Firehose #201: Semiquinned Kinda Life

Also: Wait, there’s gonna be an unsanctioned meetup in Dallas??

We are six days away from the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Goddamned Independence. I want – nay, need – to know what you are doing in preparation for this most patriotic jubilee. Are you, for example, going to Texas gun shows to purchase a No Step on Snek camo-hat, as our most devoted cliphawker and leading fashion maven Busty Wimsatt did this week? That’s the level of commitment I’m looking for.

And here’s my commitment to you: In honor of the Semiquincentennial, we’re making the limited-run, critically acclaimed miniseries-within-the-pod The Revolutionaries fully available to the scores of thousands of you who (bafflingly!) have yet to upgrade to paid. Please click, listen, and then share widely our edumacational episodes with American heroes Charles C. Mann, Jack Henneman, Bill Schulz, Robert Sullivan, and Ken Layne.

* Speaking of Bill Schulz, the always-ready-to-outrage-locals veteran of episodes #79 & Special Dispatch #72 is going to be giving a talk July 1 titled “From Revolution to Rebellion: One Family’s American Story” at … Gettysburg’s Seminary Ridge Museum! Yes, they’re letting that reprobate desecrate hallowed ground with his LIES. From the promo: “Bill is a direct descendant of the oft-overlooked midnight rider, William Dawes Jr, a 3rd great-grandson of Gettysburg hero Lt. Col. Rufus Dawes, and 2nd great-grandnephew of former Vice President and delightful songwriter, Charles Gates Dawes. This history-based descendant intends to explore his ancestors’ pop culture appearances, plus relaying attempts to be their ONLY publicist when it comes to keeping the family name alive.” Fifth listeners are invited to heckle, then make sure he buys you drinks after, “because of that one time.”

* Moar patriotism: Bill Maher this Friday reveled in the (correct!) view of America from the lens of World Cup visitors:

* Strikes me that I’ve been negligent in these ‘hoses about linking to upcoming Events of interest. Let’s get it back into the rotation! July 14 is an Epstein Files debate at the SoHo Forum in NYC between Michael Tracey (#105) and Marcella Szablewicz on the resolution: “The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become a case of moral panic.” (Tracey also has an amusing Compact Magazine piece this week titled, “How Podcasts Ruined America.”) And Nov. 4-6 we will be podcasting from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Soapbox 26 conference in Philadelphia, along with fellow speakers Sarah Isgur (Members Only #314), Noam Dworman (#549), David French (#191, #325, #365, #555) Nick Gillespie (S.D. #72, #379, M.O. #251, #551), Greg Lukianoff (#216, M.O. #183, #427, M.O. #276), Jacob Mchangama (#102 & #344), John McWhorter (#84, #121, #188 & #366), Matt Taibbi (#226, #348), and Ilya Shapiro (#361), for starters. Make sure to use the discount code FIFTH to save $50 on tickets.

* Speaking of potential upcoming events on Planet Fifdom, I see here that entrepreneurial listener Brian Huber has launched a Fifth Column meetup survey, asking such questions as “Would you come to a Fifth Column Chat meetup in Dallas one weekend this fall?” and “Do you have a suggestion for a city for future meetups?” THIS IS 100% UNAUTHORIZED BEHAVIOR, AND I’M TOTALLY HERE FOR IT. If it matters to anybody, I will be in Austin Oct. 30-Nov. 1….

* For those of you in the cheap seats, here’s a couple of NYCtastic YouTube clips from this week. First, from our exquisitely timed conversation with Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam, about how Zohran Mamdani turns personal/political resentment into power:

The second is from our One-Hitter with MS Now contributor and Truth and Consequences Substacker Michael A. Cohen, on the DSA vs. the Democratic Party:

* Kmele and the Tanglers this week talked about “The DSA’s Big Win Could Change Democrats Forever”:

* Before we completely asphyxiate on Gotham’s political fumes, here’s Batya! (#451, #502, M.O. #328) grilling none other than the gormless, I-can’t-quit-him NY political hack and now likely new congressman, Brad Lander:

* Time for Producer Jason’s Video Vault!

Sticks and stones may break our bones, but a really elaborate critique, replete with sex and violence and Serge Gainsbourg, is something we as Americans can all step back and admire. Mr. Freedom, the 1969 film by legendary fashion photographer William Klein, is crafted with such care, such biting attention to detail, that it could only be done by someone with a seething affection for the target of his derision. Mr. Freedom (John Abbey) is sent to France to prevent that country from being taken over by communist forces. Teamed with Marie-Madeleine (Delphine Seyrig), Mr. Freedom bounces from one set piece to another, delivering a series of psychotic patriotic speeches in film noir staccato against the backdrop of bubblegum-chewing blonde-banged supermodels, puffed-up personifications of Communism and Maoism, and the occasional musical number. It’s a wild, wild ride. So this week, I encourage you to pay tribute to 250 years of the U.S.A. with the film that critic Jonathan Rosenbaum called “the most anti-American movie ever made.” Because insult is the sincerest form of flattery. Get the DVD; stream on The Criterion Channel; here’s the trailer:

* Comment of the Week comes from AXL:

I have a mix of popular songs in their original language before they were covered and translated. I joked that the entire difference between French and American culture can be explained by how Claude François‘ Comme d’habitude was translated into My Way. The French original is about a marriage slowly falling apart and everyone’s going through the motions. The American version is about WINNING.

Sendoff: Get you a man/woman/furry who loves you even half as much as the late Kirsti Sparboe loved the Eurovision song contest. Kirsti Sparboe loved Eurovision so much that she performed her first entry, for Norway, at age 18, in 1965, when the telecast was still in black and white. She loved it so much that she was the Norwegian entrant two more times, and woulda had a fourth if her 1968 song hadn’t been disqualified for ripping off a Cliff Richard tune. Kirsti so loved Eurovision that when Norway boycotted the competition in 1970 she just shrugged and won the right to represent Germany, finishing in 4^th. She recorded cover versions of Eurovision winners, kept on trying out for Norway well into the ‘70s, and is being rightly memorialized as a “Eurovision legend.” Let’s choose for her sendoff a song that finished 16^th out of 16, but dammit, is in full technicolor!