TF
ComedyExplicit
The Fifth Column
Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch
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
www.wethefifth.com
- 38 episodes
- Avg 53 min
- English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
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July 29 · 1 hr 41 minThe Fifth Gets a Substitute Teacher (w/ Jesse Singal) #568
Jesse Singal of Blocked and Reported and Singal-Minded fills Michael Moynihan’s special diabetic chair to discuss Fauci’s diaries, broken institutions, runaway AI, LeBron and Mamdani Mart. -Moynihan out, Jesse Singal in -Bari Weiss hired everyone except Jesse -The Prince of Science re-enrages everyone (or at least Rand Paul) -Gell-Mann amnesia and the collapse of institutional trust -The media needed a COVID daddy -An OpenAI model escaped the sandbox -The analogy of the paperclip machine and how it consumed the universe -Cambridge protected alleged plagiarist Jason Arday -Midterm Madness, Ohio governor race version -Kmele feels that LeBron will never love him but he doesn’t want to talk about it -Three grown men relived their greatest pickup games -Kmele wanted the gods back in The Odyssey -Mamdani Mart promised groceries at 30 percent off -Billy Bob Thornton returns from hell in White Knight (a Kmele Foster joint) -Nazi dinosaurs stalked Jews through Schindler’s Park -Jesse discovered second-order effects -Not every strange obsession with Israel was antisemitism -Rent stabilization has worked great for millionaires -No French goodbye for Kmele Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a listener-viewer supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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July 24 · 17 minThe Temple Is Rich. The Monks Are Poor (w/ Frank Dikötter) Members Only #336
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Frank Dikötter is a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and one of the foremost historians of modern China. His research in overlooked and restricted Communist Party archives has transformed our understanding of Maoist rule. -Frank Dikötter is kind of Dutch, but not really -Writing the definitive history of Maoist horror -Edgar Snow a…
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July 22 · 2 hr 4 minI Don’t Make Mistakes Anymore. They’re Just Lies (w/ Chris Cuomo) #567
We talk about what the media still gets wrong about Trump, what losing CNN did to him, and why he believes more political violence is coming. -Kmele sizes Chris up and… is this podcast 10% gay? -From Fox, to ABC, to CNN -Did the media make Trump president? -Celebrity, discontent and everything the media missed -Being right about what’s wrong -The duopoly is killing us. DSA isn’t helping. -Cuomo, Cuomo and Cuomo Crime Time -Scott Jennings, JD Vance and the rewards of picking a side -The media discovers capital-T Truth and loses its curiosity -Trump’s corruption and the limits of whataboutism -Mario Cuomo should have worn a toga -Voters don’t want the flaws. They want the disruption. -There will be more political violence -Matt Lauer crosses the street to express his condolences -Broadcasting from the basement and losing an identity -Illegal immigration and its convenient distortions -Tucker, Fredo and Mike Tyson -Kmele can take Joe Rogan. Chris has notes. -AOC gets savvier; Kmele would prefer an accounting -I don’t make mistakes anymore. They’re just lies -COVID couldn’t transcend the culture war -Midterm Madness -the first presidential candidates that Matt Welch, Chris Cuomo, and Kmele voted for -Andrew Cuomo and the outsider problem Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a listener-viewer supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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July 21 · 18 minThe Gold-Plated Imperial Presidency (w/ Maggie Haberman) Members Only #335
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, co-written with Jonathan Swan, is out now. -yes, he superglues the gold fixtures in the Oval Office -Maggie Haberman and her very irritating competitor Jonathan Swan -Project 2025 and Stephen Miller’s search for lawyers who would get to “yes” -what needs to be in the paper as soon as possible… a…
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July 17 · 16 minThe Denial of Reality Is a Powerful Drug (w/ Bret Stephens) - Members Only #334
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com -Bret Stephens, Mexican? -Bret’s naked grandmother and the Trotsky/Diego Rivera/Frida Kahlo connection -The family saga of Stalinists, refugees and Reagan Republicans -Learning to love America through tap water and cops you don’t have to bribe -Belgium, a sick little, horrible place -America, land of late bloomers -The socialist Sweden Bernie remembers no lon…
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July 15 · 1 hr 31 minThere Is No They - #566
