The "Fifth Column" co-host explains why he resembles a vibrator. Oh and also: We talk about the William F. Buckley doc, when conservatives were intellectuals, and why half a Yoo-Hoo is an aphrodisiac
I just need to say that I'm listening to this while working, and my dog is half-passed out next to me. And when you brought up your vibrator, I wanted to cover her ears, as she is spayed, and I did not want to traumatize her virgin ears. That is all.
This podcast reminded me of how much I dislike labels such as “liberal” and “conservative” because they gloss over nuances that many folks have. The labels may be obsolete when views change but the labels tend to remain. I enjoyed the discussion of Reagan as I also found him to be a deep thinker that came up with great ideas that seemed to be good for the country. I found the book “How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life” by Peter Robinson, a speech writer for Reagan, to be excellent and I’ve read it over and over. It’s popular to criticize Reagan, but sometimes I wonder if the critical voices might gain insight if they were to read that book.
The podcast was excellent. At the time, I was listening to numerous mundane reports and was grateful when the upbeat Smoke ‘em music come on and thought finally, something upbeat. Although I knew of WF Buckley I did not pay that much attention. It was fascinating to hear more about him, and about the political ideologies of the day. Sarah’s comments were astute and Moynihan shared many interesting stories. Thanks for the creative, informative session.
I was a docent at the Reagan Library and one of the things folks don't appreciate about him is the importance of the years he spent traveling around the country as a spokesperson for GE. He would go to factories and offices and it started out as "rah rah" from corporate but became the basis of his political transformation as he listened to people talk about what was important to them, their concerns, etc. which morphed into his stump speech and the radio broadcasts.
What a great episode. I grew up with a lot of what you three talked about. I was in a summer session at college during the 1968 Democratic convention and watched the exchange between Vidal and WFB. I had been a subscriber to NR at the time, and I was shocked when first Vidal called Buckley a crypto Nazi and then Buckley lost his cool and called Vidal a queer and I think threatened to punch him if he called him a Nazi again.
I have a book that Buckley published in 1989 containing transcripts of many of his Firing Line episodes, including one with Allard Lowenstein, who people who were alive at the time and Moynihan (who wasn't) will remember as a very left wing congressman from Long Island who was also one of Buckley's very good friends. If anyone is interested the book is "On The Firing Line".
I also remember the NR issue on antisemitism, which discussed not only Pat Buchanan, but also Joseph Sobran who had become devoutly religious and very antisemitic
Like WFB, I also enjoy sailing. I don't have a boat, but my brother does and we sail off the Massachusetts coast. It can be both an exhilarating and peaceful experience. Fortunately, I don't get seasick. When I was a resident, I would crew for a surgeon who would compete in overnight races on the Chesapeake. Being out on deck at 2 AM on a pleasant spring night is an otherworldly experience. Just stay out of the shipping lanes.
I may have related here before that I saw Buckley live during the 1980 campaign. Amazing speaker.
He had his flaws, but the culture is so much richer for his presence and legacy. You had it right. The civility is at the heart of it, and we miss that now. This lack of civility and humor (which I think goes with the extreme partisanship) in current discourse makes me pessimistic. But it is why I enjoy podcasts like yours so much, because this is where I can find the conversations we need.
Say Nothing was incredible. Visited Ireland recently including a walking tour with a woman in Belfast who grew up during the troubles. Chilling. Fascinating and so disturbing. I can’t even begin to express. But I love Ireland and hope to go back and explore more someday. Great outro music !!!!
Holy shit. Talk about some unexpected feels. So one of the guys that was really foundational for me to start doodling people in cafes, bars and the like was an old school caricature artist who had a shockingly similar line quality to Nancy's step dad up there.
I was a junior in highschool, and he was about 20 years out of his professional life and just working as a technical assistant for this random class I ended up in. He always smelled like 2 stroke fuel (from his moped) and whiskey. He was gruff, leathery, and generally kept to himself amongst most the kids there. But one day he caught me doing a quick sketch on the chalk board and said something like "Hey kid, you aren't going to get any ladies or money from doing that shit, but if you want to know how to do it better I might have some suggestions.".
I never had an interest in caricature drawings, I have WAY to many issues with my own lopsided head to start drawing other people exaggerated. But it turns out in order to be good at doing caricature well, you gotta know how to draw what is actually there first. Over the next two years or so he would drop little pearls of wisdom and encouragement on that score and it was pretty foundational for me.
