The Fifth Column - podcast cover

The Fifth Column

Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welchwww.wethefifth.com
Your weekly rhetorical assault on the on the news cycle, the people who make it, and occasionally ourselves. Kmele Foster (Freethink), Michael Moynihan (Vice), and Matt Welch (Reason) talk and laugh and drink their way to at least quasi-sanity in a world gone mad, often with the aid of clean and articulate guests. Weekly Members Only subscription edition often comes with listener mail and professional-quality (if inappropriate) singing. Analysis. Commentary. Sedition.

www.wethefifth.com
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Episodes

218 - "A Slovenly Rebellion (Pass The Tequila)"

Welcome to 2021 A Coup d'état? An Insurrection? A dark beginning? A despicable bookend? A world of shit? We'll get to that -- but we're gonna need a lot more booze. Recorded Jan 6th, 2021 Published Jan 7th, 2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe...

Jan 08, 20212 hr 10 min

217 - "You Gon Learn, Hawley's Gamble"

- Kmele 2020 - AllyShip - Secret Shows - The Internet Never Forgets - Trap Lord - Burning the Witch (and maybe that annoying lady from down the street too) - Puritanism Without The Fun - Schadenfreude - Inconveniencing the Steal - Eviscerating Democracy (w/ Hyperbole) - Stop Laughing -- It's Not Funny - Thank You Recorded Dec 30th, 2020 Published Dec 31st, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscriber...

Dec 31, 20201 hr 42 min

216 - w/ Greg Lukianoff "From Campus to Caliphate"

Guest: Greg Lukianoff @ Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (President). Co-Author, "The Coddling of the American Mind" 🎁 🎁 🎁 🎁 🎁 Recorded Dec 23rd, 2020 Published Dec 25th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe...

Dec 26, 20201 hr 47 min

215 - "New in Town, Vax Populi"

New Views Demographic Considerations What Seems to Be The Problem Officer? The Honorable Minister Vaccine Rollout Careful Reporting Post Trump News Cycle The Flagrancy Predicting Apocalypse Recorded Dec 17th, 2020 Published Dec 19th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe...

Dec 19, 20202 hr 6 min

214 - w/Ben Dreyfuss "Another Dreyfuss Affair"

Look, you asked for it. Fifth fan favorite ( ed - we really don't understand you people ) and Mother Jones editorial director Ben Dreyfuss (né Gould) is back. And the results are wonderfully shambolic. But seriously: make sure the kids are in bed before press play.... Ben is "on leave" from Mother Jones Why Ben's editor blocked him on Twitter (and you should too) No ice in Hawaii, no avocados in Wisconsin The worst movie Ben's dad ever made (Or was it the best?) Why everyone in DC hates Facebook...

Dec 12, 20202 hr 18 min

213 - "Da Mystery Of Defunding the Police (while Stopin' the Steal)"

"The Toad style is immensely strong, and immune to nearly any weapon. When it's properly used, it's almost invincible." - Five Deadly Venoms Way Out Of Line The Incredible Asshole Machine Related Controversy A Stolen*** Election Obama 💘 Cops Welcome to Murderapolis A Civil War, A Tent Revival Han Obviously Shot First (Probably Doesn't Matter) Bothsidesing: Maybe Not a Bad Idea Revivalist vs Redistributionist American Pie Recorded Dec 3nd, 2020 Published Dec 4th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for p...

Dec 04, 20201 hr 59 min

212 - "A Thanksgiving Miracle"

An issue with the mics. An inspired fix. A nearly aborted dispatch manages to slide into your feed just in time for the stranges Thanksgiving in decades. A Rolling Start When Moynihan Met Oprah Coup d'é HAHAHAHAHA "I Told You" Salvaging the Culture Crisis of Authority Covid Masks Murder Rates Generational Divides Calling it Quits It's A Job, Ain't It? Recorded Nov 24th, 2020 Published Nov 26th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd lik...

Nov 26, 20201 hr 59 min

211 - w/ Glenn Greenwald "Leaving The Intercept, Crying Like a Baby"

Guest: Glenn Greenwald @ Co-Founder, The Intercept The Move to Substack ( https://greenwald.substack.com/ ) The Marvelousness of the Fifth Column The Job Market The Reply to Critics The Blow by Blow The Culture The Hunter Biden Laptop Situation Recorded Oct 30th, 2020 Published Nov 19th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe...

Nov 19, 20201 hr 14 min

210 - w/ Jason Stanley "What the Fascist, Covid Season, Race Critical"

Guest: Jason Stanley @ Author, "How Fascism Works", Professor of Philosophy @ Yale. The Answer Extremely Online, Prospective Hypocrisy Cancel Culture No Tellin Trump's Blacketst Swan But He's a Fascist Critical Race Back and Forth Pretty Good (for a Black Guy) Covid Recorded Nov 12th, 2020 Published Nov 14th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wet...

Nov 15, 20202 hr 10 min

209 - "And The Winner Is..."

What Election? The Perils of Watching Cable News What You Talkin Bout Welch The Got'Damn Polls Anticipated Unrest Black Woman Stabbed, By Black Lives Matters Supporters? What Happens to the Media What Happens to Republicans What Happens to Democrats Stereotypes are Fine Now You People Aren't Supposed to Vote That Way Woke-spiracy Fighting Them on The Beach Recorded Nov 4th, 2020 Published Nov 5th, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd ...

Nov 05, 20201 hr 42 min

208 - "Techno Fascism, Jerking Jeff, and the Mendacious Media"

Bannon's back. The New York Post isn't. Don’t talk about Hunter! Are we living in a Techno Fascist Reich? Regulate, regulate, regulate The unforeseen consequences of deplatforming? Qanon inflation To the gulag, go! Russia, Russia, Russia Which New York Times editor does Matt call "a loathsome toad"? FYI: Political journalists cannot cover “politically driven events” Debate, debate, debate Coherent on Corona! But also full of shit! And Corona reporting is still awful Mad Matt on a Mendacious Medi...

Oct 24, 20201 hr 47 min

207 "Hunter's Laptop, Ordinary Corruption, Darkest Night"

Moynihan's Old, New House COVID... is Fake? Siri, Do Black Lives Matter? Dueling Town Halls Everyone is Awful, Even You, (But Not Really) The Brief And Highly Overrated Return of Respectability Politics Politics of Bullshit Foreign Bodies The Revolt of the Public Darkest Totalitarian Hellscape Recorded Oct 18, 2020 Published Oct 20, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

Oct 20, 20201 hr 58 min

206 w/ Damon Root "Packed Courts, Peaceful Transfers of Power"

Guest: Damon Root @ Reason Magazine, Author, "A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution" Trump Makes His Pick How Republicans Will Be Disappointed Court Packing And Other Shenanigans Historical Context, Oppressing People of Color COVID Rumors Debate Night Dog Whistles What Trump Really Means Vote by Mail (But Throw Out the Ballots) The First and Only Lady Recorded Oct 1, 2020 Published Oct 3, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informatio...

Oct 03, 20202 hr 21 min

205 “If You're Reading This, It's Too Late”

NOTE: This dispatch was beleaguered by technical and logistical challenges. The audio actually turned out pretty good (all things considered), but the entire thing was very nearly scrapped. Those challenges contributed to a delayed-release — and because the world has gone quite mad —the news cycle is evolving rapidly. All the same, still lots of very relevant (even prophetic) stuff in this dispatch, but it was recorded before the Breonna Taylor Grand Jury announcement that inspired a night of pr...

Sep 24, 20201 hr 49 min

204 w/ Steve Kornacki "What's Up With These Polls?"

Guest: Steve Kornacki, National Political Corespondent @NBC News / MSNBC Making TV News During a Pandemic Doing Your Own Makeup Last Man in Midtown We're All You Tubers Now It'll Be a Blow-Out, Or It'll Be Close Polls You Can Trust Black Voters, Impeachment, Collusion State of the Parties State of the Union State of the Media Paper or Plastic Recorded Sept 11, 2020 Published Sept 13, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discus...

Sep 13, 20201 hr 45 min

203 w/ Nancy Rommelmann "From Portland to Kenosha to Rochester"

Guest: Nancy Romemelmann, journalist and author of To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder Moynihan is back from Kenosha, and Nancy Rommelmann returns for an update on the goings-ons in Portland. On the ground in Kenosha On the ground in Portland Media Malpractice, Self Deception DC, Rochester, What's Next Biden v Trump *Worse Than Useless Facts* Details That Matter Going Full MAGA Recorded Sept 5, 2020 Published Sept 6, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information...

Sep 06, 20202 hr 12 min

202 w / Tina Nguyen "Trump on Twitch, Jacob Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse"

w / Tina Nguyen (White House Reporter @ Politico) Watching the RNC Trump's on Twitch Nasty Emojis The Fire Next Time (Kenosha Edition) "What's the big deal? Your insurance will pay for it?" Total Failure of Political Leadership Matt Welch: Snowflake? Marines in Portland? Libertarian Enough? Leaping to Conclusions, Outright Lying Independent Investigations Jacob Blake: Things We Don't Know Kyle Rittenhouse: Things We Don't Know Recorded Aug 31, 2020 Published Sept 1, 2020 See acast.com/privacy fo...

Sep 01, 20201 hr 50 min

201 w / Coleman Hughes "DNC COVID CON, QAnon Don, Canceling Kmele"

w / Coleman Hughes 🤫 Recorded Aug 21, 2020 Published Aug 23, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Aug 23, 20202 hr 36 min

200 w / Andrew Sullivan "Uncancellable Andrew and the Great Media Miasma"

We can't believe it. Neither can you. It's our 200th episode!! (Well, not including the thirty-plus, subscriber-only Patreon episodes, which are looser, bawdier, and even more problematic... so stop freeloading and subscribe !). In celebration of this momentous anniversary, we called up our old friend Andrew Sullivan, fresh from his separation with New York magazine and joining from his Provincetown whirlpool, to discuss: - Daddys, bears, and pervs...oh my! - Andrew has a conversation with some ...

Aug 13, 20201 hr 39 min

199 "Nothing to See Here, An Emergency Every Minute"

Drugs You Should Try Heroine, A Black Drug? Black People Are All The Same Voter Fraud, by Mail Selecting A VP Cognitive Tests (Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV) Scare Tactics Suburban Lifestyle Dreams The State of New York FBG Duck New George Floyd Video The Trouble With China Facebook vs TikTok Blazing Saddles Recorded Aug 6, 2020 Published Aug 9, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...

Aug 09, 20201 hr 58 min

198 w/ Nancy Rommelmann "There's a Riot Goin' On"

Guest: Nancy Rommelmann, journalist and author of To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder Nancy Rommelmann, friend of the Fifth and former resident of Portland, Amerikkka , returns from the ramparts of the revolution with news, anecdotes, and a glimpse at our glorious future. Alis volat propriis . So we asked our very own Lady John Reed just what the hell is happening in the insurrectionist precincts of the Pacific Northwest... Nancy doesn't recognize parts of Portland What everyone...

Jul 29, 20201 hr 50 min

197 w/ Glenn Greenwald, Thomas Chatterton Williams "Hypocrisy, Controversy, Cancellations"

Glenn Greenwald, Co-Founder @ The Intercept Author, "No Place to Hide" Thomas Chatterton Williams Contributing Writer @ New York Times Mag Author, "Self Portrait in Black and White" After a little internet drama related to the Harper's Open Letter, Kmele got together w/ Thomas and Glenn to discuss. Why we needed "A Letter on Justice and Debate" Why Glenn isn't a Signatory What is Cancel Culture Do we really need to talk about this RIGHT NOW Evangelism or Excommunication Hypocrisy and Healthier C...

Jul 27, 20201 hr 23 min

UNLOCKED - Patreon Dispatch #29 🎁 - The Williamsburg Tapes - This Podcast is Lava

We haven't unlocked a Patreon episode since way back in February. But we (Moynihan) were feeling generous, so here's a paywalled bonus episode from July 13, liberated for all of you cheapskates. You're welcome. If you want a new subscriber-only episode every week (plus slurring live Zoom calls, lost episodes, mail bag episodes, a community of like-minded psychos, etc), subscribe here ! -------------- For only the second time since the Bat Flu, the lads are back in the same room...and back at the...

