The Fifth Column (private feed for bitterone31droid@googlemail.com)

Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch
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Dec 16, 2025 • 1h 33min

Not Even Matt Drudge Can Make Today Better - On Rob Reiner, Bondi Beach, and DJT (Members Only #291)

* RIP Rob Reiner* Sorry about the horrific murders but…Go Bills!?* It was a great American who created Spinal Tap* Reaction from conservative pundits vs. conservative politicians* Trump’s derangement syndrome* And he doubles down…* The Islamist attack in Australia* Assimilation and integration: Europe vs. America* We’re just better at it* They’re going to speak English and… Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 11, 2025 • 1h 39min

Nobody Likes a Gossip Cop (w/ Dan Abrams) - #536

Dan Abrams is the CEO and Founder of Abrams Media Chief Legal Analyst for ABC News, host of On Patrol: Live on Reelz, host of SiriusXM radio’s “The Dan Abrams Show,” host and executive producer of “Court Cam” on A&E Network.He is also the author of numerous New York Times bestselling books about forgotten trials in history and is also the founder of Mediaite.* In defense of legacy media. Sort of.* Hating journalists while feeding journalists* From “terror TV” to ❤️Qatar❤️* Just Jared* The King of Korruption* The legacy of lawfare* Alvin Bragg: Trump’s best friend* Prosecuting Hitler, Chavez, and Trump* The Inspectors General Massacre* Kash’s lady jacket* Post-Kavanaugh radicalization* Rogan optimism* Did Dan help destroy American civility??* Is Alan Keyes making sense?* From gossip cops to actual cops...* Does Dan produce “cop-aganda”??* No, but Dan likes copsPrefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 10, 2025 • 1h 31min

Members Only #291 - Leader of the Asshole Nation (w/ Kevin O'Leary)

Michael Moynihan sits down with entrepreneur, actor, and bon vivant Kevin O’Leary to talk about politics, money, and being an asshole.* The economics of...hockey? (He’s Canadian. It makes sense)* Mr Wonderful vs. Idiot King* Pierre misses the open net* Swiss watches and Swiss gold* Sell the damn chips to China!* The importance of the Hill staffer* Kevin just made thi… Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 9, 2025 • 1h 19min

UNLOCKED Members Only #290 - AI George Washington, LSD Margaritas, and Tara Reid

It’s been a bit since it was just Michael, Kmele, and Matt at the table so we’ve decided to unlock this Members Only episode and invite everyone in. For (literally) hundreds more Members Only episodes, become a paying subscriber.•Heliocentric anime•50 Cent, documentarian•Boycott Black Murder•Glenn Beck is doing it for the kids•John Stossel walks into a bodega•And now, a few words from the father of our country•American Revolution hot takes•That New York Times border crisis story•Kamala Harris was not the border czar•NIMBY•When Kmele gets homeless•Rosemont Illinois will not forget Tara Reid•LSD margaritas•The Pentagon press corps•Exploding boats•Geographically constrained neoconservatism•Matthew Yglesias is right•Previewing Moynihan’s 1-on-1 with Kevin O’Leary•Holding out hopePrefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.This episode is unlocked, but paying subscribers get them ALL.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 4, 2025 • 1h 51min

#535 - America's Top Breshnevist (w Brace Belden)

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 Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 3, 2025 • 1h 53min

UNLOCKED: Atheist in a Foxhole, w/ the Great Sebastian Junger

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 Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Dec 2, 2025 • 1h 59min

UNLOCKED - Members Only #289 - Destroy All Robots…Before They Destroy US (w/ Andy Mills)

Andy 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 going to die!!!!The populist fight against AIAnd the populist embrace of AISpike Jonze: AI prophetMoynihan rewatches Good Will Hunting....Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Nov 29, 2025 • 1h 34min

Members Only #288 (LIVE in Los Angeles) - American Canyon Revisited

You 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… Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Nov 27, 2025 • 1h 28min

Members Only #287 - Hoarding Epstein’s Emails, Band T-Shirts, and Air Jordans (w Jason Leopold)

Check 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 … Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.
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Nov 25, 2025 • 1h 2min

#534 - Even the Mayor Says L.A. Isn’t Well Governed (w/ Karen Bass)

• 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 Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

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