The Fifth Column

* No more Bobby * No resolutions * Pump it up: The bionic podcast host * New Year’s terror in NOLA and Vegas * The military connection that doesn’t matter * The advent of “car ramming” * In celebration of Chaim Sapir * Forgotten terror * When Charlie destroyed our faith in the media class * Jimmy Carter’s awful op-ed * Erasing Islamism * Revisiting Rushdie * Getting scammed by the “truth” people *...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * An episode that takes a break from politics? * Stars, tardigrades, and microscopy * Race in space * Matt and Moyn watch “A Complete Unknown,” come to different conclusions * Phantom and 40mg * AI’s take on this section: “Listener emails prompt discussions on art, personal struggles, and growth during the holidays.”...

* Pivot to Zoom * Rereading books * The ex-presidents * “It’s 1,547 pages of unreadable garbage. Every year, it’s like Christmas." * Chip the RHINOOOOOO * Elon’s Political Fantasy Camp! * Is Trump losing his power to threaten? * The end of AOC? * Before his own inevitable perp walk, Mayor Adams does a hot assassin perp walk * Insurance companies redux * Kmele is a bad drinker * Don Jr. trades up *...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * If you think it’s expensive now, wait until it’s free * Unpersuasive persuasion * How race is like probiotic soda * Ends and means * "If one killing is justified, where do you draw the line—10,000? A million?" * Siouxsie and the Nazis / Bill Grundy * Tinder Trotskyists * More “memoirs about trauma and identity” * ‘O...

* The Daniel Penny verdict * REinstitutionalization * When should the state involuntarily commit? * Remember, she was a very bad candidate * The great exhale * Joe and the Squad * A fake Portuguese guest * Barro blowback? * On the Substack revolution * The repulsive Luigi Mangioni * The failed Kaczynski * And much more! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com One topic in the news . One quick podcast on that single topic (rather than just texting each other about how certain media figures are vulgar, stupid, and morally depraved). Welcome to the Fifth Column One Hitter! In our inaugural episode, Matt and Moyn get pissed off about the hideous reaction from certain very onli...

* Little Moynihan’s pediatric cancer fundraiser can be found here! This might be the opposite of an incentive, but a random donor will be chosen for a personalized roast video from Moyn and his daughter… * The idiot winds (That “One More Cup of Coffee” live performance MM referenced) * Pete Hegseth replaced by Ronny D? * Ok, you asked for it…with new information, the lads return to the Hunter pard...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * The boys had just heard the Biden pardon news. So much they missed about the specifics…and this brilliant video had not yet been created. * Citizens of the Fifdom debate RFK * The professional Youtube debaters * Teens and true crime * JonBenet * How to interview your dad * A listener asks: Is Dan Crenshaw the worst?...

As a Thanksgiving treat, an unlocked Members Only episode featuring Moynihan in conversation with Dr. Alan Levinovitz, author of Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science and The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat , about RFK’s view of public health, why you are fat, the myth of “natural,” and why so many people have stopped trusting...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Pete’s past * Friends with a murderer * Roofie vending machines * The worst cabinet pick? * Trans snakes that play golf * Damn dirty commies  * The three things reds do well * A store called Store  * That truck is still with Kamala  * Little Baron’s soooooooootcase * One black woman’s quest * Biased bookstores * Axi...

An hour with Semafor founder Ben Smith discussing the sorry state of the media, followed by a Smith-free hour with the lads discussing, among other things, two very different people who nevertheless shared a very deep love of young people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 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 * Kmele: Forever the HNIC * The Filet-O-Fish is Alaska pollock * A Swedish horror show * RFK at HHS * He forgot to mention this stuff… * Elon’s principles? * On Matt Gaetz and John Bolton * You know, we had a pretty good record on Covid… * Moulton v. a Salem Witch * A listener’s Irish-Catholic family is falling apart...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Michael Moynihan sits down with Bard College professor Sean McMeekin to discuss his new book To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism , a Fifth-approved history of the global communist movement, from the ur-commie instincts of Plato to the sinister stupidities of Plekhanov. They also contemplate...

