Conservative Conversation and Community
Following the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise and others at baseball practice by a person who is believed to have had a political motivation, the debate about political rhetoric was resurrected. Jay and Neal spoke with Editor-In-Chief of The Daily Wire Ben Shapiro about that issue as well as political tribalism and the lunacy of so-called “conservatives” acting out like leftists because it’s “war.”
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If you’ve been following the Trump/Russia/Comey/Mueller situation and you’re not an attorney, you might find it difficult to understand what’s going on. Conflict of interest, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, impeachment … you likely know what all of that is, but what about the particulars? Bradley Moss of the Law Office of Mark Zaid specializes in litigation on matters relating to national security, federal employment, and security clearance law, as well as the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act. He joins Jay and Neal to give an overview of all these issues and what it means going forward.
What is it like to the White House correspondent for a major newspaper, especially in the age of Donald Trump? Reporter Maggie Haberman’s experience goes to a time long before the 2016 election, familiar with the President since her days at the NY Daily News and the NY Post before she made her move to Politico in 2010.
Maggie talks to Jay and Neal about her experience as a reporter, her process when putting together a feature, and what it’s like to cover Washington while working out of New York.
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Have you heard the phrase “adulting?” People talk about regarding doing things people in the past never really thought about much. They just did it. Paying bills, filling the car up with gas, voting, etc.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska discusses that in his book, The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis And How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance. The book does not serve as a blueprint for taking your kids from adolescence into adulthood but instead, Sasse tells the story of how and his wife are doing it raising their kids. He also talks about the value of hard work, the ways in which he thinks education should change and what it means to be “literate” beyond functional literacy.
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Blue Apron, 
Dollar Shave Club There’s been a lot of talk about anonymous sources in journalism in the first four months of the Trump administration. The problem is, not a lot of people know precisely how they’re used and why journalists use them. Reporter Glenn Thrush of the New York Times joined Jay and Neal to talk about the subject. They ask Glenn about anonymous sources, why they’re used, the process behind cultivating them and how to deal with the pressure to reveal them.
It’s a very informative episode and some of what Glenn says will surprise you!
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SimpliSafe, Dollar Shave Club Where are you on the Trump spectrum? Are you a Trump supporter with him from the start? Are you a Trump skeptic, willing to give him credit when it is due but not afraid to criticize? Or are you pro-Trump and more bound to defend him when criticized? Jay and Neal welcome Noah Rothman of Commentary Magazine to discuss these factions and also his current piece, How to Be a Conservative in the Age of Trump. The guys discuss all of that as well as the critical question of whether Seinfeld is overrated or not.
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Donald Trump fired James Comey this week and it set the political world ablaze. Jay and Neal invited GOP strategist and columnist for The Daily Beast to talk about what happened, why it happened and what is going to happen next.
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You’ve probably read stories by embedded reporters and have a general understanding of what they do. But what about their stories? What is like to be an embedded reporter? How do they get treated by Marines? What are the locals like? How does it feel to be in life and death situations?
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post is the guest to answer those questions. He’s been embedded with troops in Afghanistan on more than one occasion and has some interesting stories to tell.
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Does the media bubble exist? According to an investigation by Politico, it does and it’s worse than people thought. Jay and Neal invited journalist Erica Grieder, formerly of Texas Monthly, to discuss the issue in depth, to find out if the media can change, and what the news consumer can do to make things different.
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Do you read The Federalist? Write there? Did you ever wonder how it started? How he cobbled his team together? Then you will want to listen to this episode. Ben Domenech talks about the ups and downs of publishing The Federalist including how he deals with the criticism. He also talks about his approach to publishing articles about Donald Trump.
Of course, Ben weighs in on the ever-important Seinfeld debate.
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If you like photography and filmmaking, then you will enjoy our conversation with Michael Deppisch. Michael is a Nashville-based photographer and filmmaker who has done a variety of work that you can see at his website.
Michael talked with Neal and Jay about how he got started, his influences, what he thinks about technological advances, and the growth of the “selfie” culture.
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Wow! It’s been one year since The Fifth Estate was launched. We started out hoping to have some fun talking to interesting people but never expected it to take off like it did. It’s been my pleasure to co-host this show with Neal and talk to all the guests we’ve had on the show. People gave 45-60 minutes of their time to shoot the breeze with us and it was great!
We are looking forward to more of this. Also, thank you, listeners and subscribers. We wouldn’t be doing this without you. In this episode, we answer some of your questions. We hope that you enjoy the answers as much as we enjoyed the questions!
