Firehose #168: November Reign

Also: Snap up those last tickets to our Nov. 23 L.A. show!

Welcome to the 168^th edition of Firehose, our weekend newsletter roundup of various noticias (especially of the audiovisual variety) emanating from the broader Fifiverse. There’s way too much stuff to talk about this week, even if we choose to ignore an all-timer of a World Series, so let’s get this party started with a reminder that our Nov. 23 live show at the intriguingly named Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank is rapidly becoming a sellout, so act now or lie back & accept FOMO. There are also still some tickets available for our Honda Center appearance Nov. 21 with the super non-controversial Megyn Kelly (our guest on Episode #526).

* Our Michael Moynihan was on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher program Friday with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R – Moonbase Alpha), a celestial collision that produced such headlines as “Marjorie Taylor Greene Stuns Bill Maher Show With ‘Jewish Space Laser’ Confession.” Here’s the Overtime segment, when said stunning took place:

* I appeared on CNN’s Table for Five program Saturday morning, talking about the thrill-a-minute government shutdown, President Donald Trump’s rumored resumption of nuclear testing, the latest Trump-family corruptions, and the conservative crack-up over Tucker Carlson. Here, care of Busty Wimsatt, is a collection of my (bearded) comments:

* Keeping on the theme of konservative kontroversies, Moynihan on his Report this past week had on politically homeless funnygal Bridget Phetasy, to talk about “how the right’s top podcasters are getting louder, brasher, and somehow even more absurd,” unpacking “the spectacularly insane world of Tucker, Candace, and the rest of the conservative circus”:

* Omnigraf on the Tucker-ruckus (in which we have played a minor role), featuring exclusively content from past Fifth Column guests? Sure, why not. Ben Domenech (#107) went straight to the horse’s mouth, interviewing Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, whose defense of Carlson & initial we-don’t-cancel-people reaction to Nazi fapper Nick Fuentes set off this week’s firestorm and occasioned a hasty follow-up + staff shake-up. Roberts/Carlson-bashers included Rep. Dan Crenshaw (who we talked Tucker with on #476), Jonah Golberg (#182), Batya Ungar-Sargon (#451, #502), Noah Rothman (#119 & #167), Eli Lake (#52, #65, #141, #174, Special Dispatch #51, #326, #368, #407, Members Only. #184, M.O. #244), David French (#191, #325, #365), Robby Soave (#332, #517), Nick Gillespie (S.D. #72, #379, M.O. #251), Mary Katharine Ham (#345, #430, #528), and (after a fashion) Russ Roberts (M.O. #275). The lonelier pro-Roberts side included Rep. Thomas Massie (#51) and Bret Weinstein (#99). And yes, this only-scratching-the-surface collection illustrates that we’ve been podcasting for longer than some Groypers have been alive.

* M.O. #528 featured a Moynihan-on-one interview with former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, about his new book Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. The full episode is available to paying subscribers; here’s a 20-minute video tease for those in the cheap seats:

* Speaking of clips, my Reason Roundtable colleagues concocted two of me from our Monday podcast, ranting in a … special shirt about government encroachment into the media business and MAGA nonsense about Ronald Reagan’s supposed protectionism:

* OK, I know you people are sick of hearing about Zohran Mamdani & the NYC mayoral (subject, unwittingly, of #530). But the Saturday Night Live cold open this week was pretty funny. And not just because of Shane Gillis:

* Having lured you with candy, here’s a new video about Zoltar Rob Zombie by my Reason colleague Zach Weissmueller:

* The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) on Friday posted a recent talk on free speech and political violence given by honcho Greg Lukianoff (#216, M.O. #183, #427, M.O. #276) at Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was assassinated:

* Comment of the Week comes from TheNuclearBlonde:

New theory. Moynihan can’t remember any journalists name because hes too busy remembering every Soviet dictator and Russian dissidents name and mode of assassination.

Walkoff music, since Rawk is apparently back, was performed by U2 Brandi Carlile on SNL last night (warning: contains spoken words):