Guest: Ben Smith, Media Columnist @ The New York Times 
From BuzzFeed to The NYTWhen Your Bosses are Kinda THE StoryWhy We Can't Stop Talking About The TimesNewsroom Cultural White Privilege and Employee OrientationResignations*Caliphate vs. 1619"My Notebook Remains Open"Losing the NewsroomYou Will Sign This LetterVanilla MandellaBiggie SmallsWhen Van Met Ibram XSimple, Elegant, Almost Certainly WrongThings Get Worse for Cuomo
 Recorded March 2nd, 2021 Published March 4th, 2021
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227 w/ Ben Smith - "Sign O’ The Times, Memo to Kendi"

Your weekly rhetorical assault on the on the news cycle, the people who make it, and occasionally ourselves. Kmele Foster (Freethink), Michael Moynihan (Vice), and Matt Welch (Reason) talk and laugh and drink their way to at least quasi-sanity in a world gone mad, often with the aid of clean and articulate guests. Weekly Members Only subscription edition often comes with listener mail and professional-quality (if inappropriate) singing. Analysis. Commentary. Sedition. 

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News & Politics

Comedy

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* Swedish breakdown  * Columbia breakdown * The continued rise of American extremism * The politics of “genocide” * The politics of propaganda  * Chicago expectations * A newborn in the Fifdom  * Our Batya episode * Trusting anti-trust? * The NPR excel spreadsheet  * Books on McCarthy  * Three best presidents? * The Watergate conspiracy is at least fun to believe 

Members Only #207 - Columbia Breakdown: Next Stop Baader Meinhof?

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 

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#451 - The Battle of Batya (w/ Batya Ungar-Sargon)

* 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 wethefifth.substack.com/subscribe

#450 - Republican Wine Moms and a Dead Double Murderer

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* 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!

Members Only #206 - Hitting From the Ladies' Tee

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 wethefifth.substack.com/subscribe

227 w/ Ben Smith - "Sign O’ The Times, Memo to Kendi"

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