The Fifth Column

We’re joined by Brace Belden, co-host of the TrueAnon podcast. •They don’t make heroin anymore•The Taco Bell connection•King of the libertarians•Kmele almost dies•You say Somali, I say Somalian, let’s call the whole thing off•The people cut out of the Minnesota Somali fraud story•Does Ben Shapiro think we’re white?•A Maoist small businessman•Certain liberties•Curtis Yarvin discovers YouTube•Yarvin = Slavoj Žižek of the right? •Libertarian Escape (the Piña Colada Song)•The cathedral•Brace, Citarella, and the new intellectual left•Mamdani “is fully a Democrat”•Nationalize Mr. Fruit•Body count•War is a force that gives us meaning•Call of Duty: Median Soldier•Brace is on the DHS shit list•Kmele spent more time at Occupy than Brace did•In China, the trains run on time•The DSA clappers•Don’t let’s start on Venezuela•Wistful for Colin Powell•Where are the drugs!?•The Grifters•The neoneocons•Thumbing the scale•Jeffrey Epstein, quintessential striver•The Chomsky connectionPrefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

Periodically around these parts the audience demand for unpaywalling certain subscribers-only episodes becomes too clamorous to ignore. So it was with Members Only #286, our gripping conversation with celebrated author Sebastian Junger about his harrowing new book, In My Time of Dying.“Please consider making this a non-members only episode,” wrote beloved subscriber James G. “Ditto,” seconded Daniel Cavelli. “I wanna send this to many people.” Similar beseechings from random_academic, Jake O’Finkelstein, [Dr.] Jeff Singer, Lara Merkel Ross, and Oren, who added: “I have a friend who barely survived a massive heart attack last month. And I can think of many others who will be inspired by this incredible conversation.”To our longtime paying customers: We hear you! Please share the episode widely, either as a one-off or a come-on!To our many brand new paying subscribers, brought here by a generous gift, welcome to this weird & wonderful community, and please enjoy full run of the Comments and Chat. And to those seeing/hearing us for the first time, or just flying in the very back of the plane, here is the type of content that can come with a paid subscription. As our dear old D.C. pal Maura Flynn put it, “You make my support increasingly worthwhile and I encourage everyone who can to contribute on the highest possible level. Great stuff, rock on!”You know what to do.•You can always start drinking again•Enough to make ⅔ of these grown men cry•Sebastian’s (most recent) near-death experience•Danger in, insight out•Momento Mori•There’s nothing so dangerous as a wounded Apache•Don’t have an aortic rupture in Truro in July•ICU humor•Hi dad•An existential digression•Better than the one with Will Farrel•Ideological Duolingo•Hot tip from an immigration officer•Old-time antisemitism•Bestselling author sleeps with chainsaw•Sarajevo & the Spanish Civil War•Men’s Journal and the good old days of war reporting•The folly of Afghanistan and nation-building on the cheap•Some things are sacred•Investigating near death experiences•Don’t test Santa Claus•Etymology of a curse•Atheists, physicists, and consciousness•God of the gaps•Yes, we are literally talking about quantum physics•The science of myth•The reason for the need the idea of heaven•Restrepo•Why we all need a tribe•Things were better when they were bad•If you’re not sufficiently terrified, you’re not getting it.•A tribute to dangerous jobs•Making meaning in a meaningless universe•A Bostonian goodbyeYouTube link:Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comAndy Mills joins to discuss his new Longview podcast, The Last InventionThe last invention is…a new speciesHumanity’s coming “hinge moment”Doomers v. Accelerationists v. ScoutsWe are the antsWhen Elon warned ObamaA digital God in a silicon boxHave AI’s creators created something they don’t understand?BubblesWas DOGE a backdoor to replacing government with AI?We’re all go…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comYou asked for it, you got it! A session with just Matt, Michael, and Kmele… plus 200 of their closest friends. It’s The Fifth Column recorded LIVE in Burbank (just like Fleetwood Mac) on Sunday, November 23, 2025. Want early access to the next live show (and full access to this episode)? It’s easy: become a paid subscriber!•The Klonopin Diaries•Cover Ma…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comCheck out Jason Leopold’s FOIA Files newsletter, and the new Disclosure podcast•Steve Albini never had to deal with California fires•Like a baby monitor, but for records•This is a Fugazi t-shirt•The trouble with true Norwegian black metal•All hail Metal Mike•Jason Leopold, FOIA terrorist•There’s always work at the post office•CIA man•New York financier …

