66 Comments

Not gonna lie, the photo looks Moynihan and Matt are the sous chefs to Kmele's new Michelin-star restaurant that's gonna uproot the current trends

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May 22, 2022Liked by Matt Welch

I sat next to the guy whose mom pranked him with R. Kelly 🙌🏼 Awesome night.

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Did she have her shots?

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Can finally say I’ve ~sort of~ been on The Fifth Column

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So I guess, since I was sitting next to you at the show, that means I was *almost* ~sort of~ on the show, right? I had tenth-grade physics or something and I feel like that’s probably correct.

That is, unless there were two people named Kim(berly) who asked questions at the show, in which case I’m disappointed—on both counts, really.

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Twas I

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Ha, when I read your original reply I was gonna make some wisecrack about “yeah, I’m a bandit; that’s what bandits do”, but then I had a flash of panic like “oh shit I haven’t paid Mike yet!” so I had to go deal with that, lol.

I realize this will make no sense to anyone seeing this after the fact but since there are no Substack DMs all I can do is say it in a reply.

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Hah, so I genuinely didn’t remember your name (very bad with that) and forgot that I could just cross reference it with the original ticket transaction thread

Hoped I could erase my blunder before you saw, but the internet never forgets.

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Lol it’s because I get push alerts for these comments (which I maybe shouldn’t, but oh well), so I saw the original version when it was posted. I don’t think you even needed to edit it, honestly—nothing to be ashamed of in there—but hey, all good.

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Should have figured that; I immediately put push notifications on after I’d realized I’d missed the ticket drop by TWO WHOLE DAYS. Never again.

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Seemed odd that M. Rapp said we are losing the ability to take a joke and that he isn't worried about being attacked on stage when he slapped Ari Shaffir ~ a month ago.

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In the vice piece where Moynihan was interviewing the woke college bookers he also talks to Judy Gold, who very much advocated the free speech angle in that piece. The following year she wrote a piece for CNN explaining why it was totally cool for Shane Gillis to get cancelled. Entertainment might be the most cowardly industry out there.

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Shane told a great story about Judy coming up to him, backstage at the Patrice O'neal benefit, and asked for a truce, to which he said "you mean sorry?".

They seemed to get along fine at the Glenn Show w/ Coleman @ the Cellar, though.

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Yeah I heard that. The irony is she didn’t publish the apology at CNN did she lol.

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I mean to be fair you can’t just hit up CNN whenever you want to apologize to someone you had a beef with, even if it was a CNN op-ed that contributed/led to the beef in the first place.

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Well yeah obviously. I’m just suggesting that once you’ve dragged someone on CNN a backstage apology is frankly pathetic and questionable in its authenticity. At least tweet something if you are seriously regretful about participating in someone losing a massive opportunity.

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Fucking get Murray on!!!!

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I’m curious what the pro-Murray (or Murray-curious) Fifth fans like about him, actually. He’s certainly nobody’s idea of a libertarian—not that all of us are; I’m certainly not myself—and lately he seems more and more like a regular-on-Fox-News right-wing guy. (I had no idea he had moved to NYC, but it matches up with his much more frequent appearances on Fox of late.)

I’ve been interested in him for many years, because he’s obviously brilliant, but my opinion of him has gone steadily downhill the past few years. He engages with his opponents with such venom and contempt that I have a hard time taking him seriously sometimes; there’s no need to be such an asshole when you’re as smart as he is.

But hey, I’m always open to changing my mind if and when I’m wrong. I just get the sense that he’s playing to type because it sells books/gets him on TV, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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Jun 6, 2022·edited Jun 6, 2022

You and I are of one mind. I became acquainted with him many, many years ago and he, along with Roger Scruton, were isolated voices in the wilderness of a conservativism (certainly there were no longer any real American counterparts) whom still clung to the antiquated idea that political positions should align with consistent philosophical principles and bend toward clearly defined goals. He has grown increasingly bitter and belligerent since then, much -if not all- of my affection is for the man he used to be rather than the figure he has become, but I still hold out hope he will regain the confidence, hope, and firm perspective he possessed in his youth.

I suspect isolation has warped him to a certain degree.

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I disagree with him about a million and a half things. I'm not libertarian or conservative. But I think he's a great writer and well-spoken and I'd like to hear them in conversation.

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He hates weed big thumbs down

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Yeah this was the highlight for me as well

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I’d give a kidney or liver lobe to have been there. Full disclosure: they’re soaked in bourbon.

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Event confirmed for super-spreader. Just got positive result

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The real question is a positive for what: STI, pregnancy, drugs , COVID, or all of the above?

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May 24, 2022·edited May 24, 2022

Yes.. but seriously covid

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Damn. Godspeed.

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I basically bet on it.

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RIP

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Coleman Hughes AND Douglas Murray in house?! I truly missed out

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Interesting to hear Rapaport defend comedy/comedians and say it was fucked up that Louie CK’s shows were taken away when Rapaport previously campaigned to get a comedian canceled, saying things like “I don’t give a fuck about the ramifications of him getting his shows taken away”. I’d love to hear him account for how/why his feelings changed (any maybe even apologize) if what he was expressing on TFC is how he actually feels.

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Which comedian are you talking about? (And is there a reason you’re not naming him/her or was it just the way you wrote it?)

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It’s Ari Shaffir. I intentionally didn’t name him because who he is and the specific joke that Rapaport took exception to didn’t seem to be relevant to what I saw as an inconsistency between Rapaport’s actions and his statements from the stage. To name him felt a bit like unnecessarily poking at a settled down controversy, but he’s now been named by others in the comment section and I think it’s certainly reasonable for people to want to add more context.

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All fair, I totally understand that. I’m not even aware of the comedian, much less of that controversy, so maybe I’ll have to look into it.

I do think that as time goes by more and more people are seeing that the whole thing was a mistake—that nobody should’ve been trying to get people canceled in the first place—including people who may have participated in it in the past. Not everyone is gonna be right about everything straight from the jump, after all. Not sure if Rapaport fits that bill, but it seems at least plausible.

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Yes! I am sorry I missed it. It looked like so much fun!

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I was the French jackass who flew in from Paris for the show (does economy premium count as not flying coach?). Worth it.

When I got the opportunity, I clumsily shouted from the cheap seats whether they considered turning the fifth into a “franchise”. That was misunderstood. What I meant to ask was whether the trio would consider quitting their day jobs, going full time, and turn the Fifth into a full blown media company. There’s clearly an audience (the show was sold out in a day). I think we can all agree the US needs more of the kinds of arguments that we hear on the podcast. Any thoughts on that? Is the substack enough to support such an endeavor?

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My lawyers are waiting, Moynihan.

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The Rappaport comments on autistic NBA players is intriguing given his role on Atypical, the Netflix show about an autistic teenager's family. Definitely gives a different spin on that comment.

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Rapaport is so cringe lol...wish I could have been there though.

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Came for the Fifth, stayed for the Covid lol

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Same, just got a positive pcr test

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