048 'Ok, We Need to Talk About Russia, Worse Than Iraq, Non-troversies' - The Fifth Column

(Recorded: February 13th 2018)

'Whenever I hear some bigmouth in Washington or the Christian heartland banging on about the evils of sodomy or whatever, I mentally enter his name in my notebook and contentedly set my watch. Sooner rather than later, he will be discovered down on his weary and well-worn old knees in some dreary motel or latrine, with an expired Visa card, having tried to pay well over the odds to be peed upon by some Apache transvestite.' - Hitch

- The Great (XXL) Black Panther Debate

- Richard Spencer & DeRay Mckesson: CODEFENDANTS

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+ Indispensable Commentary On That [treasonous/heroic/meh] Nunes Memo+ Context, Collusion and Russian Conspiracies+ A Foreign Policy Primer+ Briefest of notes on Trump's first State of the Union

(Recorded February 1st 2018)

Note: This dispatch was recorded the day before the MEMO was released, honestly -- you won't be able to tell the difference.

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w/ Bari Weiss (@bariweiss), Staff editor and writer @ New York Times Opinion (Former Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine)

An expansive, high-quality dispatch that was unfortunately marred by technical mishaps. It's not actually Fishers fault (quite the contrary in fact). xpan

Things improve considerably as the release goes on.

- Government Shutdowns- Amnesty Don's Great Big Amnesty Bonanza- Skipping out on the Wall Street Journal, Making Trouble at the New York Times- #MeToo- Trump Wanted to Fire Mueller- Collusion, Obstruction or YAHTZEE!

Recorded: January 25th, 2018

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Moynihan is back, Matt was an illegal immigrant, and Kmele was *front* row for Lebron vs. Steph.

Plus: DACA. FISA. Shit. #MeToo.

Recorded: January 15, 2018

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Recorded: January 5, 2018

- Kmele’s Axioms of Child Rearing- Long on Fury, Short on Fire- Red Flags, Fake News on Facebook- Trump's Tax Cut, Regulation Busting - Heather Mac Donald vs. Everybody

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Recorded: December 21, 2017.

Michael Moynihan (Vice News) in conversation with the incomparable Tina Brown. On the business and practice of journalism, the marvelous island of Manhattan, the authentic bullshit of Donald Trump, and #metoo.

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(Recorded on Thursday December 14th 2017)

with/ Jeffrey Blehar (@EsotericCD) of Decision Desk HQ and The Political Beats podcast.

We talk the recent Alabama Senate election and the FCC's controversial decision to rescind Obama-era net neutrality rules.

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(Recorded, November 2017)

An expansive exchange with renowned social commentator and linguist, John McWhorter. McWhorter is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He's the author of twenty books including 'Words on the Move' (2017), 'Talk Back, Talking Black' (2017), and 'Losing the Race' (2000).

Also Referenced:“Antiracism: Our Flawed New Religion” (2015 - The Daily Beast)“How to Listen to Donald Trump Every Day for Years” (2017 - The New York Times)'Tragically Unfit to Be President' (2017 - The New York Times)

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- Matt Lauer

- Seducing Kevin Spacey

- James O’keefe

- Fake Headlines, Faker Stats

- Dumbest News Day Ever

- Britain First, Murder Allegations

- Trashing Bob Woodward

- Some Idiot.... ABORTED

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai drops in to explain why he's returning the Internet to the dark ages of... 2015.

PLUS:

- Draymond vs. Mark Cuban

- The AOL-Time Warner instant messaging juggernaut

- Janet Jackson's wardrobe and Stephen Colbert's c***holster

And why won't the FCC just let Slim Shady be?

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Recorded: Thursday, November 8, 2017.

We chat with Rob Mariani, former opinion editor for the Daily Caller, about Milo's first (and last) weekly column -- and how to handle radioactive things without getting burned.

Plus:

questioning Moynihan's sexuality;a very gay historical debate;the intellectual dead end of 'just trolling' politics.

(Columnist Interruptus)

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Recorded on Thursday, November 8th, 2017

Trump takes a long 'grueling' trip to the Far East, maybe tempers the crazy and manages to get cooked in the elections stateside.

PLUS:- Aubrey and Kojo- The Meek Mill Guide to Criminal Justice Reform- 10 Lbs of Gelatin- Moynihan Got it For *Cheap*

CORRECTION: 'Dreams & Nightmares' was definitely a studio album and not a mixtape.

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Recorded on Thursday, Novemer 2nd, 2017

With Special Guests:

Josh Zepps - Host, #WeThePeople LIVE (@WTP_Live, @joshzepps)

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Recorded on Thursday, October 26th, 2017

Moynihan and Kmele are on Assignment -- Welch takes the reins.

With Special Guests:

Nancy Rommelmann - Journalist, Author of 'To The Bridge'

Bill Schulz - Host of Compound Media's 'Mornin'!!!! w/ Bill Schulz'

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Recorded on Thursday, October 19th, 2017

'The opposite of a way with words'

- How Chad Saved Moynihan’s Life (and Why We're Huge in Canada)- Former President Bush and John McCain Have Strong Words for Trump - Totalitarianism, Populism and Economic Uncertainty- US Troops in Africa, Calling Up Gold Star Parents- The Opposite of a Way With Words- When 'Everything' is 'Some of the Things'- Morbid Premonitions, A Non-Fatal Stroke- When Louis (Farrakhan) Met Richard (Spencer)

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Recorded on Thursday, October 12th, 2017

The Harvey Weinstein Controversy1) What To Do With “Shitty Media Men?2) Why won't Hillary and Barack say anything?

