Workin’ for the Weekend #24: Celebrate Hannukah By Giving Free Gift Subscriptions to the Fifth!

Also, Kmele did a podcast with the gal who was profiled by the guy who was on that one media list.

Happy Hannukah, everyone!

First off, some exciting holiday-shopping news: As mentioned on M.O. 145, paying subscribers (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) can now send up to three (3) gift subscriptions to loved ones and enemies alike … FOR FREE. That is, as far as I understand (insert joke here), you can give your frenemies a free 30-day taste of the full Fif’ experience, after which they will presumably be grateful enough to stick around as subscribers, and/or will never speak to you again. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

Speaking of holiday gift ideas, a reminder especially to newer listeners that there’s a 100% fan-curated/maintained Google doc Fifth Column book recommendations list out there. It is way more detailed and up to date than it has any right to be, for which we express our periodic thanks. Onward with the weekend notes:

* You people were asking about TV’s Andy Levy: He was a guest on #5, #91, and #92! You people were also asking about Ken “Popehat” White; he was on #102.  

* On Dec. 11, as referenced on M.O. 145, Kmele participated in roundtable on “The State of the Black-Jewish Relationship in America,” convened by Bari Weiss (#89, #115, #159, #180 & #187) over at her Honestly podcast. Other contestants included Bret Stephens, Chloe Valdary, and Fif’ special-friend Eli Lake (#52, #65, #141, #174, Special Dispatch #51, #326, #368). From Bari’s write-up:

Last month, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was all over the internet with his conspiratorial, antisemitic tirades. Most recently, he went on Alex Jones’s InfoWars show with White Nationalist Nick Fuentes and said things like, “I love Nazis” and “I see good things about Hitler.”

I wish it was just that. […]

We’ve hosted a lot of incredible guests on the podcast. But this frank, searching conservation is one of my favorites.

* Speaking of Bari, Ben Smith (on which more below) has a feature up at Semafor about her newly rebranded The Free Press. In the article lurks a ghost … see if you can spot him!

It has so far written on what Weiss sees as the ideological capture of medicine, questioned the use of COVID vaccines for kids, and hosted a round table on the Black-Jewish relationship. (They don’t capitalize “black,” which had been one of the demands of Times employees when Weiss was there.) […]

The site became “Common Sense,” a newsletter accompanied by a podcast called "Honestly" produced by the former Times producer Andy Mills. They explored topics where news organizations had followed social media into simplistic morality plays, notably the “Central Park Karen” story.

The popular account was a simple one about a white woman calling the cops out of her own racist fears. Weiss told the more complex tale, about two weird people — a woman unusually devoted to her dog, and a birdwatcher intensely committed to the cause of keeping dogs leashed — whose personal quirks, not their race, drove the conflict.

* And speaking of Eli Lake, beloved listener/commenter Gabrielle G. points us to this seasonally relevant episode of The Re-Education: “Return of the Maccabees,” in which (per Eli intro) “I tackle the story of a Jewish revolt against the Seleucid empire and how that revolt pitted assimilation against tradition and identity. My guest is Ari Lamm, the founder of SoulShop studios and the chief Rabbi of the Re-Education podcast.”

* I was back on this week with America’s libertarian ladyfriend Kennedy. Here’s video, respectively, of me talking about Arizona vs. the federal government on border security (thanks, Busty!), and me failing yet again to win one of her game shows:

* We mentioned on #386 a recent Mediaite list of the 75 “most influential in news media 2022.” Here are some on that listicle who have interacted historically w/ the Fifdom:

75) The aforementioned Ben Smith (#125 & #227). All entry-language excerpts should be read in maximum movie-trailer/Casey Kasem voice:

His gift for generating hype came in handy when he launched Semafor, the highly-anticipated media start-up he co-founded with Justin Smith, the former CEO of Bloomberg Media. The result is high-brow but scoop-heavy news, delivered by a team of heavy-hitting journalists, including David Weigel, Benjy Sarlin and Reed Albergotti. 

68) Jessica Tarlov (#110). We hear that members of her immediate family may have great taste in podcasts!

The co-host of The Five on Fox News makes her debut on Mediaite’s Most Influential list, and it is well-deserved. Of the show’s three rotating liberals, Tarlov is the most effective at engaging her conservative interlocutors on the pressing political matters of the day. And being a liberal on Fox News offers an opportunity to present another side to a huge audience who may not hear it very often.

41) Steve Kornacki (#152, #204, #337). One of the Fifdom’s most beloved, though in fairness, get in line!

Who better to guide through the madness than everyone’s favorite eternally-caffeinated, khaki-wearing, number-crunching magician? His famed stamina extended beyond just election coverage this year. Kornacki proved his data analysis chops with NFL coverage and even commentary on the National Dog Show. He also added a podcast to his extensive resume, with The Revolution With Steve Kornacki, a fascinating six-episode series examining how Newt Gingrich steered Republicans to a House majority in the 1994 midterms for the first time in four decades

32) Bill Maher. OK, he hasn’t been on our show yet, but we’ve all been on his (here are clips from the most recent appearances by me, Kmele, and Moynihan). 

The power of his show to influence opinion is still massive, and his uncanny knack for zeroing in on buzzy topics before they break big always has him in front. The powerhouse guests, the polarizing topics, and Maher’s often contrarian takes on “culture war” issues are guaranteed to generate ire as much as interest, and it’s a toss-up which side of the aisle will be irked each week.

22) Megyn Kelly. Another waiting for her big Fif’ breakthrough; we’ve been doing mostly-monthly hits on her great podcast going backward from December, November, October, September, July, May, April, and beyond.

Megyn Kelly takes no prisoners in her takedowns, calling Jon Stewart a “prick” over his treatment of Andrew Sullivan and joining in the chorus of voices criticizing Trump’s reelection announcement, informing the former president he’d nearly put her to sleep. Hate her or love her, Megyn Kelly is a cable news star who left television news and proved that for a select few, the pastures actually can be greener on the other side in more ways than one.

* That’s it! Hope you had fun lighting the menorah, and don’t blame me for the closing music, blame listener/commenter L Brown!