The Fifth Column

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The Morning After Midterm Madness (Ep. #582) Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

Where were you when AMERICA DECIDED? Were you watching our livestream? Were you at the super-exclusive party that, as of this writing, is still raging on? Were you injecting Substack’s election hub straight into your veins? If so, you’ll have no need for this audio-only selection of the best conversations from the evening. For the rest of you, enjoy! You’ll hear not only from Matt, Michael, and Kmele, but from Mary Katharine Ham, Marc Caputo, Ben Dreyfuss, Greg Lukianoff, David A. Graham, Josh Barro, Eliana Johnson, Jamie Kirchick, Megan McArdle, Nick Gillespie, and Ruy Teixeira!If these two hours aren’t enough for you, feel free to relive the evening in all its audiovisual glory over on The Fifth Column’s YouTube channel.

The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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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

One Hitter: Midterm Madness Pregame Oct 31, 2026

Show notes

-COME SEE US IN CONNECTICUT. We may never release this special episode, because the things we will talk about will be horrifically controversial.

-Which party will win the Senate?

-Dirty Dems in Alaska done found another Dan Sullivan

-the TX Senate race…are we sure Texans are that titillated by Talarico?

-Fake polls, election interference, and Bolsonaro in Miami

-Maine and Trump’s last-minute tariff maneuvering

-Trump is an effective campaigner…until he has to campaign on his own record

-Vivek, the great Ohio slime impresario

-the LA mayoral race nobody seems happy about

-WHO DESERVES TO LOSE? WHO DO YA HATE THE MOST? Kmele’s answer may shock you

JOIN US: https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html

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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

A Socialist Walks Into The Fifth Column (w/ Bhaskar Sunkara) #581 Oct 30, 2026

Show notes

-we found someone from the DSA brave enough to come on this show

-The Cajun French of Indians

-If you’re pro-abundance, why are you a socialist?

-DSA and the midterms

-Biden’s heart was in the right place, but his body was...not

-AOC, DAC, and Zohran

-The Left’s remarkable talent for self-sabotage

-Cuba, the embargo, and the pesky issue of free elections

-Socialism and its rather unfortunate historical baggage

-Bhaskar’s three camps of socialism and capitalism

-Worker-owned companies, public banks, and making socialism work in practice

-Hasan Piker, good or bad for the DSA

-Somehow we are talking about Sweden again

-Midterm Madness: California’s billionaire tax

-AI, data centers, and the politics of saying no

-Socialism is gaining popularity. Just don’t run as a socialist.

-Bhaskar’s most right-wing position

-Moynihan’s unsolicited advice to the DSA

Read The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World by Bhaskar Sunkara, Ben Burgis, and Mike Beggs

Bookshop | Amazon

Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST.

JOIN US: https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html

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 President Is No Longer Taking Calls (w/ Edward Luce) MO #352 Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com

Ed Luce joins the guys to discuss Trump’s corruption, the persistence of populism, and the uncertain future of Western democracy.

-DC is beautiful and beige and on the spectrum

-Don Jr.’s corruption and a Watergate every day for 18 months

-Serbia’s student-led anti-corruption movement

-AfD, LFI, Meloni and why Europe isn’t done with populism

-Immigration, ec…

Donald Trump is Gay (Episode #580) Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

-Fairfield, CT. Nov 12th. Get tickets while you can

-We will have an Election Night livestream. Booze, guests, and probable disaster

-Our mystery guest didn’t couldn’t make it today. We won’t name names, but we’ll give you some subtle clues.

-Steve Witkoff discovered Vladimir Putin’s humanitarian side.

-Trump has some thoughts about Zelenskyy. andPutin gets a pass.

-Americans ranked their favorite countries. Where does Russia rank?

-A very stiff competition for the Senate’s biggest idiot and the “Not One Inch” myth

-the dumbest man in the Senate meets the dumbest man in media

-Donald Trump and his love of men

-Midterm Madness

-Vivek vs. Amy Acton, and the attack ad from hell.

-The tone and tenor of American politics is somehow worse than ever

-Alina Habba, Ric Grenell, and the alleged $50 million pardon racket.