To make a long story longer, fast forward almost 30 years and I was in a bar in michigan doing my doodle thing (I just take a few postcard sized bits of paper, do the doodle and them leave them at the bar when I stumble out) and this old fossil wanders up to me and tells me about this guy that did all the drawings on the walls. I Hadn't noticed them (tunnel vison for the booze) but there were a few dozen of them ala Old Town Ale House mingled in with other bullshit in a way that it almost becomes wallpaper. They looked familiar to me, so I asked who was the guy that did them and he told me. Same dude. Used to come in to that bar when it was in a different location back in the day and do the same shit I was doing. He died some years back after years of drinking and living a hard life, but I think about him often when I am doing the doodles of people. Anywho, clearly ol Charlie wasn't on the level of Mr. Levine up there, but he def. made a dent. Thanks for that.
good pod obviously. But then again I could listen to you three chat about anything, I an fully comprehend, respect and enjoy any reference all three of you make. Its like you are all in my head!
This sounds great! I've been traveling and now have 5 Smoke 'Em podcasts saved up to listen to and I'm going to start with this one and work backwards from there.
Michael Moynihan has met his match. I believe Sarah has more total minutes of airtime during this podcast than the king himself! She was equally insightful and charming, too. Yes, they should get married.
Clive James's name at birth was Vivian, if you're looking for English-sounding names. But 'Gone with the Wind' cast too long a cultural shadow for that to remain tenable as a man's name, so he made the switch as a child. And 'Unreliable Memoirs' is a hysterical book. Hope Sarah was able to snare the rampaging rabbit.
Here's a great WFB, Jr column with rare humility: he finally understood that his emphysema was not going away. So touching. He flew to Mayo Clinic (you literally land near a corn field) to get this diagnosis after decades of smoking. Archived for non-subscribers here:
I just need to say that I'm listening to this while working, and my dog is half-passed out next to me. And when you brought up your vibrator, I wanted to cover her ears, as she is spayed, and I did not want to traumatize her virgin ears. That is all.
Hot take: Instead of murder-suicide, Sarah and Moynihan should get married. Or would that be worse? 🤔
Now I want to read their post-divorce memoirs about each other in the worst way!
I'm into this. -- SH
Finn-Irish sparks flying!!!
Jesus take the wheel
This podcast reminded me of how much I dislike labels such as “liberal” and “conservative” because they gloss over nuances that many folks have. The labels may be obsolete when views change but the labels tend to remain. I enjoyed the discussion of Reagan as I also found him to be a deep thinker that came up with great ideas that seemed to be good for the country. I found the book “How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life” by Peter Robinson, a speech writer for Reagan, to be excellent and I’ve read it over and over. It’s popular to criticize Reagan, but sometimes I wonder if the critical voices might gain insight if they were to read that book.
The podcast was excellent. At the time, I was listening to numerous mundane reports and was grateful when the upbeat Smoke ‘em music come on and thought finally, something upbeat. Although I knew of WF Buckley I did not pay that much attention. It was fascinating to hear more about him, and about the political ideologies of the day. Sarah’s comments were astute and Moynihan shared many interesting stories. Thanks for the creative, informative session.
I was a docent at the Reagan Library and one of the things folks don't appreciate about him is the importance of the years he spent traveling around the country as a spokesperson for GE. He would go to factories and offices and it started out as "rah rah" from corporate but became the basis of his political transformation as he listened to people talk about what was important to them, their concerns, etc. which morphed into his stump speech and the radio broadcasts.
The Peter Robinson book is very good.
What a great episode. I grew up with a lot of what you three talked about. I was in a summer session at college during the 1968 Democratic convention and watched the exchange between Vidal and WFB. I had been a subscriber to NR at the time, and I was shocked when first Vidal called Buckley a crypto Nazi and then Buckley lost his cool and called Vidal a queer and I think threatened to punch him if he called him a Nazi again.
I have a book that Buckley published in 1989 containing transcripts of many of his Firing Line episodes, including one with Allard Lowenstein, who people who were alive at the time and Moynihan (who wasn't) will remember as a very left wing congressman from Long Island who was also one of Buckley's very good friends. If anyone is interested the book is "On The Firing Line".
