The Fifth Column

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! And so I have.A good time to mash the subscribe button!Now it’s your turn, o demanding listeners (and even non-demanding freeloaders) – let’s hook some new normies into your favorite podcast, and maybe persuade some of you fence-sitters about the primo content you’ve been missing out on. As Pope Bob from Chicago has taught us, the more people subscribe, the more special treats for everybody. Amen.Without further ado, the original text for the episode.***On May 11, 2020, as I was navigating personal collapse (“it’s been a really shitty two months,” I said on an interesting-to-listen-to-now Special Dispatch #20), my two daughters were wrestling unhappily with Zoom school, and all three of us lads were in the process of buying Covid cars, I came across a Wired article that landed like a Cher-style open-handed slap across the face: “The Case for Reopening Schools: Lots of other countries have decided that it's time to take this step. Why is the US holding back?”The piece, by David Zweig, was very contrary to the U.S. news coverage at the time, chock full o’ studies and data points and hyperlinks, and opened like this:Schools are reopening in countries around the world in response to a substantial body of evidence that children are largely unaffected by Covid-19 and minimally contagious when they get infected. Experts and policymakers abroad also acknowledge that school closures perpetuate a long list of known harms to children.Yet, oddly, the US is following a divergent path.Along with other real-world evidence trickling in from around the globe, Zweig’s essay (plus a June 24 follow-up), was part of my four-month journey from close-the-schools alarmist to open-the-schools monster, the latter condition from which I would spend more of my journalistic energy over the ensuing few years than I care to remember.Zweig, also a New York City parent of two schoolkids at the outbreak of Covid, is determined never to forget. His book An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions, is more than mere rage-calorie score-settling, however. At heart, he tells me in this occasionally fiery conversation, it’s about how we make decisions under crisis, and how our country operates under duress.What he both discovers and explicates, in fascinating detours through Evidence-Based Medicine and the philosophy of science, is that two institutions in particular let us down: Public health elites, and the media. “This is an extraordinarily compelling story about evidence being ignored and dismissed,” he says. “They ignored empirical evidence that was right in front of their fucking face.”Trust me, you’ll want to get to the last 15 minutes here, where Zweig describes how this process transformed his politics. It was “this revelatory moment,” he says: “Oh my God, I was a complete arrogant asshole.” Few others are spared.Some links:* Excerpt in The Atlantic, “The Disaster of School Closures Should Have Been Foreseen”* Excerpt in The Free Press, “How Covid Lies Destroyed Kids’ Lives”* Zweig’s Substack, Silent Lunch* NPR, “What Parents Can Learn From Child Care Centers That Stayed Open During Lockdowns,” June 24, 2020* The New York Times, “How 132 Epidemiologists Are Deciding When to Send Their Children to School,” June 12, 2020 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* 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* Marjorie Taylor Chomsky * Israeli endgame* Portnoy’s NYT complaint* Piers Springer and the forbidden word* Don’t give money to meth head Nazis who yell at babies 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* 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…

They’re all back. And they recorded a very fun, very long one…during the day…to minimize drunken regrets. So many topics are covered—the Koch brother, the last episode, bad interviewers, bad manners, the strange new media, the strange new Ukraine strategy, exit Walz, etc—that we might as well dispense with the usual bullet points and just get right into it…Enjoy! 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.comMoynihan couldn’t make it (we don’t know where he is, but if you see a shirtless man yelling at a parking meter in lower Manhattan, please let us know). In his absence, Kmele and Welch cover a wide swath: alien oceans and scientific hype cycles, the collapse of local journalism, the rise of YouTube basketball nerds, and why Luka Dončić is the people’s MVP. They also wade into darker waters—federal crackdowns on campus speech, student visa censorship, and the increasingly authoritarian posture of Trump 2.0.Plus: reader mail, a reluctant defense of David Hogg, a rant about scams and AI voice fraud, and a minor audio glitch that might actually be evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Errr….This one gets pretty heated. But we’re all still friends! We think. And Moynihan is now sober and his blood sugar is back to normal, so there’s that too. Either way, hats off to Batya for braving another episode with three people who disagree with her on pretty much everything. We talk Tariffs, Trump, lawfare, Ukraine, and everything in between. 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* The Hungarian dentist and the prostitute theory* Your TV wife sees Hitler all the time, no?* Facilitate…* Dinners with politicians * A digression on Big Star (FYI: "Holocaust”)* Elder scams* Apple Watches and proof of life* Back to Rogan and Murray* A trip to Libya for a copy of the Green Book* #9 Fifth Dream * Doing an impression of a smart person / Paul believes* A theory …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comOn May 11, 2020, as I was navigating personal collapse (“it’s been a really shitty two months,” I said on an interesting-to-listen-to-now Special Dispatch #20), my two daughters were wrestling unhappily with Zoom school, and all three of us lads were in the process of buying Covid cars, I came across a Wired article that landed like a Cher-style open-ha…