Jul 18, 20201 hr 30 min

196 w/ Josh Szeps "Covid, Cancellation, and Melanated Peoples"

w/ Josh Szeps (né Zepps), ABC Australia and host of the Uncomfortable Conversations podcast . Josh-o's back and the dingo has his baby! Australia's most listened-to radio host joins the Fifth from his COVID-free compound in Sydney to talk nonsense about: Paul Hogan (obviously) How the Aussies handled the COVID That story about our friend who resigned from the Times "Cancel culture," right and left "Good Morning ya' ****s!" Armageddon the shit out of that rock Are we becoming a totalitarian hell ...

Jul 16, 20202 hr 12 min

195 w/ Yascha Mounk "Woke Fragility"

Two-plus hours with our favorite German, Herr Yascha Mounk , contributing editor at The Atlantic and founder of Persuasion , a publication dedicated to promoting and defending the "values of a free society." The lads discuss that Harper's letter on cancel culture, signed by Kmele and Yasha (and Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, JK Rowling, et al); the attempt to cancel people who signed a statement opposing canceling people; how everyone's still a fascist; the painful absurdity of Robin Diangelo; a M...

Jul 10, 20202 hr 7 min

194 w/ Wesley Lowery "Moral Clarity, Objectivity, and ALL THE SMOKE"

w/ Wesley Lowery Correspondent @ CBS - "60 Minutes in 6" Lowery Wrote A Thing: "A Reckoning Over Objectivity, Led by Black Journalists" (NYT) - June 23, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/objectivity-black-journalists-coronavirus.html Welch Raised Some Objections: "Journalists Abandoning 'Objectivity' for 'Moral Clarity' Really Just Want To Call People Immoral" (Reason) - June 24, 2020 https://reason.com/2020/06/24/journalists-abandoning-objectivity-for-moral-clarity-really-just-wan...

Jul 06, 20202 hr 12 min

193 w/ Jacob Siegel "Why We Need the NYT, The New Truth"

w/ Jacob Siegel, Senior Writer @ Tablet "The New Truth" (June 22nd 2020) https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/new-truth-rationalism-religion "Journalists Abandoning 'Objectivity' for 'Moral Clarity' Really Just Want To Call People Immoral" (6/24/2020) https://reason.com/2020/06/24/journalists-abandoning-objectivity-for-moral-clarity-really-just-want-to-call-people-immoral/ - The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez of Journalism - The Great Fireworks Conspiracy (continued) - The NYT Slack - All The...

Jul 01, 20202 hr 17 min

192 w/ Jane Coaston "One Night In Tulsa, A Fool Proof Plan"

w/ Jane Coaston, Senior Politics Reporter @ Vox Some Sports Stuff TickTock Swiftboats Tulsa Trumps Party What Comes Next Immigration + Visas The Coaston Plan More Black Lives Matter Talk But What About.... Unbundling the Police Liking the Neighborhood Cops Recorded: June 23, 2020 Published: June 25, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.co...

Jun 25, 20201 hr 39 min

191 w/ David French "American Racism, SCOUTS Stuff, Qualified Immunity"

w/ David French, Senior Editor @ The Dispatch and Columnist @ Time Help With Your Down Payment? A Busy Day For SCOTUS 2A, Qualified Immunity (Part I), Expanding Civil Rights Thought Crimes On Racism (and Anti Racism) The Worst Dinner Party The Censorship Impulse Gone With the Wind, Song of the South The Lost Cause... Myth? What Northerners Really Want Still in Love w/ Daisy Duke Anti-racism Must Be Anti-race Walk Humbly, Seek Justice, See the Humanity in Your Ops Qualified Immunity (Part II) -- ...

Jun 17, 20202 hr 16 min

190 w/ Olivia Nuzzi " Insiders Guide to 2020, Defunding the Fuzz"

w/ Olivia Nuzzi, Washington Correspondent @ New York Magazine An Unprecedented Movement Defunding the Police... Or Just Abolishing Them Canceling Most Things, Razing The Rest Moral Clarity in the News Room Trump on the Campaign Trail, Biden's Strengths Why Trump and Rudy Can't Stop Talking to Nuzzi Recorded: June 10, 2020 Published: June 12, 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

Jun 12, 20201 hr 37 min
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