This just in! Those ugly mugs above will be prettified (and Dem-ified) at our Fairfield University live show Nov. 12, six days after our livestreaming of the midterms. Yemisi Egbewole, the centristy Dem-strategist star of Episode #579 will join us for the post-election breakdown & attendant heckling from the Yutes. There are no plans to release this as an episode, so buy tickets here or suffer the cruel fate of FOMO. As for the election-night debacle, the guest roster and checklist of truly abysmal broadcast ideas continue to accumulate; you’ll want to bookmark wethefifth.com/live.
* We talked a bit on the gloriously headlined #580 about Vivek Ramaswamy’s very bad week of doing politics. Which is a good reminder that we interviewed Vivek when he was a presidential candidate back in June 2023, and that I wrote a piece six months later titled “Vivek Ramaswamy Really, Really Wants You To Know He Thinks January 6 Was an ‘Inside Job.’” More importantly, any such kerfuffle over the vileness of campaign ads is a fine excuse to re-post this bad boy, featuring some familiar voice-work….
* Members Only #351 was Jacob Siegel’s fourth rodeo on the Fifth. In August 2017 he broke down a deplorables rally (and counter-rally) in Boston; in July 2020 he talked about that summer’s media madness; and in May 2024 he unspooled the essay that would become his new book, The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control. Here’s a clip from our latest:
* Moynihan on his Report this week had on legendary Brat Pack novelist and 1980s survivor Jay McInerney, to talk about “drugs, fame, models, 9/11, cancel culture, Zohran Mamdani, Raymond Carver, and the ex-girlfriend who helped destroy the presidential ambitions of a prominent Democrat.”
* Speaking of TMR, Moynihan’s sidepiece won two Signal Awards gold medals: for Best Video Podcast and Best Video Podcast Guest (both for the legendary William Shatner episode). The Fifth Column received a silver medal for Best News & Politics Podcast. Thanks to everyone who voted!
* The Reason Roundtable this week started with some ranting from me about France:
* Reminder! You can also see me Oct. 31 at an “American Patriotism at 250” panel hosted by the University of Austin.
* Kmele & the Tanglers this week talked France, Vivek, and the midterms:
* This Date in Fif’ History: In 2023, 18 days after the Oct. 7 massacre, Moynihan and I chewed on that news plus the already-trickling-in G-word, in an episode with a Top 10 title: “From the Haganah to Häagen-Dazs.”
Oct. 25 is also the 40-year anniversary of Bill Buckner’s Wikipedia-worthy World Series error, which is an excuse to re-share what may be my favorite baseball-related songs of all time:
* Comment of the Week is a triptych, beginning with Jaye BM:
Matt put your earmuffs on. Okay, now that we’re alone in here, imagine those smutty audiobooks with Jacob as narrator? That accent is just 🧑🍳 💋
Continuing with Maria Teresa Agurcia:
Next time, will you let him talk uninterrupted for the entire 90 minutes?
And wrapping with Gordo:
I knew a guy with a similar voice, he lived under a bridge.
Sendoff: John Anderson, the Country Music Hall of Famer singer/songwriter, died this week at age 71. Anderson had a southern accent where he came from, which like Tom Petty was Florida. Was not shy about singing right through it. You probably know him best for the ‘80s crossover hit “Swingin,’” but this track here is pure Americana, shoot it into my veins:
Do you all remember when I predicted the next guest?
I'll be taking the rest of the week off, my work here is done.
Hey Matt, pssst, I really did know a hobo that sounded like Jacob Siegel.
I called him John but Mostly Jack (all four words.) John when he was on meds, but he was never on meds, so, all four words.
He had the kind of voice that makes people say, “That sounds like it hurts, it sounds like his voice was conditioned with drano and razor blades.”