The Fifth Column

Latest Episodes:

#451 - The Battle of Batya (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon) Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

You asked, we delivered. Our pal Batya Ungar-Sargon enters the octagon to (politely!) fight the Globalist Fifth on trade, Trump, robots, unions, automation, and a bunch of other stuff. But we also agree on lots of other things! Hear Batya talk about her wild Israel debate on Zerohedge, how her last book foresaw the NPR madness, and why perverse incentives have created a boring media echo chamber.

Thanks for listening! Love, Oskar and Raoul

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

#450 - Republican Wine Moms and a Dead Double Murderer Apr 13, 2024

Show notes

* Ozempic Joe

* The Juice has expired

* Revisiting the “Trial of the Century”

* The double murderer who “abandoned his race”

* In defense of Marcia Clark

* Dementia dads

* Matt Lauer emerges

* Nutty MTG, drunky Boebert

* Arizona abortions

* Operation Bubble Wrap

* Poor guy in a ski mask shoots at cops

* Group condemnations and the “IDW”

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

Members Only #206 - Hitting From the Ladies' Tee Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

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

* Kid rapping

* Saturday Night Fever is dark, dark movie

* Girl dadding

* Anti-communist manifestos

* On Andrew and Israel

* Big bombs in Iraq: not so fast, Andrew!

* The normalization of extremism

* Don’t be Paul Robeson

* What it means to be “anti-war’

* Dehamasification

* A bachelor party in NY

* And much more!

#449 - The Prince of Tide Pools (w/ Andrew Sullivan) Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

Third time’s even more charming! Andrew “Cheech” Sullivan is back, puffing away and ruminating on Israel, Iraq, conservatives, the trans movement, loud music from bluetooth speakers, the awfulness of Trump (who won’t be a dictator, btw), the resilience of American democracy, the resounding victories of the gay rights movement, and the general boringness of identity.

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

Members Only #205 - Almost Lost, Unfortunately Found Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

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

Last month’s “Second Sunday” broadcast was fun, boozy, and…almost lost. We won’t point any fingers—though they might be jabbed in the direction of a certain someone during the recording—but through a Peter Jackson-like audio excavation, it was saved. Was that a good thing? Errr…who knows. And so, with a few nips and tucks, here she is! And we’ll be back…

#448 - A Hot Mess (w/ Kat Rosenfield) Mar 29, 2024

Show notes

The title says it all. The three lads were together, in the same studio, for the second time in as many months. And it’s possible that the start of this particular episode was, for whatever reason, a bit chaotic. But as we settle in with our friend novelist and journalist Kat Rosenfield, we ultimately managed to discuss a few things like…

* Kat’s cancellation story

* Her great New York mag piece from 2017

* Wait, what is sex trafficking?

* Did Kat steal a sled from a kid? Or is that kid a filthy liar?

* Revisiting Christine Blasey Ford

* Firing or cancelling?

* The sacking of Rona Romney McDaniel…Romney

* The Trump bible

* Kat is meh on Cormac McCarthy

* 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

#447 - Sour Lemon and the Blood Libels Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

* Note to Ben Shapiro: not sure Candace Owens is a big fan of the Jews

* A sick little girl needs Bruins v. Rangers tickets. I mean…sort of. She recently had Covid…

* When life gives you Lemon, fire him because he’s a terrible interviewer

* How not to do an interview

* Depression and ketamine

* The Jamaican national anthem

* The chocolate balls of Sweden (again)

* Remembering Milo

* A friend emails about Trump and democracy

* Guys, pay attention to the actual bad stuff Trump has said

* A wager on Biden’s path forward

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

Members Only #204 - Amplification Accusation: The Dumbest Debate Ever? Mar 18, 2024

Show notes

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

* Norm the Nosy Neighbor

* A terrible coinage

* Did Moynihan kick off this idiocy? Probably!

* Why did we “amplify” a popular internet documentary that we didn’t like?

* We should have disliked the thing we already disliked even more

* Getting clicks is always more important than adhering to the unwritten colleague code

* The only was to redeem for insufficient dislike of…

#446 - Tik Tok Flip Flop, Porn-Free Texas, Democracy-Free Russia Mar 16, 2024

Show notes

* Too much toilet paper

* A subway shooting in Brooklyn

* BTW, dude isn’t dead

* Mike Tyson might kill that YouTube guy with the dumb earrings

* On banning Tik Tok

* Texans have no porn

* Who will win the Russian elections????

* Anti-Italian cable descramblers and freaky phones

* Malaysian monitors Russian election from basement apartment in Malaysia

* That’s not what democracy looks like

* A Fani update

* Repent for not disliking it enough

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

#445 - Women Glow, Men Plunder (w/ Josh Szeps) Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

* How the Fifth Column helped destroy Josh’s public radio career

* People who started on “our side” but went around the bend…

* Consistency, people

* The shrinking of acceptable American opinion

* Sure, we all have our own biases…but…

* Echo chambers and media fragmentation

* Right wing “cancel culture”

* Florida cancels DEI departments. Good or bad?

* MSNBC panel: “Immigrants in Virginia? LOL!”

* “And btw, crime isn’t real”

The Uncomfortable Conversations Substack (and new YouTube channel)

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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