Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch

The Fifth Column

News EN ↓ 676 episodes

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

Author

Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch

Category

News

Podcast website

www.wethefifth.com

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

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Episodes

#394 w/ Jamie Kirchick "Hammer Time, Larry Craig 2024, TLDR SOTU" 09.02.2023

* How Jamie ended up writing about Armie Hammer * So what *is* the Hammer story anyway? * How the motivated reasoning media ignores inconvenient inconsistencies * Is there a path back from an utterly destroyed reputation? * How Jamie’s book Secret City informed his reporting * Heroes and homophobia * So is it true what they say about James Webb? * The Lavender Scare and Joe McCarthy * Who was wors...

Members Only #151 w/ Ethan Strauss - DEI Man and the Foreskin Ceiling 06.02.2023

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Armie of the damned * Jamie Kirchick’s piece on Armie Hammer * The Robin DiAngelo of Sports * Ethan’s piece on “DEI man” Richard Lapchick * The question that ended Ethan’s interview with Lapchick * The NBA’s Foreskin Ceiling * “In this day and age…” * Maverick Carter isn’t going to hire you * That shocking 1976 PBS...

#393 "Black Stalin, Objectivity Is Racist, & Tax Robots Are Super Racist Too" 02.02.2023

* The George Wallace travel app * The genius and utter stupidity of WEB Dubois * That disgraceful Dubois obit for Stalin * A copy of the Conservation of Races book * Len Downie’s rotten, horribly written piece about objectivity in news * Jeff Gerth’s really good piece about Trump-Russia coverage * Remember Hamilton 68? Bush 911? Heaven 17? * Hunter’s sexy jobs program * Did anyone notice that Ol’...

Members Only #150 - Memphis Madness, Ubiquitous White Supremacy, and Rope-A-Dope with Mr. Burns 31.01.2023

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * A famous Texas hat * Kmele’s Twitter beef with a former guest * The tragedy in Memphis, the predictable response * Ubiquitous white supremacy * Don’t even read Mark Twain aloud * A listener speculates on Kmele’s “blackness” * Back to Texas: they are just nice people, says Moynihan * Name this listener’s baby * The e...

#392 "Tanks for Victory, Oscars So Boring, and Ben Dreyfuss Is Here to Offend You" 26.01.2023

A sober first segment about war and death is interrupted by our chaotic and fatphobic friend Ben Dreyfuss, who joins the Fifth to discuss his insane Twitter account and why he keeps making people really mad. * We haven’t seen many of these Oscar movies * German Leopards for Ukraine * The arrival of “Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss' actor son Ben, 36, [who was] slammed for saying he'd never have sex 'wi...

Members Only #149 - Georgia on Our Minds 24.01.2023

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com * Santos: Hotter as a lady? * Hunter is a shitty person who makes shitty art * Kmele shuts down a Netflix indoctrination session * Georgia: Stupid people play stupid games and win stupid prizes * A shooting in LA * Another shooting in LA * A tribute to a listener * More on Cormac McCarthy (and Camus and Sartre) * Obje...

#391 "Debt Drama, DEI, and Deceased Rock* Legends*" 20.01.2023

* Release The List * Crosby, Not So Great * A Few Nights In Chicago * Squashing Racism ($5 Million at a Time) * Reparations and the US Constitution * A Seat at the Table * Hereditary Culpability and Entitlement * Manhattan Beach * Daily Wire vs. Mug Club * Drew Carey 🖤 CDC * “We ain’t gonna talk bout dem papers (so y’all can quit asking)” * Debt Limit Hold’em * The Anti-Woke Caucus * Florida’s “O...

#390 "Stupid People, Stupid Ideas, and Stupid Solutions" w/ Douglas Murray 14.01.2023

* The Corvette Papers * “So my friend gets arrested for murder in South Sudan…” * No sex please, he’s British * The times, they have a’ changed * From Belfast to Pyongyang * If I Did It: Eichmann versus the neo-Nazis * Russophilia, left and right * America: a net exporter of bad ideas * Is there a war on the West? * Douglas’s new podcast, Uncancelled History * In defense of Lincoln and Churchill *...