• Not safe at home, mayoral edition• “The guns were decades old”• The Trump/Mamdani bromance• The administration’s historic post-fire response• “You’re walking down the street, you happen to look Latino, or somebody hears you speak Spanish. A car rushes up in front of you. Masked men jump out with rifles and throw you in the car”• What does “sanctuary city” actually mean?• Like, no really, what does it mean?• “You know, that’s a good question”• “There’s a number of people who have literally disappeared”• ICE effect on restaurants: Worse than COVID* Trump effect on border: Closed• “The Future of the Democratic Party Is Local”• You lost me at L.A. being governed worth a damn• Fire rebuilding? “I understand that people are angry”• Me, 10 years ago: “Affordable-Housing Problem Lies, in Part, with Government”• “The insurance industry … has been devastating a lot of homeowners”• The heavily regulated insurance industry, you mean?• “The Case for Letting Malibu Burn”• Why prevent Palisades homeowners from rebuilding duplexes?• “Don’t take your lot and turn it into a five-story apartment building”• “We want to get affordable housing built in this city, but I think that if you impose it on a neighborhood, then you will have hardcore NIMBYs”• “I didn’t appreciate that, because they were getting ready to change low-income areas, wipe out the single-family homes, and turned it into massive apartments”• “I’m protecting them from the predations of private developers”• She really did almost become vice president• “I love podcasts…. Maybe I wanted to become a newscaster”• What Karen Bass learned from Angela Davis• About those eight trips to Cuba• “What fascinated me about Cuba is that they provided free health care to their population, and free education”• The LAUSD’s construction boom for non-existent students• “We could always put more money in our schools”• “Judge me by how fewer encampments you see on the street. Judge me by crime decreasing. Judge me by affordable housing units being built”Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

* The Doppelgänger* Where do these Moynihans come from?* The journalism disease* You do not want to get a call from the New York Post* From schadenfreude to envious cruelty* Covering the powerful* What is “social proof?”* The Epstein obsession* Incompetence defeats the deep state* Epstein and language inflation* Representing the Trump voter* MTG’s difficulty with economics* Everyone’s difficulty with economics* Let’s get a Juul and watch Beetlejuice* She’s young. He’s not. But they both hate the young.* Lydia loves deportations* Her billion dollar idea is…sausage?Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comWe are joined by journalist, author, filmmaker, and chainsaw-wielder Sebastian Junger. His latest book In My Time of Dying is a touching reflection on death… and what might follow. Paid subscribers get access to this and hundreds of other Members Only episodes.•You can always start drinking again•Enough to make ⅔ of these grown men cry•Sebastian’s (most…

* The dog hasn’t barked* He knew about the girls. But we *knew* that* So what, if anything, do these emails prove?* Conspiracies, anomalies, pornography* That’s a bad, no good, awful Times headline* Enter Abby Phillip* The battle of the Caribbean* We couldn’t afford to fail* A distinct lack of psychopaths and Holocaust deniers* I care too much….* Abby’s Jesse Jackson book* Abby: Sorry Kmele, racism is real and structural* TV, before the echo chamber?* When dehumanization turns into pride* A French, Swiss, Quebecois goodbyePrefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comIt’s release day for Shadi Hamid’s new book, The Case For American Power, and we’re excited to have him back on The Fifth. Paying subscribers get access to the full interview in audio & video (plus literally hundreds more), and help us do what we do, so… In this episode: * Shadi makes the “case for American power”* A love letter to America, “despite all its faults”* Mor…

We’re joined by Jessica Tarlov, co-host of The Five on Fox News, and Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway. •Among the cons •What does it all mean? •Over performance. Under performance •AOC’s war •What if the people who you want to destroy are the same people who ensure your existence? •You can afford to live here. Just not *here* •How to moderate a trans debate •The USDA wants you to stop mutilating kids so America can sell soybeans •Oh SNAP and guess what I saw… •“Affordability” for Smith College grads •The health care costs are too damn high •Will populism, left and right, destroy us all? •So what’s the Tucker vibe within the Fox building? •Can the “Fox liberal” ignore the online hate? •Your viewers might have died, but new old ones took their place! Prefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com• Don’t mess with the Zoran• The opacity of hope• Inspiration is overrated• Wait, what if none of these proposals actually work…• The return of identity politics?• Is offline politics “additive, human, humane, and empathetic?”• The Dem doom loop• The online left vs. Jon Lovett vs. reality• Purity tests, left and right• The one thing that didn’t shock Hillary Clinton• Harvey Milk died so you could be governor• The right denounces its loony fringe. Sort of.• Has the left done the same?• Has Jon’s baggage shifted to the right on anything? Well…• Can you be buddies with Barack?• Is it bad to have an enormous Nazi tattoo on your chest?Prefer to watch & chat together with other members of the Fifthdom? An UNLOCKED version of this episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST. Subscribe, why dontcha?Catch Jon Lovett in Washington DC on Nov 7 for Crooked Con – a chance to hear from smart people inside and outside the Crooked universe about how to galvanize a pro-democracy movement.Get tickets to see The Fifth Column live in Burbank, CA on Sunday, Nov 23rd at Flappers Comedy Club.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn

