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.
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* A barrel of crackas * We’re buying Hooters * Glamorous hairstyling * Look it up, people * The caudillo and the talk show host * Hega-stan * MAGA Marx: Nationalize everything! * The era of state capitalism is upon us * Burn yer flags * Right-wing ACLU * One more time: the government is bad at things * A history of privatization * Lisa Cook and the Cult Jam * The coming violence? * MAGA Panthers * And so much more… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Kmele connects with Thomas Chatterton Williams to discuss his latest book, “ The Summer of Our Discontent” . It’s a wide-ranging conversation that revisits the (or at least Thomas’) optimistic feelings toward the Obama moment in american politics, the backlash of the Trump years, and the ideological hangover of 2020’s “racial reckoning.” They wrestle with…...
* Tahoe plague * The Swiss lobby * Hate your kids * They seem like nice kids * If you only wore a tie, kids wouldn’t die * Have some dignity, says the most undignified human alive * The root of “root causes” * Free the guilty * White Hippies * Right-wing cancel culture * Chicago needs this more than DC ] * We kind of disagree about the Smithsonian * This is absurd * Ancient Chinese custom, eh? * It was AI, Matt. She’s still hot. * I love you, Sanna This is a public episode. If you'd like to disc...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * A Spanish Harlem incident * The selective regret of Hank Azaria * Kmele watches Eddington * Ozzy confesses * Bonding with your kids over music * Back to Billy * The genius of Rick * Kmele reveals his race * Is Moynihan the Jerry Springer of TFC? * Spectacle vs. interview * Is Martyr Made a baddie? * Endless late capitalism...
* Below the Mendoza Line * Tommy the HIV+ Rocky boxer * Stallone’s Bergman period * Does Tom Friedman still have a job? And if so, why? * The hundreds of forgotten anti-Bush books * An especially bad Munich analogy * NATO, NATO, NATO * Purely defensive? Well… * Perhaps it made sense at the time… * The Olympic graveyard * A test for the post-war European left * Won’t somebody just *do something* * In praise of Florent Ahmed Groberg * The politics of DC crime * A city of Haley Barbours * Writing s...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com A rebroadcast of our latest Second Sunday episode during which the lads discuss Killer Mike, World War III, fascism, Billy Joel, Brits, Americans, the Swiss, stupid people, smart people, and white people. And a bunch of other stuff…
* A $750 late fee * Crazy train * Tariffapalooza 7.0 * Making Modi mad * Economic nationalism vs. market capitalism * The Soviet Senator * A pen and phone guy * Should DC be taken over by the feds? Or just left alone to be awful? * Israel and the TikTok war * Tell me how this ends * And about a million other things… 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...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Just let them waffle on for a few minutes before the good stuff… * Poor Europe * The $50 Norwegian pizza? * Functional Denmark, deranged Danish * Moz and the monolingual * The brilliant Child * Moynihan vs. his daughter on Billy Joel * “Forbidden topics are true” isn’t true * How to talk in Eurocode * Bumper sticker TV (and an ode to Chris Elliot) * The greatest meteorologist of al…...
Moynihan joins from Europe. Robbie Soave (Reason, Rising, Sheetz & Giggles) guests — bravely joining the fellas after stopping by the local precinct so he could report his scooter stolen. Plus; Epstein conspiracies, whether Sydney Sweeney’s jeans are saving America, and debate the merits of dating an AI girlfriend. * Pimponomics * Victimized * Scooter Evangelism * Robbie is a nerd * European Hobos to Hotness Index (HHX) * Epstein: Still Boring, Still Dead * Robbie really is a nerd * Traffick...