#389 "We Need to Talk About Kevin (w/ former Rep. Justin Amash) 05.01.2023

* Former Rep. Justin Amash was on the floor during the leadership fight?? * Brian Lamb question: What does the speaker actually do? * And what do the Gang of Twenty actually want? * Rep. Amash: Kevin McCarthy “isn’t that bright” and “will do whatever it takes to maintain power” * Why the system is broken and how it got that way * Congress is becoming more European * Reminder: Amash created (and na...

#388 "Occasionally Honest, Unseasonably Reasonable" 30.12.2022

  * Subway Protocol * Lying, Liar * Flooding the Zone * Modest Proposal * The Real Corn Pop * Domestic Disturbance  * Buffalo Electronics * Trump Tapes * Moynihan is cold * Welch isn’t paying attention * Kmele coins a good one (for the third time) * Dank Meme Party * After Trump * Read This. Read That. Recorded: 12/29/22Published: 12/30/22 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this wi...

#387 "Criminally Inclined, Grammatically Policed" 22.12.2022

* Sweet Baby Jesus * Ted Cruz 🖤’s Striper * Dress for the Job You Want * Defensive Capabilities + Fiscal Profligacy * The Worst Possible Scenario * Criminalish Betrayal * Worse than Watergate? * Presidential Travel Rewards * The Stanford Grammer Experiment * Demanding or Entitled BIPOCs Recorded: 12.21.22Published: 12.22.22 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscr...

#386 "" 16.12.2022

* Irish Israeli * France vs Morocco * That Marriage Act * Biden Told The Truth That Time * What Republicans Won’t Do, But Ought to * They’re Actievly Trying to Kill us * Leaving Twitter (Because I’m Oblivious, For the Children) * Doxxing*** Elon’s Plane? * MTG (Would have won!) * Jan 6th Prosecutions * Maced Recorded 12.14.22Published: 12.15.22 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss th...

#385 "Elon, NHJ, and MJ" 14.12.2022

Recorded on Sunday afternoon, this now-vintage episode was consider lost forever, after a certain Fifth Columnist discovered that he still doesn’t understand how computers, cameras, and microphones work. Well….lost until we (i.e. Moynihan) found a weird backup copy of the episode on the Twitch servers! So…a few days late, of variable quality, and now available for download: * Back to the “Twitter...

#384 "The Collapse of Pablo, Anti-Zionist Gimp" 03.12.2022

* Yes, we have to talk about Kanye West Ye Kardashian again * Verdict: The man is not well. And is an anti-Semite * Kmele is sad. Matt is not. * Wild guess: Ye is unfamiliar with Theodor Herzl * Note: some people with bad views used to have not so bad views * Remember “slavery was a choice?” That was pretty dumb * Is Kanye making people '“unsafe”? * Matt Taibbi releases internal Twitter comms on t...

383 w/ Ethan Strauss "The Realest Jews, God's Favorite, Ben Collins Has... Questions (about himself)" 23.11.2022

with/ Ethan Straus of House of Strauss (on Substack) * Does the NBA Have an Antisemitism Problem? * They control the media, our podcast, and the NBA!? * Wait, who isn’t Jewish? * “Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Hitler” * Baseball + The John Birch Society * Stolen (Jewish) Valor * “More than an Athlete” / Lebron “gettin’ that Jewish money” James * Divide & Sponsor * Was (Is) Twitter Pushing Hysteria * But...

382 w/ Nadav Eyal "Revolt and Resurrection: Tel Aviv Edition" 19.11.2022

Rejecting twelve hours with the commoners in coach, Kmele remains stateside while Moynihan and Welch make goyish aliyah in Israel. Wandering from the Egyptian border in the South all the way up to Trump Heights in the North, the lads are introduced to one of Israel’s most famous journalists and big thinkers, Nadav Eyal, author of Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization . Eyal gracious...

381 "The Most Important Midterm Elections Ever" 11.11.2022

No Red Wave. No Blue Wave. No Fascist Takeover. No Democracy Dying in Darkness. The 2022 midterm elections came; they’ll take almost a month to sort out (including a runoff in Georgia) — but things are generally about as bad (and good) as they were before the election. Moynihan returns from the field, where he was covering the race in Florida. Welch and his family are momentarily clear of any exig...

