75 Comments
User's avatar
Catherine Becker's avatar

"Pocketbook" is also a NYC term. My grandmother worked in the pocketbook department of Lord and Taylor in the 60s.

Elisabeth Piper's avatar

Tennessee reporting in, growing up pocketbook was a common term.

Justin, History Sage's avatar

Not just nyc. Grew up near Albany and pocketbook was a common term

Intnl Woman Of Mystery's avatar

Never heard the term “purse” till we moved from NY to the Midwest.

Stacey Seeks's avatar

All my UK friends. Handbag or pocketbook. Because a purse is the little thing inside your bag where you keep your money and cards (wallet).

HatChick's avatar

Pocketbook was what my aunt from NJ called her purse (in the 70s & 80s).

snek's avatar
Dec 30Edited

Excellent wrap up to "wtf happened" year. Watching the reactions to Arch's videos was satisfying. Happy New Year, boys!

Jim's avatar
Dec 30Edited

I can’t stand Batya and her airhead platitudes. Her rambling about the working class, especially after learning about her neurologist father and her 15 years toiling away in college….shes the furthest thing from the working class and you can literally hear the phoniness in her voice.

HOWEVER

That episode fucking ruled and I would love to hear Moynihan drunkenly screaming at her again, cheers on the New Year boys. As-salamu alaykum my fellow fifthdom subscribers.

Gmarb's avatar

Wa alaikum assalam

Of course it should not come as any surprise that BUS is not and has never been working class, herself. She's a noble warrior fighting the "good fight" from the ivory tower just like Betsy Warren & Bernard Sanders!

I actually don't think one needs to be from a group to understand or be able to communicate the general ideas of a group or movement. It can help, of course, and certainly provide access to leaders within a movement. A good communicator can adequately represent ideas in this way. BUS is NOT a good communicator or charismatic person. Anyone with any intellect can see through her bullshit. Perhaps she's lovely to hang with in person but she's unbearable as a public personality.

santosvega's avatar

'Fujiyama Mama' was originally recorded by Annisteen Adams in 1955 and then by Wanda Jackson in 1957, both for Capitol Records. Neither charted in the US. The lyrics, which opened with

I've been to Nagasaki, Hiroshima too!

The same I did to them, baby, I can do to you!

'Cause I'm a Fujiyama Mama and I'm just about to blow my top!

Fujiyama-yama, Fujiyama!

And when I start you up, there ain't nobody gonna make me stop!

Radio stations and DJs thought the lyrics in poor taste with the war being so recent plus the overt sexuality sung by a female singer. The song found its way to Japan and rather than being found offensive hit #1 there for six months in 1958. Jackson toured Japan in 1959 to huge success.

David C's avatar

I knew the song because a 70s-era rockabilly singer in DC named Martha Hull sang it a lot.

Mr. Yale's avatar

Some context: My “They said Donald Trump is funny!” was a sarcastic callback to a post in the chat by another subscriber who was seriously taking the lads to task for saying (gasp) Trump is funny — which he is, regardless of how one regards his personality or his policies. See also, from me: “As a lifelong funny person, I know that Trump can be funny.”

https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/7f5baac2-4b75-40db-8c6a-17e61f90dd64?r=7ep5l&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=share

https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/5512424b-e430-4726-8e0a-a15b743af9ae?r=7ep5l&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=share

And it’s C-Y, for Christopher Yale, not “Cy.” (sigh)

Mr. Yale's avatar

I do somewhat appreciate the reference to the great Cy (short for “Cyclone”) Young. Also, yes, the K-pop (Korean popular music) star who brought us the hit song “Gangnam Style” was Psy.

Mr. Yale's avatar

Hang on! The comment about Moynihan starting a fire in house was not from me! For one thing, I wouldn’t use emojis, let alone a two-dot ellipsis...which isn’t really an ellipsis at all. Is it a double period? Who is this imposter?!

Trent Simpson's avatar

I thought it was short for cy young

Len's avatar

I made Peter Suderman's eggnog from his newsletter this year and it was very boozy and freaking delicious. Recommended for eggnog haters!