Moynihan is somewhere in Europe. Eli Lake ( The Free Press , Breaking History ) fills in. And Kmele sustained a harrowing podcast-related injury that postponed a recording (and nearly cost him a finger). * Meat & Memory * Colbert Gets the Axe * Small Packages * A Yearslong Coup? * Russiagate Replay * Accountability and Missed Opportunities * The Never-Ending Epstein Drama * An (Inevitably) Dysfunctional Government (if you can keep it) Recorded: 7.24.2025 This is a public episode. If you'd li...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * An enigma wrapped inside a…wait, what does that word mean? * Wait, what did you call it??? (Take a guess) * Buffalo Bills, the preferred team of all Mossad agents * How to not write a news story * You know, Epstein was pretty close with many MAGA figures * Bannon’s crisis PR business? * Tulsi and the “seditious conspiracy” * Russia redux * Michael McDonald’s Faye Dunaway story * …...
* Crazy from the heat * AMA * Who is Jim Walden?? * The dumbest civil war * So we have to discuss the Epstein “issue” again, eh? * I think we solved the case… * Leaving breadcrumbs in the archives * Jimmy Carter and the aliens * That’s a lotta airstrikes * The plastic surgery exception * Kurt Russell, American * The next, hottest Nobelist 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...
* Matt discovers Mass * Because Matt is cruisin’ * Boats and hoes * An ultra exclusive event! The Fifth…on the high seas?? * The Epstein hoax * Very dumb people holding empty Trapper Keepers * Fake numbers transform into facts! * Does anyone know how this stuff works? * The client list ███████ █████ * Why do people want this stuff to be true? * A few notes on the forthcoming film Eddington * The BLM victory failure * The forever revolt against the elites * Two overlooked terror attacks in Texas ...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com A few weeks ago, we mentioned that newly minted Iran expert Joy Reid went on CNN and provided her damning verdict on America’s relationship with Iran: acktchully, she gravely intoned, the United States brought the ire of the Iranian dictatorship upon itself by engineering the 1953 coup against the “democratically elected” Iranian leader Mohammed Mossade…...
As the Supreme Court wraps up its term, the boys again summon Damon Root, author of Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court , to break down the various rulings (for those of us who don’t pay attention but still want to convince Scott Bakula to time travel and deport baby Kmele). Post-Damon, another hour…during which Matt tells the story of his car being smashed up by Russian trash men (which, surprisingly, is not a euphemism), Zohran code switches , the Big Ugly Bill lurche...
* Fleeeeeeeee * Don’t mess with the Zohran * Andrew Cuomo, Shah of NYC * Eric Adams to the rescue? (Oof) * Post-colonial Disney movies * Scarcity Democrats * Pull the fire alarm on this drunk idiot * This means nothing for national Democratic politics * And isn’t about Israel * Were the bunkers busted? * Hot Ukrainians save lives * NATO not so bad after all * Joy Reid, smug master of Wikipedia * OKC saluted This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acc...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com No listener mail this time. We’ll double up on the next Members Only. Just an hour-long conversation about Iran… (Moynihan note upon relisten: Qasem Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force within the IRGC, not the IRGC itself)
Two episodes in one! First, the lads discuss Iran, the legacy of the Iraq War, and MAGA’s internecine battles over foreign policy. And then Harry Siegel, the great chronicler of New York City politics, stops by to answer that hugely important question: will the financial capital of the world, the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, soon be governed by an anti-capitalist weirdo who thinks that “globalize the intifada” is just another way of saying “give peace a chance”? Thi...
Moynihan and Welch talk to Nadav Eyal, senior columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth and one of Israel’s most prominent (and best-sourced) journalists. Typically, we would keep a bonus episode like this one behind the paywall. We were feeling generous today. But never rely on our continued generosity. So subscribe, cheapskate! * Meetings cancelled, meetings kept * How the attack on Iran unfolded * James Bond is a Jew * Taking out the IRGC leadership and partially neutering Iran’s missile capabilities * ...
Senator Rand Paul joins the lads to lament the big, beautiful bill; the big beautiful Soviet military parade; the Twitter halfwits waging war on him; his party’s descent into populist voodoo economics; whether or not he’s an advocate of “open borders”; and what he makes of Marines on the streets of Los Angeles. After the senator leaves, Foster, Moynihan, and Welch stick around to discuss…all those same issues. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get ...
