Yes, please bring Fred back in the future! What an interesting show! And I really liked Brian's analogy between cigarette tobacco and hot dogs (and pipe tobacco and Kobe beef).
Yeah, I find it interesting that you will see old men smoking a pipe, or cigars, but very few old men smoking cigarettes. I, myself, do not even like the smell of mass produced cigarettes, as, to me, they smell like chemical additives and really poor quality, raw tobacco. And, most of the time, I can't even smell the tobacco from a cigarette. Now, I don't say that to be a tobacco snob. I say that, because, in my mind, as I'm walking past that person smoking that mass produced cigarette, I think, what a shame, I wonder if they were to try really good tobacco, if they would see what they're missing out on. For me, smoking tobacco is not something I do to get a quick fix. It's something I REALLY enjoy! It's something I savor, like good food, and wine (and the company of a good woman).
All that being said, this is still America (last time I checked), and, to each his own. And, I do think the smoking laws have gotten really out of hand, and, as a result, most people tend to think that ALL tobacco is bad. For me, I've experienced the benefits of pipe tobacco, and, specifically, smoking a pipe (and cigars, occasionally), as a hobby, and I do think that, just like with any other good thing, Nicotiine can be a boon, or a detriment (just like with wine, food, or women--too much of a good thing can definitely be bad). It just all depends on your relationship to it. For me, it definitely adds a pleasure to my life that I was missing.
I think it's important, too, that people realize there is not a direct link that has been proven between tobacco or Nicotine and cancer. The Native Americans smoked tobacco for many years before they encountered the people of the New World, and I don't think their cancer or disease rate was anywhere even close to the rate it was for the explorers and conquistadors (very few of which, up until then, had ever even heard about tobacco, much less tried it).
Perhaps, Brian's analogy is a good starting off point for a debate on, not only what ails Big Tobacco, but a lot of other Big corporations in this, and other countries: the mentality of putting business over relationships; profit over responsibility, yourself over others. There needs to be a balance in all things, otherwise you become a detriment to your yourself (and your own business), and take the risk of making yourself an endangered species. Anyway, that's my two cents...
For me, I keep myself in balance by smoking a pipe. In fact, I think I'll go smoke a bowl of Wilderness right now (one of my top ten tobaccos)!
Thanks for another great show, guys! and for the stimulating subject matter...Keep 'em coming!