We’ve promised this one for a very long time. But now that Trump is returning to the White House—the mercantilist maniac who recently said “the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariff’”—we finally followed through. By popular demand, we called upon Scott Lincicome, senior visiting lecturer at Duke University Law School and vice president of general economics and Cato's Herbert A. Stiefel...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Our first post-election Second Sunday Zoom call! If you missed it, shame on you for choosing to spend time with your family or choosing not to pony up. But it’s all here. All three hours of it. Yes, it’s the “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” of election analysis. But to be clear, we also discuss Emperor Hirohito, Kentu...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Welch and Moynihan are back in the studio, three days after the end of democracy, counting the days before they get the midnight knock from Trump’s NKVD. So what does one do? Engage in some anticipatory obedience , obviously. But can anything save them? Subscribe to find out! Note: Matt came across this amazing video...

The Fifth did a bit of processing today with our Trump-supporting friend at her Connecticut studio. Hungover, exhausted, bedraggled, the lads then returned to the scene of last night’s Fifth-Free Press-Reason party and recorded this episode. They enjoyed it. And they suspect you will too. . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episod...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Kmele on his appearance in Thomas Chatterton Williams new Atlantic piece * The end of America! * If you don’t vote like me, you should be ashamed of yourself! * We’re not “heterodox” * On never talking policy * Authoritarianism in America * Boyz in the Hood redux * A whole lot of final election thoughts * A listener...

* A Thomas Jefferson freak off * The tree of liberty… * “Election integrity” * What’s happening with those Pennsylvania ballots? * Editorial page endorsements are worthless * Why won’t you resign, lady? * A slaughter at MSG * These people have lost their minds * And Bezos is correct: they don’t trust you * The end of the NYT sports page actually said something important… * The bubble * An absurd b...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * To promote his Substack conversation with Moynihan ( live today at 5pm ET only on the Substack app !), Josh Szeps calls in from the car and talks Aussie stuff for 20 minutes. * Banning that lady from your country (“Does anything ride on this?") * Baghdad Bob on Australia * The Times and the truth * People who disapp...

* How to be a Navy Seal * Losing an eye in Afghanistan * Dan can’t find his glasses / “I can’t see shit” * Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan * A case study in intelligence failure and confirmation bias * On leaving the Taliban in power * Has Trump been good on foreign policy? * The Republican Party post-Trump * Tucker "is best friends with Hunter Biden!” * Why are you even in Congress? * On the me...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Dave in the Hall * Dead in the garden * All the dictators * His kampf * McDonalds troofer * Can Trump be funny? * People don’t care about what we care about * A friend attacks * BHO was a great candidate * Wham-O, Sandusky, and the kids Freak Off * On “Neighborhood Bully” * Never say “grande” * What plagiarism count...

* Old wine, old bottles * Bret Baier v. Kamala * He finally asked Matt’s question. Or was it Kmele’s question? * On not answering questions * The wisdom of Bill Clinton * Back to the politics of the 90s * We always come back to it: late night is awful * Weed reparations * We always come back to it: fascism * Please come back, archive.org * Shutting down CBS? * Why the media being stupid is actuall...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com A rebroadcast * Military propaganda for the kidz! * Jewish Columbus * A new history of communism * The brainworm burrows in again * The Italian * Obama’s code switch * There are meaningful differences between *these men* * Polling problems * The brothers Menendez * Sarah, live from Folsom * Chomsky’s Cuba book * Are t...

* Yes, Michael J. Fox actually actually has Parkinson’s * The MAGA hat incident * We got a journalist around here…he’s asking a lot of questions * Choppin’ it up with 60 * Young morons embrace violence * German American Bund at MSG 2.0! * Bob “Silent Coup” Woodward * Look, he was actually unfairly treated * Schultz interviews Trump * It was Jeff Gerth, actually * A tale of two natural disasters *...