-JD Vance answered a question about corruption. Ten thousand weasels applauded.

Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST.

JOIN US: https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html

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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 End of the Special Relationship? (w/ Jacob Siegel) Members Only #351 Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com

We are doing a live show in Fairfield, CT on November 12th. You should come. Details below.

-Jacob Siegel on raising his kids in Israel

-Who benefits from a fractured US-Israel relationship?

-JD Vance had endorsements to spare, just not for Netanyahu

-Israel prepared for life without America’s special relationship

-An entirely natural detour to France

-French…

Why the Midterms Are Turning Against Trump (w/ Nate Silver) Members Only #350 Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com

The guys put America’s most famous political forecaster, Nate Silver, to work… separating real electoral shifts from political noise, and confronting the uncomfortable possibility that everyone is just guessing.

-The House leaned Democratic, the Senate was a toss-up…then came Labor Day

-The first thing Nate Silver does every morning

-$4.50 gas, AI data centers, and T…

Can the Democratic Center Hold? (#579) Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

Yes, we want accolades. Yes, we’re shamelessly asking for your vote:

VOTE for The Fifth Column as the Best News & Politics Show

Yemisi Egbewole is here and we will figure out how to pronounce her name….next time

-A Democratic consultant defending Fox News out of the gate

-Was Mike Lindell ever really a crackhead?

-Ladies and gentlemen, the new White House press secretary, Katie Zachariah

-Did we fuck Scott Jennings?

-How does a WH press secretary actually prepare?

-Kimberly Guilfoyle’s $100,000 AmEx problem

-James Talarico’s imaginary stay in an Ohio psych ward

-the art of standing out among 435 members of Congress

-Abdul El-Sayed vs Mike Rogers in Michigan

-Jon Ossoff and the case for normal Democrats

-JD Vance’s interesting definition of socialism

-Midterm Madness on Zachariah, Alaska, and Michigan

-Trump gets it right on data centers. Until he doesn’t.

-Brian Kilmeade stands up for Ukraine against Rachel Compost Duffy

-Come watch us live in Connecticut!

-What exactly is Third Way?

-Yemisi’s heresies on crime and climate

-Immigration and the Jamaican-Nigerian experience

-Kmele and the Blacks of Connecticut

-Where is the Democratic Party headed, and how much does the DSA matter?

Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 12PM EST.

JOIN US: https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html

Follow The Fifth Column

YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn

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

People Who Lie and People Who Die (w/ Sam Roberts) Members Only #349 Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com

“There are no ordinary lives and everyone has a story”

-Sam Roberts’ father takes him to see the Rosenbergs’ funeral

-Fifty years in journalism and an unexpected career writing obituaries

-Anna Nicole Smith and the brutality of British obituaries

-Charlie Rangel’s complicated legacy

-Who deserves a New York Times obituary?

-Writing Rudy Giuliani’s obituary b…

Europe Is Melting, Meritocracy Is Racist, and Everyone Gets Dignity (Episode #578) Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

Did we mention we’re nominated…did you vote yet? If not, what in the actual fuck is your problem?

-all the bad words are here

-come to Fairfield on November 12th! (https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html)

-Trump in Nebraska….always a good sign for Republicans

-Anal sex, picnics, breakfast in bed, lobster

-Europe is melting! (still)

-who will replace Macron?

-France’s immigration problem

-Sweden discovers gun crime

-America, the assimilation machine

-meritocracy is fucking fantastic

-questions are bad when ethnicities are in front of them

-Vivek, the big guy and the worst swing in baseball

-Midterm Madness where candidate quality counts

-if you had to arrest one person at the New York Times…

-MAGA-curious CBS boss and The Daily Beast

-Theo Von discovers socialism

JOIN US: https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/2026-27-season-calendar/lectures/the-fifth-column-podcast.html

The Fifth Column is in the running for Best News & Politics show. PLEASE HELP US TAKE HOME THE GOLD (or whatever the statue is made of, assuming there is one).

Follow The Fifth Column

YouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn

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

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