* We are now alone / He’s out of our life* The Republican rebels?* Announcing a Fifth Column live show in LA! Subscribers get first crack!* Prediction: a stadium full of lusty boos for Matt Welch* Cuomo’s nonexistent campaign* The Truth and Armpits Party* On Zohran’s vaunted “political instincts”* If the cops rough you up in Queens, it’s because the Jews told them to do it* A “brilliant” campaign of easy promises* The thrill of being in love with a politician again* In destroying both parties, they become one!* Karine Jean-Pierre is….not that bright* Oh great! More dumb race politics* You better you bet (on basketball)* A cap on intentional walks* Let’s blow up a certain cocaine smuggling group of “athletes”* That guy who slapped Andy K...Prefer to watch & chat together with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.com Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, has a new book…- The disaster of Russia- Trump’s evolving views on Putin (and Nigel’s…and Georgia’s…)- When McFaul met Putin…in 1991- Was the Maidan uprising an American-sponsored coup?- It’s not about NATO- From boring technocrat to a nationalist, imperialist ideologue- What does Putin believe?- Vlad the flat taxer - He’s not a Bolshevik- A crook, sure. But an ideological crook- Does no one care about 200,000 dead Russians?- Liberation or surveillance - Elite fatigue in Putin’s Russia- The documentary Moynihan mentioned - Mike McFaul, Soviet bootlegger

•Who subscribes to the New York Post?•One Battle After Another Redux•Myrna Opsahl and other deep cuts•F. Lee Bailey, legal consultant•Fawn Hall Gate•Double secret Nazis•Second Amendment People•The one on the right is on the left•Rehabilitation of the American radical•Omnibombers of the 1970s•I beg your pardon•An x-ray into Donald Trump’s soul•Hunter Biden & presidential power•From Whitewater to Russiagate•Jeffrey’s mea culpa•Trump’s Venezuelan boat strikes vs. Obama’s drone program•”I’m not black, I’m O.J.”Prefer to watch on YouTube? Click here. Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This post is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comRooting against the dancing Irish poorDoes One Battle After Another “whitewash left-wing violence?”LOTS OF SPOILERS, FYIIn praise of Bullitt-esque car chases…The Lockjaw cartoonThe genius of Jim DowneyMatt is hemophobicRight-wing SNLCould you reverse the politics of OBAA?Leo’s character is basically an old-school DSA guyCan there be a subtle conservative film?The best 9/11 film was a film about a French guy in a leotardThe post-9/11 liberal flirtation with neoconservatismJohn Malkovich v. Robert FiskThe lone pro-Vietnam War movieRemembering the conservative crackupThe ideological slingshotFollow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.wethefifth.comCheck out Jake Adelstein’s new book, The Devil Takes Bitcoin•A Japanese literacy test•Chvalry is not dead•They don’t teach you how to drink in J school•The Ansel Elgortification of Jake Adelstein•The Yakuza throw a killer Halloween party•Lions, and Tigers and Joe Gallo•The Yakuza’s pension plan•What’s with the penis enlargement ads?•For relaxing times, make it Suntor…

* Misgendering Fox News* Wait, Michael was at a dinner?* Kmele tries to pronounce Normally* “Clearly we don’t fucking prepare”* “The last time I was with you guys, we were in a much smaller, darker room and I got very drunk”* Trump brings the hostages back …* … then emcees a roast* Somebody tell Bill Kristol!* A little bit psycho vs. the UN bitching at the Jews* 9/11 is a joke?* Little Marco’s big moment* Kash Patel’s shirt-coin* Trump = 1998 Democrat?* Never go full Bulworth* Debate prep for menstrual insults* MKH’s trashy tastes* The White House Octagon* Texting Comacho* 2025 Democrats: still woke!* Kushner props* D’Angelo, RIP* Yeah, that was a blowjob* Being on Melania’s list* Who succeeds Trump? 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•One Battle After Another•Kmele’s hot take that will bring ruin to Hollywood•Separating the art from John Cusack•The kinship of Susan Sarandon & Mao Zedong•It’s not the dead kid that is most unsettling part of Stand By Me•Amity, as you know, means friendship•No dick at the Old Vic•The humbling of Russell Brand•Confidence is a preference for the habitual…

* Subscribe to our YouTube channel already!* A shirt full of toothpaste* Whiskey in a jar* Your dumb, complaining emails* A roundtable of cranks and weirdos* Happy 100 year anniversary Antifa!* People. People. It ain’t fascism. And it ain’t ISIS.* Wait, Twitter IS real life!!!!!!* The long shadow of 2020* Remembering Seattle’s WASP autonomous zone* Ted Cruz’s hoop dreams* Sammy Hagar vs. the government shutdown* Should we tariff Canadian stunt pilots?* Death to the paper tigers!* We’re cautiously optimistic...* When Bari met 60* Charm, offensive* I bet you don’t remember *this* shitty Vice deal* You CANNOT talk to TNC that way* Journo shock! Moron social media hyperventilates about unacceptable lesbian!* Norman Finkelstein does a yiddish racism* Sorry about these A*** C*** song titlesIf you prefer to watch this video over on YouTube, just click here.Thanks for reading The Fifth Column (A Podcast)! This episode is public so feel free to share it.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @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