This episode dives into the dramatic fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk regarding the “Big Beautiful Bill,” analyzing the political framing and underlying issues. It explores Steve Bannon's candid admissions about the failure to find significant government savings. The conversation shifts to the war in Ukraine, highlighting the effectiveness of their recent drone attacks on Russia and discussing the moral and strategic implications of escalation. Finally, the hosts critique media coverage, particularly the New York Times' focus on Palantir, arguing it's driven more by political bias than genuine concern for civil liberties or systemic issues.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * ABBA’s Vietnam * Barnen i Nicaragua * Mike Tyson, Ratso, and Cus the Communist * Burning down the house / sort of scolded by a firefighter * The rent is too damn free * Everyone is contemptuous of everyone * Is Trump the Bernie Goetz of Harvard? * Rebutting “higher ed is just fine” revisionism * From YAF to Students for Liberty to Turning Point… * Dating apps, height discrimina…...
* Racist Macca? * Some bad names * In praise of (trans?) Pee Wee * Does Long Duck Dong denounce his past? * Was that a Reaganite video game? * Trade war nonsense: the court says…maybe not * Moynihan’s $700 dress (including a $250 tariff) * Kmele on CNN * The end of Elon * Just like Reagan and Thatcher but not all * No suspects, no DNA, no fingerprints, no leads * MI:7 DEI This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wet...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * We think we *might* have talked about politics in this episode? * Happy anniversary Christian Cooper! * Talking to the dude who made those drug PSAs * The Glug (1981) * 2020: The year that broke America * Burning down the house (almost) * The tax protestor in our midst * Johnny Rotten, Johnny Ramone, the Plastic People, and the politics of punl * Nick of Schumpeterian Gatsby…...
* The ritual humiliation white genocide slide show! * That’s not really true. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? * Trolling with refugees * That Mandela picture MM mentioned… * Uncle Paul * “Well do you DENOUNCE that language? Huh? Huh? Did you even say thank you??” * The big, not-so-beautiful bill * The trillion dollar dome * Gaza and the “14,000” * Our Original Sin and Korean Robert * When did he lose it? * That Christie clip is actually six years old. But here it is . This is a public epi...
* Jack London and hobo Oakland * The lovely government of Qatar * Trump in Saudi * A carnival of corruption * Chasing heroes… * The end of the “introventionalists” * But do they *fear* him? * The new Chomskyites * Declining freedom… * Trump’s fat, rich friend who wants price controls * The triumph of gesture politics * Black Leo 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...
You demanded, we complied. Last month in this space, I interviewed science/technology/Covid journalist David Zweig about his great new book, An Abundance of Caution : American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions . It was a bracing conversation, filled with damning media/elite criticism, blue-state horrors, and F-bombs galore. Then a funny thing happened: Dozens of you wonderful paying subscribers said Mr. Welch, tear down this paywall, so we can share this with our normie friends! A...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * The Bill Bixby of East Egg * Figure it out, people * Solitude: City vs. Country (not a reference to the Jonathan Richman song , btw) * Allemansrätten and who makes the most money in your postal code * Jawohl CHEF! * Banning internships will help the poor * “Worse than Watergate” and the Ballad of G. Gordon Liddy * How does one start restoring a car * The brilliance of our mod…...
UPDATE: The initial version of this episode was missing two audio clips, both of them featuring exceptionally stupid people saying exceptionally stupid things. To be honest, you were be better off not hearing either of them. But the episode has been corrected, the punishing stupidity included, and now you’re worse off… * Notes from a live event (going live later today ) * Fifdom represents * Spotify exposes! * RIP Swampy * India, Pakistan, and the American retreat * Ending power, hard and soft *...
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Tickets for tomorrow’s Moynihan-moderated debate at the Village Underground can be purchased here ! And subscribe to the Moynihan Report YouTube channel ! * Winnipeg land acknowledgements * Prison competition * Tariffs for erotic French movies * Traitorous Hollywood not paying enough to make movies * A listener wants to talk about Steph Curry * Rare books * Lying on the fact…...
