The Fifth Column

Recorded on Thursday, September 21, 2017 President Trump's remarks at the UN parley were (hilarious? /meh? /dangerous? ) and unmistakably confused. We crack open cans of Portland's finest sangria while discussing this and other matters of profound consequence. Cargo shorts are irredeemably awful, but should a UN human rights commission formally designate them Nazi paraphernalia? Is Mark Zuckerberg...

Recorded on Thursday September 14, 2017 Guest: David Weigel, political reporter for The Washington Post and author of the prog-rock history "The Show That Never Ends." Matt's recovering from surgery, Moynihan's upright & sober, and Kmele's getting domesticated. Also: -Bernie Sanders is pushing a new health care plan (and he's got a dirty little anti-immigration secret). -Trump's immigration revers...

Recorded 9/8/2017 Moynihan’s back from Russia and has the drinking stories to prove it. Normally reasonable journalos lose their goddamn minds over Betsy DeVos’ intention to bring back due process on college campuses. Matt Welch on DACA: “Call it amnesty, and do it anyway” (WaPo) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/08/yes-daca-is-amnesty-lets-just-call-it-that-and-then-le...

Recorded 8/31/2017 Guest: Ronald Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine and Reason.com . Natural Disasters, political photo-ops, and formulaic media coverage. The worst thing about Mitt Romney, the fecklessness of Barack Obama, and the dark innovations of Bill Clinton. SFTW. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss thi...

Recorded 8/24/2017 This episode: non-existent Nazis, overblown Antifa, and Portuguese vagina-walls. Jacob Siegel was in Boston and Afghanistan, and now he is in Moynihan's chair. He helps the guys figure out what the hell happened in Boston (and why it's not the same as Charlottesville). PLUS: Is there a "libertarian-to-alt-right pipeline"? Should we take "Internet fascists" seriously? Would going...

The guys take a deep dive into Donald Trump's policy on infrastructure and Nazis. Matt is back, Moynihan is off drugs and high on life, and Kmele once started a Bible study group. BONUS: Kmele interviews BLM activist Deray Mckesson, and the conversation gets *dangerous*. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other su...

Recorded: 8/9/2017 With Us This Week: Radley Balko - Washington Post Columnist, Author "Rise of the Warrior Cop","Dr Death and The Country Dentist" (Coming - Feb 2018) Thaddeus Russell - Host of the Unregistered podcast, Author "A Renegade History of the United States" (Much Topics. Extra Innings) - Criminal Justice Reform (Obama's Legacy, Trump's Trajectory, Opioids, Ferguson 3yrs On) - Foreign P...

[“And We Back." -Chance the Rapper] - Moynihan is MIA - Welch is trapped in a room with no AC, 75 dead flies, and a busted shoulder -- and loving every minute of it. - Moscow is beautiful in the summer (if you believe a former RT propagandist) - Kmele... well, yeah - And the brilliant, talented Alyona Minkovski is IN THE BUILDING (@AlyonaMink) PLUS: - The brief but magical tenure of THE MOOCH. - T...

A dense, tangent-filled, and edifying new dispatch (fueled by cash-filled envelopes, adderall, and a bottle of Bushmills -- thanks, Drew.) Trump tells-all to the Failing New York Times: "I should have never hired Sessions!"Welch talks John McCainTrumpCare spontaneously combusted (surprising no one)Next on the “Trump Legislative Agenda of Failure”: screwing up legal immigration, too! Forensic "Scie...

Recorded: July 12th, 2017 Play-by-Play: · Eli Lake Is a Superlative, Award-Winning Hebrew · Fab Five Freddy Is a Foreign Policy Genius · “I’m a White Male…” · Lies, Damn Lies, and IT’S TREASON! · Lacrosse Team Away Games · Eli Slow Claps · World in Disarray: Mosul/Afghanistan Edition Eli Lake, columnist @ Bloomberg View, swings by. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is...

A Helpful Guide to This Weeks Dispatch: · No Mic for Anthony Fisher · Kmele read 22 books this weekend (including Letters to a Young Contrarian, The Shadow of the Panther) · Moynihan talks about Hitchens · Something about the Black Panthers, Lew Rockwell, Marvin Gaye and Berry Gordy · Russian tourist abuses child · Moynihan outs an octogenarian former Nazi at a barbecue (sort of) (We're at about t...

