The Fifth Column (private feed for erik.christian.wiest@gmail.com)

Members Only #279 - Behind the Scenes With Kanye West Documentarian Nico Ballesteros

The Fifth Column’s resident Kanye aficionado Kmele Foster sits down with Nico Ballesteros, director of In Whose Name?, a 100% verité documentary that follows Kanye West over the course of six tumultuous years. Just 18 years-old when the project began, and shooting on an iPhone, Ballesteros spent 15 hours a day recording every aspect of Kanye’s life from the explosive to the mundane, stringing together scenes from a singular life that includes cameos from Drake, Kim Kardashian, Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, Marilyn Manson, Elon Musk, Pharell, Kris Jenner, David Letterman, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Joel Osteen, and Anna Wintour.Paying subscribers get to hear the full episode, full stop.•Finding refuge in a Flip Video camera•Something like a phenomenon•Immersion in clout culture•Getting into Ye’s world•Mental health & Jackson Hole•Analyzing celebrity “performance”•Going all in on the Sunday Service•Tucker Carlson, death con 3, and White Lives MatterFollow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

#526 - Megyn Kelly is All Out of Generosity

It’s fine if you want to listen to this episode on Apple podcasts or Spotify or Substack. We get it! That’s the way you’ve always done it! But you do realize that after 525 episodes (not including the hundreds of subscriber-only episodes), we’ve finally launched the Fifth Column video podcast, right? And you know that you are required by federal law to subscribe to the new Fifth Column YouTube channel? Ok...thanks...and now...Megyn Kelly...* Botox and Scotch* When Megyn went “temporarily insane”* To be frivolous and Oprah-like* You’re my inspiration, Ben* From traffic cop to a truncheon-wielding cop* Escalation is bad. “Yes, but one must fight fire with fire.”* Principle vs. vengeance* Does Andy McCarthy have Trump Derangement Syndrome?* Megyn “speaks fluent MAGA”* More MAGA than libertarian or NRO…* We need to talk about Candace* “Tucker is in a different camp”* Wait, Moynihan has some opinions about the awfulness of CandaceIf you prefer to watch video over on YouTube, just click here.The Fifth Column (A Podcast) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

Members Only #278 -- Goliath’s Curse Author Luke Kemp on Why (and When) Empires Collapse

Oh sure, everyone’s go-to for imperial collapse tends to be Rome, but what broad lessons are there to be gleaned from every single other civilizational implosion, from Mesopotamia to the Mayans to the forgotten pyramid builders along the Mississippi River? Such is the intriguing set-up for Goliaths Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, the… Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

Members Only #277 - Andy Rooney Hangovers, Nazi Beekeepers, and Ex-Canadians

* If you’re a Never Fly Coach subscriber, remember that you get to watch the video version of this episode! * The morning after pill and Roy Campanella’s glove* Why does Moynihan look like late-stage Nick Nolte?* Have a SoCal venue suggestion for a Fifth live show?* Comparatively, Alex Jones isn’t that bad (Ed. note: Spoke too soon! Immediately following this rec… Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

#525 - John Spencer Views Explosion

Matt and Michael are joined by John Spencer, Executive Director of the Urban Warfare Institute.•Gary Busey and the B-movie military raid on the Turkish Embassy•Bagging and tagging isn’t as bad as it sounds•20/20 De-Baathification•Post 9/11 Islamophilia•The hockey analogy for war with Hamas•Human shielding & bomb shelter inequities•Gaza vs Berlin 1945•Journalism in Gaza•The IDF’s absent PR operation•Starvation, genocide, and Wikipedia•Amalek•Trump’s 180 on Ukraine•Comedian Dave Smith on military aid•God bless Russian incompetence•Red Dawn had it all wrong•Cancel John’s tickets to Stalingrad•John Spencer, expert? The New York Times is on it.•NFC-level members get a video preview of this episode here!•Speaking of video, we’re launching on YouTube any day now… SUBSCRIBE! Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.