-The many sins of fattie John J. Cafaro -The Moynihan Report will return -Hand jobs and the intellectual life of West Hollywood -Release the Welch canceled-songs playlist -The Iran deal is dead. The war is back. -Why did Iran blow it up? Why does a dog lick his balls? -Air power has never toppled a regime -The anti-globalists discover the Strait of Hormuz -Israel’s secret Ahmadinejad project -In partial defense of the late Lindsey Graham -Politics is gross. Stop loving politicians. -Fellating is best done behind closed doors -“There is no they. There is only we. And we usually don’t know what the fuck we’re doing.” -Midterm Madness comes to Michigan -Haley Stevens brings a little bit of stick-it-to-’em -Is this DSA thing real? -Colorado nominates a man who first killed at seven (he thinks) -Two fatal ICE shootings in two weeks -Ann Widdecombe is murdered. Britain shrugs. -Kmele attempts the Caitlin Clark/data center crossover. It does not land. Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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July 10 · 22 minFailing "The God Test" (w/ Robert Wright) - Members Only #333
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Robert Wright’s new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning, is out now (Bookshop | Amazon) •“Conference” = group sex •21 years of successfully avoiding podcast wealth •Interviewing the godfather of AI •A tiger and a rattlesnake •Matt gets quizzed on LLMs •The God Test •The shock of vibe coding •China and the superintelligence arms race •Re…
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July 8 · 1 hr 15 minAre We the Baddies? The Graham Platner Reckoning (w/ Kat Rosenfield) - #565
The great Kat Rosenfield joins us to discuss the ongoing fallout from rape allegations against Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner published Monday by Politico. When you’re a star, they let you mispronounce their name. •The Fifth Column (whiskey) sells out! •America’s birthday month •Loathing Graham Platner before it was cool •The least weird thing about Platner •The Times is on it •A working class hero is something to be A•bout that beard •The flaws are a feature, not a bug •We all know a guy like this •Christine Blasey Ford enters the chat•Michael Tracey exists •Kmele expresses skepticism•It’s not consensual, it’s DiGiorno•On second thought, let’s not play the Fuentes clip •Michell Goldberg’s mea culpa •Fruit baskets •Midterm Madness… the Graham Platner edition •Stephen King for senate? •Missing Moynihan Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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July 2 · 1 hr 26 minThe Revolution Will Be Staffed by PhDs (w/co-host Peter Meijer) - #564
-The Fifth Column whiskey racket begins -Matt moves during a heat wave… Peter Meijer reports for duty -Meijer, class traitor, explains the pied-à-terre tax -Mayor Mamdani balances the budget, if you ignore the bailout -Kmele gets Hayek’d -Machine politics was bad, but graduate student politics is worse. -Bannon’s old Leninist fantasy, now available in DSA packaging -Kamala Harris genuflects toward Mamdani-world -MAGA wants the factories back. The robots have other ideas. -Ro Khanna’s children: landed gentry -Midterm Madness, Rocky Mountain High -Melat Kiros justifies 9/11 -Scott Wiener gets yelled at for insufficient revolutionary fervor -Stalinism, but make it customer-facing -The revolution will be staffed by PhD candidates -Speaking of revolution: happy birthday, America Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a viewer/listener supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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July 1 · 15 minAdam Carolla Has Nowhere Else to Go (Members Only #332)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Also: a serious discussion of the cinematic category known as “movies where they clearly came up with the title first.” -The N-word trap at the Hudson Yards gym -Joe Jackson dressed for the evil dad part -Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound defense -Richard Simmons slaps a cage fighter -How to respond to an asshole -Con Air, Face/Off, and insane ’90s movies -Pr…
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June 30 · 6 minOne-Hitter: Sarah Isgur Explains the Supreme Court’s Big Finish (Members Only #331)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com We are lucky to be joined once again by Executive Editor of SCOTUSblog, Sarah Isgur, and on a day when the Supreme Court gave everyone a lot to argue about. -Trump loses, birth tourism maybe does not -Anchor babies and America’s soccer future -The 14th Amendment gets weird -A color-blind Constitution, except when it isn’t -Immigration is the culture war now -Executive p…
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June 26 · 1 hr 36 minThe Cadres and the Cabal (#563)