Recorded: June 29th, 2017 A journalistic-misdeed results in the firing of three prominent CNN staffers and a new front in the conflict between Trump and THE MEDIA. Why lots of the things you read/hear in the news are likely to be incorrect. Press briefings may be completely useless, but then again they may not. And of course, the very real dangers of plastic surgery -- and the entirely legitimate...

Recorded: June 21, 2017 The Philando Castile case has reached a controversial conclusion. In July 2016, Castile was shot to death during a traffic stop by Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez. Yanez's acquittal has touched off a new wave of outrage. Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American student detained in North Korea since last January, was finally allowed to return home last week… in a coma...

With high profile congressional inquests into shadowy conspiracies, media panics, and boring White House events turning into embarrassing fodder for late night comedians — the stage was set for an almost banal week in Washington DC — but a brazen attack on Republican congressmen in Alexandria, Virginia, changed all that. While most members of Congress quickly rallied around their colleagues, plent...

Episode 060 Recorded June 10th 2017 Corbyn Surprises his labour party rival (and just about everyone else). Comey testifies before Congress, Trump is quite about it until he isn’t. And Bill Maher said ‘Nigga’, or was it ‘Nigger’. Shout out to Dan Spragens for the delicious and effective bottle of "State of Jefferson" rum See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public e...

[Special Dispatch #2] A rangy and Moynihan-heavy exchange w/ Timothy Snyder, Yale University Professor of History and author of numerous books including (the magisterial) “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin” (2010) and his latest best-selling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” (2017) Fascism, Nazis, Stalinists, Trump, The Road to Serfdom, 'the square root of 69 is ei...

- Pulling out of the Pairs Climate Deal - Roiling the EU - Surveying the Russian investigation - Lamenting w/ LeBron (and not about that horrific game one) (Recorded 6/1/2017) 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

"If they're buying off this president, they're really not getting their money's worth." - Michael Moynihan Do terrorists hate us for our freedom? Are the Saudis just "guided by the beauty of our weapons"? Will Welch start drinking before 11 am? The answers may surprise you. All this and more on a new Fifth Column. Plus: Commemorative drug paraphernalia. The Moynihans convert to Judaism (but just f...

“The most important Fifth Column History… In fact, the most important podcast all week.” - Thad RussellThe apeirogon-like ComeyGate scandal careens into its second week. Rumors seem to be the only thing emanating from Washington DC these days (for better or worse), and not-so-quiet-just-above-a-whisper speculation about impeachment can be heard all over Capitol Hill. Plus , Thad and Moynihan get i...

Is former FBI boss James Comey's unexpected and unceremonious termination a Nixonesque attempt to bury the Russian narrative once and for all... Is it just the latest salvo from a calculating monster with totalitarian asperations... Or maybe the Trump regime is just about as inept as it seems... PLUS:- Clapper: "You ain't no got'damn journalist, Julian!" Assange: "You's a liar!" - What's this abou...

Moynihan is late; Matt went to a cocktail party; Kmele needs a date for Guardians of the Galaxy; and Jamie Kirchick (author, “The End of Europe”) drops by with dire predictions about the fate of the European Project. Meanwhile, Obamacare is dead (long live Obamacare). Plus: Spurious allegations, police shootings, and "the N-word." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is...

A review of the first 100 days of the Trump Presidency: Controversy, failures, do-overs and general incompetence. Plus: Media bubbles and consequence. And that time the streets were filled with brave, angry, nerds… 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.weth...

A record-breaking, kiloton-length new release with all the kinetic energy of [ABRUPTLY CUTS OFF EXPLOSIVES METAPHPOR]... Eat some chocolate cake with Xi, flatten a section of Afghanistan, (check-in with Vladimir), rattle saber at North Korea (glare menacingly in the direction of everyone else in the room, intermittently clapping your hands and screaming as loud as you can... )... and try to assure...

We knew things were heating up in Syria, but it was still a bit of a shock when Tomahawk missiles started flying all over the place. Fortunately for all involved, Eli Lake was on hand to explain the inner workings of Multi-dimensional Hungry Hungry Hippos (it'll make sense, honest)... and to provide a bit more context for that ‘Susan Rice Unmasking’ story he kinda* broke… And it’s our birthday! Se...

Rep Thomas Massie swings by to provide a first person account of the failed Ryan/Trump health care bill. Plus: The prospects for Trump's Tax reform agenda and the intersections of 'economic nationalism' and libertarianism. Protesting Putin. And the two year anniversary of America's adventure in Yemen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd lik...