Moynihan is out with a “tooth thing” (which sounds lame, but is allegedly a “painful,” “very serious” dental emergency that definitely doesn't involve a tall, attractive blonde woman). Fortunately, our pal Jesse Singal (Blocked and Reported, Singal-Minded) is along for the ride, and outlines the plans for his heroic crusade to save THE REPUBLIC by beefing with JD Vance on X. We dive into Trump 2.0’s extra-constitutional improvisations, fail to steer clear of trade policy, and search desperately for a silver lining in our late-capitalist, national-populist, increasingly surrealist Idiocracy. Also in the mix: a little Elon drama, libertarian coping strategies, various flavors of executive branch lawlessness, and a surprising outbreak of informed optimism about the future.* Tooth decay, high-end prostitutes, and podcast logistics* Jesse Singal enters the chat (possibly still mid–Twitter beef)* Deportation by executive vibe* Due process is for losers* When JD Met Jesse: A Very Sexy Love Story (by Selena Montgomery)* The most important internet slap-fight in American history* Hotel El Salvador: now accepting unwanted Americans* Bannon’s “flood the zone” plan meets sheer incompetence* Shouting at Bill Hemmer* Campus protests, free speech, and DHS interns with tasers* Jesse accidentally agrees with libertarians?* And can Jesse say one nice thing about JD Vance? (And, “Thank you”!?)* To the Moon, and Mars, and WHERE ELSE BEYOND 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

Is this episode 500?? Well, not really. Likely a bit higher. There have been some numbering convention mixups over the years and we’ve also recorded almost 300 paywalled episodes (yes, you should subscribe now, ya skinflints). But let’s just pretend it’s 500 and say…happy 500th episode, Fifth Column! * Waymo through skid row* The dumb right* Dead cats bounce* They took brown doublewides from us* Nixon, but in the open * Where are the Dems?* Besides magic* The DEI trade off?* The sweet meteor of death episode 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* Val, Tombstone, Top Secret* Top Gun takes it to 11* One the best Hollywood memoirs * RIP Capucine* African-American Monday * Johnny Depp, musician * OK TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE COLLAPSING ECONOMY* Spartacus moment? Once they start flipping…* “They couldn’t believe it. Ben Shapiro, of all people…”* A Norwegian. A Dane…and a guy who *isn’t Finnish, Matt** On the best fight of …

* We bring back the great economist Scott Lincicome to separate MAGA myths from inconvenient facts on trade, trade imbalances, ChatGPT math, and getting “ripped off” by our (former?) allies. * Note: watch Kmele and Moynihan (and Gerald Posner) on the latest episode of the Moynihan Report * Eli’s new Liberation Day jam* These tariffs are dumb* Really, really dumb* Ruinously dumb* Laura Loomer is dumb* Tom Sowell isn’t dumb* MAGA’s Iraq 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* Tomorrow on The Moynihan Report: Actor and former fat guy Ethan Suplee (American History X, Wolf of Wall Street, Mall Rats, Remember the Titans). You can watch live at 4pm ET here. Archived there too! * Muslims and parking * No turkeys in NYC * Matt to the mothership* Austin Fifdom* Kmele and a Complete Unknown* Our paranoid times* No MAGA, no paranoia?* When you’ve lo…

* FYI: If you want to join the Zoom for March 27 episode of The Moynihan Report at 4pm ET, use this link * The Legend of Gavin and Charlie * Bob in Tulsa * Moyn in Miami* The bumbling Signal Boyz* We hope our kids never lie like this * Defund NPR * Another 25% will save American industry* Remember the minerals deal?* The jury on whether we should execute the judiciary * Car swastikas * And much, much more! 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

* Live tweeting history* The importance of Jack * The “climate of hate”* Some of these goofballs are normal* RIP Manny* The fake ceasefire * If only were weren’t a democracy…* Back to Gaza * Civil liberties, due process, and magicians * And a bunch more…. 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* The golden age of Oaktown’s 357 ("I just put Juicy, Got Him Crazy into Chat GPT to determine what it's about and it is definitely a song about...."* Yes, we briefly talk about forgotten about rappers and their dumb lyrics* Pumps and the Bump* Grok has this to say about our Hammer convo: “The casual acceptance of MC Hammer’s Speedo situation is absurdly funny.”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comA rebroadcast of our last subscriber-only Second Sunday episode. Thomas Chatterton Williams stops by. Everyone’s in the same room. Many bottles are emptied. Many offensive jokes told. Many careers destroyed. Enjoy.