Tillerson, Corker and World War III1) The Worst of All Possible Worlds2) Death by Non-Proliferation

Trumps Assault on the Media1) 'When the President says it in public...'2) How We Got Lucky With Trump

PLUS:Google, Twitter, and a Tangible ThreatMatt's Mom Bought Him a Mug.Kmele Says Completely Unacceptable Things (almost every dispatch)

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Recorded on Thursday, October 5th, 20171) First Amendment Controversies

2) Meditations on the Las Vegas and the Second Amendment

3) An Homage to Catalonia (particularly on the subject of secession, with additional remarks on Kurdistan)

PLUS:

Kmele Heads to ComicCon, Bumps into TNCMoynihan vs Melba

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Guest: Katherine Mangu-Ward, Editor-in-Chief @ Reason

Recorded: Wednesday, September 27th, 2017.

Another wide-ranging, intellectually-stimulating, and very well-lubricated dispatch.

We begin with an almost respectable (but undeniably illuminating) discussion of Donald Trump's 'Revolutionary Tax Framework' -- (his words). Proceeding from there to the re-re-re-failure of Republican maneuvering to 'Repeal and Replace' Obamacare.

Then we really pour on the gas:

From 'Taking a Knee' to 'Title IV'Banning Uber to prevent rape is ... beyond stupid.Mark Warner's crusade to stop Russia from using Facebook (and hollow out the First Amendment).

PLUS:

Should you ever use 'cyber' as a prefix?What's the origin of 'hang 10'?#firebettsyGender differences.

(Sweep the leg.)

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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's plan to save democracy credible? How hot would your step-granddaughter have to be before you wouldn't, not, totally date her?

Also:

- Meditations on the St. Louis and Police Shootings- Something about the Manafort warrant and wiretaps- and 'some idiot wrote this...' and it's so awful that you should find the time to read it.

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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 reversal, and his infatuation with those generals.

-The best thing about Hillary's new book.

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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-lets-make-it-happen/?utm_term=.d7cee531cf3a

Kmele takes Anthony Fisher to task for calling President Trump’s brand “cruelty” in a DACA-related article Fisher wrote for The Week. But you gotta hear BOTH SIDES (link: https://theweek.com/articles/722742/trumps-daca-suspension-proves-brand-isnt-winning--cruelty)

Absorbing Ta-Nehisi Coates latest epistle “Donald Trump is the First White President” (The Atlantic) https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/

Matt claps back at 'comic' Andy Kindler.

A rare morning recording. Sober*, salty, caffeinated.

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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.

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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 'soft on white supremacists' actually help Trump?

AND... sunk costs in Afghanistan, fights on Planet Libertarian, and Matt doesn't want to punch any grannies.

Happy birthday, Hollywood (wherever he is).

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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*.

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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 Policy Miasma (Venezuela, North Korea, Manafort's Home Searched by FBI)

- A Diversity Memo, Super Angry About A Show That May Never Get Made

Pro Tip: Don't Send Send Photos of Your Junk to CoWorkers Without Their Consent. May not end well. Sure, it could, theoretically work out fine... but above average odds that it won't.

Moynihan, Fisher, Foster are in the building. (Welch is... in Europe... Claims to have no internet access)

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[“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.

- The conspicuous absence of President Steve Bannon.

- Net neutrality and banning VPN apps in Russia and China.

- Numerous other things of urgent importance.

- And there may have been a brilliant Affirmative Action *exchange* at the end of this dispatch too, but it’s all a bit of a blur.

[ … The brightest stars have the shortest lives.]

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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 'Science' is so terrifyingLA 92 ('Certified Fresh!)

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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.

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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 the 20 min mark here.)

ALSO:

· #CNNBlackmail scandal (False Start)

· President Trump in Poland (Did You Know: POTUS was once on a show called 'The Apprentice')

· An Actual #CNNBlackmail conversation

· North Korea

· Jay-Z Isn't a Feminist

· Colin Kaepernick, Fredrick Douglas (What the 4th of July Means to a Slave)

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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 reasons why POTUS may need to tell you “no” when all you want to do is hang out with him.

PLUS:

The Great Serena Williams DebateAcceptable Reasons for Book BurningsCode Switching

Important Show Note: Kmele Foster is “black” (whatever that means).

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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. He would die a few days later.

And Moynihan recounts his recent visit to Evergreen State College.

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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, plenty of citizens and a good number of media types were soon leveraging the tragedy to support their own philosophical convictions.

Plus: The necessity of confronting awful people and ideas in public, and a brief glance at Jeff Sessions' congressional testimony.

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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

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[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 eight-something', and the Cavaliers are very unlikely to take the series in seven games (the last two items have almost nothing to do with this dispatch, but they're demonstrably true).

w/ Kmele Foster (Freethink), Michael Moynihan (Vice News Tonight on HBO)

Recorded: June 8th, 2017wethefifth.comtwitter.com/wethefifthfb.com/wethefifth

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- 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)

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'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 for the holidays). And The Fifth Column is *probably* expanding to SiriusXM!

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