I also remember the NR issue on antisemitism, which discussed not only Pat Buchanan, but also Joseph Sobran who had become devoutly religious and very antisemitic
Like WFB, I also enjoy sailing. I don't have a boat, but my brother does and we sail off the Massachusetts coast. It can be both an exhilarating and peaceful experience. Fortunately, I don't get seasick. When I was a resident, I would crew for a surgeon who would compete in overnight races on the Chesapeake. Being out on deck at 2 AM on a pleasant spring night is an otherworldly experience. Just stay out of the shipping lanes.
I may have related here before that I saw Buckley live during the 1980 campaign. Amazing speaker.
He had his flaws, but the culture is so much richer for his presence and legacy. You had it right. The civility is at the heart of it, and we miss that now. This lack of civility and humor (which I think goes with the extreme partisanship) in current discourse makes me pessimistic. But it is why I enjoy podcasts like yours so much, because this is where I can find the conversations we need.
One of their best.
Say Nothing was incredible. Visited Ireland recently including a walking tour with a woman in Belfast who grew up during the troubles. Chilling. Fascinating and so disturbing. I can’t even begin to express. But I love Ireland and hope to go back and explore more someday. Great outro music !!!!
Holy shit. Talk about some unexpected feels. So one of the guys that was really foundational for me to start doodling people in cafes, bars and the like was an old school caricature artist who had a shockingly similar line quality to Nancy's step dad up there.
I was a junior in highschool, and he was about 20 years out of his professional life and just working as a technical assistant for this random class I ended up in. He always smelled like 2 stroke fuel (from his moped) and whiskey. He was gruff, leathery, and generally kept to himself amongst most the kids there. But one day he caught me doing a quick sketch on the chalk board and said something like "Hey kid, you aren't going to get any ladies or money from doing that shit, but if you want to know how to do it better I might have some suggestions.".
I never had an interest in caricature drawings, I have WAY to many issues with my own lopsided head to start drawing other people exaggerated. But it turns out in order to be good at doing caricature well, you gotta know how to draw what is actually there first. Over the next two years or so he would drop little pearls of wisdom and encouragement on that score and it was pretty foundational for me.
To make a long story longer, fast forward almost 30 years and I was in a bar in michigan doing my doodle thing (I just take a few postcard sized bits of paper, do the doodle and them leave them at the bar when I stumble out) and this old fossil wanders up to me and tells me about this guy that did all the drawings on the walls. I Hadn't noticed them (tunnel vison for the booze) but there were a few dozen of them ala Old Town Ale House mingled in with other bullshit in a way that it almost becomes wallpaper. They looked familiar to me, so I asked who was the guy that did them and he told me. Same dude. Used to come in to that bar when it was in a different location back in the day and do the same shit I was doing. He died some years back after years of drinking and living a hard life, but I think about him often when I am doing the doodles of people. Anywho, clearly ol Charlie wasn't on the level of Mr. Levine up there, but he def. made a dent. Thanks for that.
fwiw link to said bar doodles I do if you like: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fHEi6zCuihBLe9mu6
good pod obviously. But then again I could listen to you three chat about anything, I an fully comprehend, respect and enjoy any reference all three of you make. Its like you are all in my head!
This sounds great! I've been traveling and now have 5 Smoke 'Em podcasts saved up to listen to and I'm going to start with this one and work backwards from there.
My god that was good
"The Eternal Orgasm" sounds like a more appropriate feature for JFK's grave than the flame.
1:43:15 Michael, you mispronounced 'film' - in an Irish context you have to say 'fil-um'!
Moynihan *and* WFBJ??? Be still my neocon heart!!!
Michael Moynihan has met his match. I believe Sarah has more total minutes of airtime during this podcast than the king himself! She was equally insightful and charming, too. Yes, they should get married.
Clive James's name at birth was Vivian, if you're looking for English-sounding names. But 'Gone with the Wind' cast too long a cultural shadow for that to remain tenable as a man's name, so he made the switch as a child. And 'Unreliable Memoirs' is a hysterical book. Hope Sarah was able to snare the rampaging rabbit.
Here's a great WFB, Jr column with rare humility: he finally understood that his emphysema was not going away. So touching. He flew to Mayo Clinic (you literally land near a corn field) to get this diagnosis after decades of smoking. Archived for non-subscribers here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201129174625/https://www.nationalreview.com/2006/05/there-solution-william-f-buckley-jr/
What a great episode!!
This podcast always makes me learn new things, and gives me a lot to mull over. It usually takes me a few days to process.
That's all! Just a mini fan letter.