heller Supreme Court Decision. We end our show by talking about our favorite music: Joel is into a band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah; Jose gets deep with the lyrics of Propaganda, an LA rapper. At the end of the show, we realized that we didn't have very many beers-- but the alcohol content was so high that we were pretty buzzed. We hope you join us for next week's episode! Salut!

Episode 2: We're Hypocrites on Immigration

In our second episode, Jose and Joel pull up a stool, pour themselves a delicious lager, and dive into all the conversations your parents told you not to discuss in polite company. We begin with an embarrasing reflection on our first episode, in which we made several-- if not more-- mistakes. After we crack open some delicious Firestone beer, we begin with our FRED Talks: Joel talks a bit about weather, while Jose talks about the anima technica vacua (the emptiness of the tecnological soul). We then dive face first into the grey abyss of the immigration debate, an abyss that forces us to admit that an either/or approach to this debate is absolute madness. So, we admit our hypocrisy. However, Jose notes that the Catechsim of the Catholic Church (in paragraphs 2241 and 2242) embraces the both/and of the immigration debate. We even reference a viral video about immigration that attempts to explain the problem using gumballs. And, of course, there are discussions about Trump, the Wall, DACA, and Dreamers. Joel also get really excited about This American Life, which Jose has never watched. As we wrap up our immigration discussion, Joel explains how he is currently reading Night by Elie Wiesel, while Jose has been obsessed with Jerry Sienfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which is on Netflix. Please join us for our conversation next week about gun control. Salut!

Episode 1: We Mansplain #MeToo

In our premier episode, Jose and Joel pull up a stool, pour themselves a delicious lager, and dive into all the conversations your parents told you not to discuss in polite company. We begin with a FRED Talk, during which Jose talks about a Catholic Bishop in Arkansas skipping a pro-life rally, and Joel talks about the incredible ability of microbreweries to survive. The conversation takes an abrupt turn when we dive feet first into the #metoo issue. Both Jose and Joel are supportive of the movement, and we see how it has upended some of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. However, we are concerned that the movement could derail itself by going too far, which could invite a backlash that derails the progress we've made. Of course, Jose and Joel had to bring up Trump's record of admitted sexual assault. The Podcast came to a close with Jose talking about a book he is reading entitled The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist and Joel talking about the Pixies and the Breeders. Please join us for our conversation next week about immigration. Salut!