* The one Jew she likes* The amateur crank historian* The cranks always end at…take a guess* Kmele isn’t interested in Ms. Macron’s dong* Show we draw some distinctions?* Congrats to the Buchananites* The weirdness of Gavin Newsom’s podcast* On Bannon* On Columbia, the first amendment, masks, and dangerous idiots* The Ukraine non-deal* And much, much more 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.comI was very moved by friend & past guest Jeff Blehar’s Covid anniversary piece, so … I just read it out loud. And added related commentary for paying subscribers. Some links alluded to therein, in rough order of reference:* Reason Roundtable Covid look-back* Related Twitter thread* “The Great COVID Rupture: Three years after ‘15 days to slow the spread,’…

* A very long SOTU* Al Green meets Buju Banton, Tripadvisor objects* The most beautiful, terrifying word in the English language* The “deficit” you shouldn’t care about * The forgotten Foxconn boondoggle * The hopeless Democrats* Maybe look at, say, Dean Phillips and ignore the Squad* Asian finger cuffs* Two cheers for parliamentary democracy * Poor lil’ Marco * Who killed Gene Hackman’s dog? 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.comThere’s some discussion of parenting. A tiny bit about the Oscars. And a bunch about the triumph of conspiracy culture. But this is mostly a subscriber-only episode about the Zelensky debacle and the ongoing U.S. foreign policy realignment. So why bother with bullet points?’

* Trump’s maturity* Trump’s deal making* Trump and NATO * Trump vs. Europe * Trump and Taiwan* A price on Bolton’s head * Is he a neocon? 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

* The traffickers of the Fifth Column * The genius of Bill Belichick * Those Boston boys aren’t so terrible after all* Nick v. Stewart* Democracy died in the light! * The WaPo freakout * The press pool freakout* No one believes in anything, part 387* The “Epstein files” will contain nothing of interest* A “Roman” salute that no one noticed* MSNBC is apparently racist* A live event in NYC! 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* RIP Roberta* What’s the “woke right?” No idea.* MAGA Brooklyn* Reform Party 2000!* Nadia didn’t pay, so…* But does it vindicate the collusion narrative?* Eli Lake’s “Framed and Guilty”* The Great Negotiator* The rise of AfD…and the end of Europe?* Kmele and Kanye (“He’s a NAZI, Kmele, a NAZI…”) * Moynihan’s memory* Drinking with Team Uterus

* Matt vs. the Gremlins* He lasts about 20 minutes * Subscribe to the pod so he can stay at normal hotels that don’t use Compuserve* Two minutes of Kayne and the Yahud* Everything is a lie * Free speech king goes Russiagate * Trump’s Ukraine disgrace * Allies and Axis 2.0 * Here DOGEy DOGEy DOGEy * Misunderstanding democracy* The animals of Hamas * Inhumanity makes one inarticulate* 😡🐰🥚 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* If this plane crashes, it’ll just be ‘Steve Wozniak, Allen Iverson, and some other people’* Murder motel in Huntington Beach* Marvin Gaye's confession* A shot, a beer, and Paddington 3* Brexit, bananas, and robber outfits* Not their best. But sort of. * The New York Times’s dumb report from Europe* Does Vance have a point?* Ukraine negotiations without Ukraine* A bunch m…

So we took a few days off. We deserved it. Sort of. And after all, there were pilots to filmed, kids to be cared for, conferences to attend. Indeed, on Friday we gave a talk at a wonderful University of Florida conference on America’s love of bullshit. But we begged off from the proceedings for an hour to record an episode. Because we love you guys. And because we needed to discuss Pete Hegseth, beer bongs and Goldschlager luges, Elon’s weird kids, the future of DOGE, the future of Ukraine, Islamism, and Serena Williams. And a few other things besides… 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

* The hockey plumber * A very brief return to tariffs* Let’s fight the drug war again! Yay!* Neocon Don wants to make Gaza great…for the first time* This is a very, very bad idea* Like…an extraordinarily bad idea* The 80-20 issue* Lia’s standup special * 60 Minutes in the docket* “Restoring freedom of speech” 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.comWe asked ChatGPT to give us some titles for this episode. Turned out to be a pretty decent précis of the discussion…and the last one is particularly good: "Tariffs, TikTok, and Toe-Kneading Terror""Mary Poppins: Feminist Propaganda & Economic Illiteracy""Avocados vs. American Fish: The Dumbest Trade Debate Ever""Trump’s Tariff Tantrum: The Art of the Du…

* First class mud hobbit* At the 80th in Poland* An executive flurry * The interrogation of RFK * In defense of pharma* The interrogation of Kash Patel* Give us Greenland, Part 32* Overreach on DEI?* Frozen budgets * Getting the win* Is *this* the art of the deal?* Why were the JFK/RFK/MLK files held back?* And what will we find therein…* The most annoying Kennedy* Trusting Deepseek* Has the press learned its lesson? 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* Moynihan in Poland (Katya stole his mic)* Ronalda Reagana* Know a Nowa Huta* Onward to Auschwitz* Maybe don’t speak to the far-right German party?* Axis of anti-Woke* Unimpressed with nation-states* The Best Black History Month Report, EVER* Lia vs. MLK Part II* Rufo’s Sore "Winning"* Activism vs. Truth* Our “Blind spot” * Yellow/Blue Dress Explained* YOUR Outrage (Not Mine)* Ove…

* The Zombies reunion* Edibles and expressionism* A ghost on the knee* Who needs a desk when democracy’s dead?* Outage equality* Don’t ever integrate?* Segregation redux* Why Steve hates Elon* Those terrible oligarchs * Who needs the Constitution when we have executive orders?* The Jan 6 pardons: a disagreement * The art of the overcharge* Ross Ulbricht goes home 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* The sycophants are back!* Are we suckers for paying?* Gauleiter Musk* Day one executive orders* The newest, greatest Amazon Prime perk * New national bird: Jim Eagle* Pardon me? * Guess what? Leonard Peltier is not a good guy!* That Outside magazine article* Inauguration babes * Kmele’s letter to his daughter’s school * Not our oligarchs!* Ari Shaffir vs. Howie Mandel* Governme…

* Melanie: the eternal First Lady* A bad deal but…the only deal* The same situation, over and over* Joey B’s final babble* Ike, Elon, and the unacceptable “oligarchy”* The Ralph Lifshitz Award for Cultural Betrayal* F**k You, Surgeon General, says Matt Welch* The shittiest NYT story in recent memory* A shitty celebration of murder on Jimmy Kimmel* Pete H on the Hill * Women in combat is not a weird debate * RIP David Lynch* RIP Bob Uecker 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.comA rebroadcast of our most recent “Second Sunday” episode, during which paying subscribers can hop on a Zoom call, ask us questions, berate us, tell meandering stories, and be generically clever/hilarious/insane. On this episode, we talk to a number of people in Los Angeles about the ongoing conflagrations and the city government’s predictably feckless r…

* Black Bill Kristol* Nobody beats the Rizz* Stealing Greenland* Yet another horrible big city mayor * When you love Castro, you are obviously an incompetent moron* Forget it, Matt. It's Chinatown* More on the 🔥* Is big city governance killing progressivism?* Your lying eyes* Elon’s Nazis* Mark Zuckerberg and “winning” on free speech* The end of corporate walkout culture* January 6 pardons and pizzagate crazy person gunned down * Hobo stabs thug 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* Lia the diva * The era of athlete actors * Moynihan correction: It was Bubba Smith in Police Academy. Dick Butkus was in Police *Story*.* I want to make fun of my boss* Awful political cartoons * More on progressive schools * Are you a hypocrite, MM?* Reflections on Jimmy Carter, DPRK fan * The neo-neocons?* The vibe shift and the sense of the heroic (says MAGA Matt)* Matt…

* 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* Broken kneecap policing 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* 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.”* Books for young men searching….* Can The Man Who Shot L…

* 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* Barron is everyone’s boyfriend 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* 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”* ‘Oh, they’re taxing us, let’s go murder people.’* 23andme and Zor…

* 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 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.comOne 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 online cretins to the awful murder of Uni…

* 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 pardon* "Is he really doing something injurious?"* Preemptive pardons?* The uselessness of cable “news”* Addicted to privilege* Was Trump the great deregulator?* And whole lot more! 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* 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?* Park Slope politics and the crotch Magen David * The M…

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 “the science.”We won’t be unlocking any subscriber-only episodes for awhile so…subscribe! 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* 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* Axios: Trump’s liberal cabinet * ChatGPT is wrong about everything* Back to Cormac

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* That fake Netflix fight