380 w/ Robert Draper "Democracy is on the Ballot (Cause They Crazy)" 04.11.2022

* The Libertarian Moment? * To Start A War * Weapons of Mass Delusion * Pelosi Attack * Definitely Not Bothsidesing * Voting For Anyone Else Is a Vote Against Democracy * The Gravity of Things * Reddit profiling * A Few Parting Thoughts Recorded: 11.2.22 Published: 11.3.22 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weth...

379 "Midterm Closing Arguments, Killing Kanye" w/ Coleman Hughes and Nick Gillespie 28.10.2022

* Power Strip * A Victory for Equity * Surveying the Midterms * Fetterman’s Debate Disaster * The Mystery of the AIDS Quilt * The People vs Jim Eagle * Eminent, Indefatigable Election Fraud * Yarvin - The Mastermind * Black Lives Redux * I Miss The Old Kanye * “Whatabout!?” MSNBC Montage * Antisemitic Calypsos * Antisemitic Hip hop * Crosby, Stills and Ugh * T Boz Lives * From Ken Burns to Colorbl...

378 "Nazis and Sycophants and Cynics (Oh My)" 21.10.2022

* Moynihan has COVID (Again) * Another NYC Covid Spike * “Dangerous New Levels of Misinformation” * The Kids Are Actually All Right (but they’re mostly not getting vaccinated) * No Apologies for #DeathSantis * Ladies Who “Lead” (and cry about it) * Red Wave, Blue Wall, Purple People Eaters * Moynihan’s “Free Smoke” Preview * Republican Skullduggery * Yes, And, [ Deepest Possible Sigh ] * The “AOC...

377 "Racist LA, Racist Brooklyn, Deplorable America" 13.10.2022

The lads are all around the same table in New York City! And LA Times journalist Gustavo Arellano calls in at the top of the show to explain why the President is calling on four local politicians in L.A. to resign. * Gustavo explains Spanish racial slurs * Gustavo explains the racism of the LA City Council * This is the logical endpoint for dumb identity politics * We obsess over the race stuff at...

376 “All the (Unemployed) Young Dudes” 07.10.2022

I am usually among the most allergic to broad, immutable-characteristic-based analyses along the lines of “ The Crisis of Men and Boys .” Some of this is the usual self-loathing— Screw guys, especially if they’re 54-year-old baseball fanatics from California!, etc. But also, probably due to the extended influence of the man formerly known as Casanova Brown , I have seen too often the fact-bending,...

375 "You Don't Know What Fascism Is" 30.09.2022

* Only Fans is for Justice * Internet Experts * Not Even Not Fascism * Right Wing Extremists Everywhere * Blame The EU * What You’re Really Afraid Of * The Beyonce of Journalism * Call of the Wild * Lil Baby Offends * Democratic Illiberalism * Not That Big Lie * Don’t Call It a “Ban” (Even If It’s A Ban) * They Were Watching Baseball Recorded: 9.28.22Published: 9.29.22 This is a public episode. If...

374 "Walls Closing In (Again?)" 24.09.2022

* Toddler Pestilence * Death Defying Drives * Naked Pool Slide (are you “The Big Guy” * Russia, Ukraine, A wildly outdated PBX systems * Trump’s Devolving Legal Situationship * This Isn’t Political; Trust Me 🤞🏼 * Russia Hacked the Women’s March? * Buses, Planes, and “Kidnapping” Stunts * Maybe Build that Wall Now? Recorded: 9.22.22Published: 9.23.22 This is a public episode. If you'd like to dis...

373 "Notes on White Privilege" w/ Adam Davidson and Thomas Chatterton Williams 17.09.2022

Featuring: Thomas Chatterton Williams - Contributing Writer @ The Atlantic, Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow Hannah Arendt Center @ Bard College Adam Davidson - Co-Founder @ Planet Money, Contributing Writer @ The New Yorker*** “It amazes me that any straight, white dudes don't see the privilege we have. It's not subtle.” - Adam Davidson - via Twitter (8/20/22) Not a long tweet. And in the gra...

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