-Welch enters his Charles Nelson Reilly era -Laura Branigan, Happy Mondays, and songs you didn’t know were covers -Puerto Rico’s revenge -The cadres are closing in -Reihan Salam and Larry Flynt -DAC hits the media circuit and refuses to answer the easiest question in politics -Aber Kawas explains 9/11, in a Miss South Carolina sort of way -Vaporware word clouds masquerading as policy -No borders, no prisons, no TSA PreCheck… no joke -Nationalizing airlines, abolishing comfort, and calling it justice -Mamdani’s machine, the DSA bench, and the Democratic Party’s growing nervous breakdown -Polymarket vs. the polls -The internet is not a socialist invention, no matter how hard socialists try -Senate Republicans discover Trump skepticism several years too late -The SAVE Act tantrum and the incredible courage of people who already lost -Tucker, Trump, Iran, inflation, and the limits of MAGA obedience -Peter Thiel’s terrifying secret network of people talking at conferences -Moynihan goes to Dialog and accidentally joins the Illuminati -Kmele reports back from the alleged cabal -Bohemian Grove was cooler because at least you had to break in Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a listener/viewer supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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
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June 24 · 9 minOne Hitter: The DSA Takes NYC w/ Michael A. Cohen (Members Only #330)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Michael A. Cohen is a columnist for MSNOW, a senior fellow at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, and co-director of its Afghanistan Assumptions Project. He also writes the Truth and Consequences newsletter. He is not the former fixer of Donald Trump. -The correct Michael Cohen stops by -Mamdani flexes in the primaries and three congress critters cometh -DAC gets worse the more…
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June 24 · 16 minGenocide Juice and the Socialist Machine w/Reihan Salam (Members Only #329)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com -Ethnicity as performance -Manhattan politics with the president of the Manhattan Institute -Dan Goldman orders coffee, receives moral instruction -The many political personalities of Brad Lander -Taxpayer-funded activism and the Office of Mass Engagement -Mamdani and the borg beneath the campaign -AOC, cadres, and disciplined political parties -Gaza as the om…
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June 19 · 1 hr 37 minThe Iran Deal Is Bad and Everyone Is Stupid (#562)
-Kmele debuts his Sebastian Bach beach jeans -The Iran deal is like the JCPOA, but a lot worse -Lebanon sneaks into a U.S.-Iran deal -Strait of Hormuz, 60-day promises, and negotiating with hostage-takers -Why can’t the hawks ever learn? -Ukraine brings the war home to Russia -Drones, oil refineries, and the new cost of war -Europe wakes up… sort of -Meloni jabs her digits at Trump -Polymarket checks the damage in Israeli politics -as well as NY-13 and the rise of the DSA -Hamilton Heights is Gaza now -Mamdani’s little machine comes for Dan Goldman -Gaza replaces BLM as the Democratic purity test -The long-term problem with Mamdani economics -Gavin Newsom vs. Trump’s DOJ -The New York Times makes the Epstein suicide case -Tucker, Trump, Loomer, and the inevitable reunion -Baseball is gay in June Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST. The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a viewer/listener supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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
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June 17 · 19 minBatya Ungar-Sargon and the Status Revolution (Members Only #328)
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Batya Ungar-Sargon, host of Batya! on NewsNation, returns!!! And with a new book, The Jews and the Left, about antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and why so much of the modern left has made Jews the enemy. -JD Vance, Tucker, and the anti-Israel right -The Iran deal, Rubio’s silence, and Trump’s trial balloon -What Batya got wrong about the war -Could Trump have sold the war better?
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June 12 · 1 hr 29 minThe Knicks, Oyster Man, and the Infinite Lies (#561)
-The Knicks give New York its greatest night in years and OG makes his MVP case -Valid destruction or peaceful rioting? -A brief detour through America’s dumbest college mascots -Dave Chappelle and Shane Gillis give Moynihan a perfect Comedy Cellar night -Kmele roots for the Spurs, but only to punish Knicks fans -Spike Lee has been on the court long enough -Which celebrity row courtsider gets booed? -Mamdani gets into the affordable soccer jersey business -The World Cup comes to New Jersey by boat -Introducing Midterm Madness -LA’s mayoral race and the Spencer Pratt stolen-election fantasy -California’s governor’s race and the strange usefulness of market signals -The race to watch -Platner’s character problem is not going away -Jodi Kantor explains when MeToo does and does not count -Bill Pulte gets pulled, Jay Clayton gets nominated -A fully fledged disgusting party on a federal level -UFC 250 comes to the White House because this is who we are now -Bullshit, postmodern Trumpism, and the infinite lies The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a listener/viewer-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Follow The Fifth Column YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn 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