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Chris Arnade is not the guy you’d expect to see shooting photos of home addicts in the Bronx. With a Ph.D. in physics and a 20-year career on Wall Street, Chris embarked on long walks in New York City and eventually to Hunts Point in the South Bronx. There he started a project he didn’t intend to start. It’s called “Faces of Addiction,” and you can go here to see the photos. Please know that some of the images, while beautiful, may be disturbing to some people, but they are still worth viewing.
Chris talked about that project, what led him to it and what he is working on now. You can follow him on Twitter.
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Scott Lincicome makes his long-awaited return to The Fifth Estate and he’s back to talk about trade, protectionism, and TPP — in the age of Donald Trump. The last time he joined us, Barack Obama was still President so now he brings new thoughts and perspectives to these issues.
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How have ’80s-born millennial conservatives changed from the 2008 election to the 2016 election? We talked to Meghan McCain to find out. We also asked about her father, Sen. John McCain, and her friendship with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. She talked about Obamacare with Neal and Jay as well as her departure from her radio show and her full-time gig with Fox News on the show “Outnumbered.”
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Donald Trump thinks Barack Obama tapped his phones in Trump Tower? Would he? Could he? Given Obama’s propensity to use the federal government (IRS, AP, James Rosen) as a weapon, would it be out of bounds for Obama to do it? And what’s next? David Harsanyi of The Federalist talks about that and also discusses the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
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Patriot Mobile, Blue Apron CPAC. It’s a scene, man. This is the first time since 2008 CPAC was held with a Republican (allegedly) in the White House. Neal and Jay were on the scene with some commentary recorded together for the first time in person as well as some interviews! They interviewed Jim Swift of The Weekly Standard, Andrea Ruth of RedState and The Decision Desk HQ, Dave Weigel of the Washington Post and Amelia Hamilton of Watchdog.org and RedState. Enjoy!
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Are you a gamer? PC or console? What kind of games do you play — and do ever wonder if you’re too old to be playing games? Kyle Foley joins Neal and Jay to talk gaming, the culture of gaming and the future of gaming, particularly virtual reality and augmented reality. Check out Kyle on his YouTube channel as well as on Twitch.
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What is Barack Obama’s legacy? Did he have accomplishments historians will reflect on 30-40 years from now? Jonah Goldberg from National Review joined Neal and Jay to talk about President Obama’s legacy, from domestic policy and national defense to foreign policy and national security. And of course, more importantly, Jonah weighs in on the important question: Can Tom Hardy play James Bond?
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People are always willing to give feedback. But how do you receive it? That’s where Sheila Heen comes in. She and Doug Stone are founders of the Triad Consulting Group and authors of the book, Thanks For The Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. Jay and Neal ask about different situations where feedback is received, particularly in the age of social media.
How is Donald Trump doing through his first 11 days? How about his choice for the Supreme Court? The immigration executive order and the media? Tom Nichols weighs in with Jay and Neal to talk about all of it. It’s been a whirlwind since Trump assumed office and now it’s time to see how things started.
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Donald Trump is the President of the United States. Many people never thought it would happen and loudly said so. And they were wrong. As were Neal and Jay. So we decided it would it would be a good idea to have a Trump supporter on the show to talk about his performance so far and his first 100 days. Scottie Hughes of Right Alerts was gracious enough to join us for a very cordial discussion about our new President.
We discussed domestic policy, the Supreme Court, foreign policy, and how the Republican Party will operate together.
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The guest for this week’s show is Peggy Newfield. She is the founder and etiquette expert at The American School of Protocol in Atlanta, GA. Peggy talks with Jay and Neal about etiquette, why it is important, how it differs by region, the influence technology has on etiquette, and of course, ways that you or your organization can be taught proper etiquette in all walks of life.
Peggy has done training for kids, business executives, politicians, foreign diplomats, even military officers. It’s a great show and Peggy was a terrific guest.
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It’s 2017! Neal is back and Jay is along with him talking to John Schindler (on Twitter, @20Committee) from The Observer and an intelligence expert about Donald Trump, the Russians, and the Chinese. John lays out his thoughts on the Russian hacking of the DNC, the extent of it, as well as offering up commentary on Julian Assange and Wikileaks. John also talks about Trump’s national security and national defense team (fan of Mattis, not of Flynn) and what he sees coming down the road.
John was a great guest and you don’t want to miss this.
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Ben Domenech of The Federalist joined Jay to talk “The Best Of” throughout the year:
Politics was largely avoided, but if you want to hear a fun discussion about pop culture, then you will enjoy this episode!
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