Gmarb's avatar

Also recommended is Alton Brown's version aged a few months. Delicious!

I also made his clarified milk punch last week and it's a revelation! Highly recommended

https://altonbrown.com/recipes/clarified-milk-punch/

Len's avatar

Oh cool, I will have to try both of those. This was my first time making my own eggnog so I only aged it for a few days. Honestly the few days was due to impatience more than anything else...

snek's avatar

What's the recipe for those of us without access to Suderman's concoctions

Spencer's avatar

Sinners is a bad movie. It’s got terrible acting, it’s so surface and the story is dumb- then ending shallow and predictable.

Victor's avatar

I don’t really get the hype. And I’m a pretty diehard blues fan. I thought it was pretty corny, and just woke enough to annoy me.

Jessica's avatar

Thanks for the live episode of just ya’ll! You guys make me laugh and I so enjoy these episodes better than interviews (although interviews are good, too, as an addition to your regular commentary episodes). Thanks guys! And Happy New Year!

Nicholas Coriz's avatar

… I remember talking to some girl at work after election 2024 and she was upset and telling me how now she was going to have to wear a handmaids tale outfit for real. Then I remember being made to feel like an asshole after I tried to reassure her that was not going to happen lol

Nicholas Coriz's avatar

… now I said “nothing would happen” and I was deadass wrong about that, but she ain’t wearing and handmaids outfit, to be sure 👍

Kyle in Idaho's avatar

But that's just it: you can spout off 40 terrifying things that are surely happening with the next administration and you just need 1 to say "I told you so."

The MAGA equivalent of this is my mother in law repeatedly stating that Biden was going to put conservatives in re-education camps as punishment for Trump 1.0. She made this "joke" so frequently from 2020-2024 that I became convinced that she thought it was happening.

Victor's avatar

I’ve tried to bet people that trump won’t go for a third term but no one ever wants to put money on it. Pure emotional virtue signaling on their part. They sober up a bit after I call them on their bullshit.

BB's avatar

the animation was fucking EPIC! when you 3 sit down and just shoot shit, you NEVER disappoint. ever.

Craig Mahoney's avatar

No guest! Classic Fifth! A Christmas miracle.

Mike E's avatar

I was doing squats in the gym when I heard “Vietnamese Fraggle Rock” and just about got crushed.

Stasi Call Center's avatar

I almost crushed my windpipe on the decline bench once when Moynihan broke out a Jesse Jackson impersonation.

Mr. Yale's avatar

“Downtown” Julie Brown hosted Club MTV, not The Grind, which was hosted by Eric Nies.

DMC's avatar

Whubba Whubba...

Mr. Yale's avatar

Goodbye and God bless!

Mr. Yale's avatar

Moynihan did mention Nies. I’m just pointing out that he was the sole host of The Grind, which replaced Club MTV, until he too was replaced.

Evan Besser's avatar

How did the ping pong balls line not get a bigger laugh!?!

Stacey Seeks's avatar

I used to live in Bangkok. I most assuredly laughed loud, long, and hard!

(That’s what she said.)

Randolph Carter's avatar

Hamburger Hill sounds like he could also be a drag show performer, now I want a show that's all people named after horrific war events

MacKenzie Madison Murphy's avatar

Some pitches for show names:

"Oh My Lai"

"Get on your Wounded Knees"

"Lip Sync Battle of Your Bulge"

Randolph Carter's avatar

"Pour Somme Sugar On Me"

Featuring Katyn Ass-acre, Nan-Qween, and K-Smeared Rouge

Richard Doyle's avatar

The "burnt toast" thing comes from research a neurologist was doing on seizures not strokes. This particular patient would smell burnt toast before every seizure, and the area of the brain that was causing the seizures was electrically stimulated and this also created the smell. This info was them used to guide surgery that corrected the seizures.

The lesson has nothing to do with this particular smell. It was only this one patient who experienced this symptom. It had more to do with the pioneering research of brain localization.