The Fifth Column

Radley Balko and Thaddeus Russell discuss criminal justice reform under Obama and Trump, government's response to the opioid epidemic, racism in the criminal justice system, death investigations and the media, wealthy individuals' motivations, Trump's rhetoric on North Korea, Trump administration's approach to international conflicts, shifting Cold War ideologies, and controversies surrounding a Google employee's diversity memo.

[“And We Back." -Chance the Rapper] - Moynihan is MIA- Welch is trapped in a room with no AC, 75 dead flies, and a busted shoulder -- and loving every minute of it.- Moscow is beautiful in the summer (if you believe a former RT propagandist)- Kmele... well, yeah- And the brilliant, talented Alyona Minkovski is IN THE BUILDING (@AlyonaMink) PLUS:- The brief but magical tenure of THE MOOCH. - The conspicuous absence of President Steve Bannon.- Net neutrality and banning VPN apps in Russia and China.- Numerous other things of urgent importance.- And there may have been a brilliant Affirmative Action *exchange* at the end of this dispatch too, but it’s all a bit of a blur. [ … The brightest stars have the shortest lives.] See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

A dense, tangent-filled, and edifying new dispatch (fueled by cash-filled envelopes, adderall, and a bottle of Bushmills -- thanks, Drew.) Trump tells-all to the Failing New York Times: "I should have never hired Sessions!"Welch talks John McCainTrumpCare spontaneously combusted (surprising no one)Next on the “Trump Legislative Agenda of Failure”: screwing up legal immigration, too!Forensic "Science" is so terrifyingLA 92 ("Certified Fresh!) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Recorded: July 12th, 2017Play-by-Play: · Eli Lake Is a Superlative, Award-Winning Hebrew · Fab Five Freddy Is a Foreign Policy Genius · “I’m a White Male…” · Lies, Damn Lies, and IT’S TREASON! · Lacrosse Team Away Games · Eli Slow Claps · World in Disarray: Mosul/Afghanistan EditionEli Lake, columnist @ Bloomberg View, swings by. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

A Helpful Guide to This Weeks Dispatch: · No Mic for Anthony Fisher · Kmele read 22 books this weekend (including Letters to a Young Contrarian, The Shadow of the Panther) · Moynihan talks about Hitchens · Something about the Black Panthers, Lew Rockwell, Marvin Gaye and Berry Gordy · Russian tourist abuses child · Moynihan outs an octogenarian former Nazi at a barbecue (sort of)(We're at about the 20 min mark here.)ALSO: · #CNNBlackmail scandal (False Start) · President Trump in Poland (Did You Know: POTUS was once on a show called "The Apprentice") · An Actual #CNNBlackmail conversation · North Korea · Jay-Z Isn't a Feminist · Colin Kaepernick, Fredrick Douglas (What the 4th of July Means to a Slave) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Recorded: June 29th, 2017A journalistic-misdeed results in the firing of three prominent CNN staffers and a new front in the conflict between Trump and THE MEDIA. Why lots of the things you read/hear in the news are likely to be incorrect. Press briefings may be completely useless, but then again they may not.And of course, the very real dangers of plastic surgery -- and the entirely legitimate reasons why POTUS may need to tell you “no” when all you want to do is hang out with him.PLUS:The Great Serena Williams DebateAcceptable Reasons for Book BurningsCode SwitchingImportant Show Note: Kmele Foster is “black” (whatever that means). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Recorded: June 21, 2017The Philando Castile case has reached a controversial conclusion. In July 2016, Castile was shot to death during a traffic stop by Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez. Yanez's acquittal has touched off a new wave of outrage.Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American student detained in North Korea since last January, was finally allowed to return home last week… in a coma. He would die a few days later.And Moynihan recounts his recent visit to Evergreen State College. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

With high profile congressional inquests into shadowy conspiracies, media panics, and boring White House events turning into embarrassing fodder for late night comedians — the stage was set for an almost banal week in Washington DC — but a brazen attack on Republican congressmen in Alexandria, Virginia, changed all that. While most members of Congress quickly rallied around their colleagues, plenty of citizens and a good number of media types were soon leveraging the tragedy to support their own philosophical convictions.Plus: The necessity of confronting awful people and ideas in public, and a brief glance at Jeff Sessions' congressional testimony. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Episode 060Recorded June 10th 2017 Corbyn Surprises his labour party rival (and just about everyone else). Comey testifies before Congress, Trump is quite about it until he isn’t. And Bill Maher said ‘Nigga’, or was it ‘Nigger’.Shout out to Dan Spragens for the delicious and effective bottle of "State of Jefferson" rum See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

[Special Dispatch #2]A rangy and Moynihan-heavy exchange w/ Timothy Snyder, Yale University Professor of History and author of numerous books including (the magisterial) “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin” (2010) and his latest best-selling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” (2017)Fascism, Nazis, Stalinists, Trump, The Road to Serfdom, 'the square root of 69 is eight-something', and the Cavaliers are very unlikely to take the series in seven games (the last two items have almost nothing to do with this dispatch, but they're demonstrably true).w/ Kmele Foster (Freethink), Michael Moynihan (Vice News Tonight on HBO)Recorded: June 8th, 2017wethefifth.comtwitter.com/wethefifthfb.com/wethefifth See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe