Diamonds in the rough.
Green Bananas.
The next great thing.
These are all terms that audio brands have kicked around for years as they have tried desperately to find new talent that they can build around.
Like many of my colleagues, I’ve tried to always keep my ears open for talent that can cut through the background noise of a cluttered audio space. On the rare occasion when I DO notice someone…on TV, online or on the radio that can grab my attention for an extended period, I make sure to take note. In my cloud of files, I have what I call “The Futures List”. This is a collection of names that I keep should I ever find a content provider that wants a recommendation on a talent, or if I have a need to hire one.
This past week, I was able to add another set of names to the list.
Recently, I spent a Saturday morning doing what I usually do, drinking a Nespresso and watching Real Time with Bill Maher.
One of Maher’s guest panelists was Kmele Foster, identified as the co-host of The Fifth Column podcast.
Truth be told, as much as I enjoy Maher, many of his guests tend to be rather forgettable. I hear them parrot the same talking points that fit their political ideology. By the time, the episode is over, I don’t even remember their names.
This episode presented an exception to that rule.
The more I had the chance to hear Foster speak the more I thought to myself, “How the HELL have I not heard of this person?”
Check out the highlights from his appearance.
After watching that episode of Real Time, I started scouring the internet to find out as much as I could about Foster.
I also opted to do something that I vary rarely do…spend time in the podcast space.
THE FIFTH COLUMN PODCAST
As a rule, I tend to avoid podcasts. There are a million of them on the internet and, with a VERY few exceptions, I find most of them to be garbage. The production values are usually poor and there is little direction to the conversation. As someone that has worked (albeit briefly) in the podcast industry I found many of the people involved to be more interested in the technology that delivers the content rather than the quality of the content itself.
So, I started listening to The Fifth Column Podcast with low expectations. Less than five minutes into my first listen, I was hooked.
These guys were DAMN good.
Foster co-hosts The Fifth Column podcast with Matt Welch, Editor at Large for Reason, and Michael Moynihan of Vice News. Foster described the podcast as a “weekly rhetorical assault on the news cycle and the people that make it…and occasionally ourselves.” Man, he wasn’t kidding. This podcast was all that and more.
GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN
There are two looming problems with spoken word media; being disingenuous and catering to echo chambers. In a way, these problems go together. Many talents manufacture opinions based on the events of the day and the demos/leanings of their audience. This has made a lot of content predictable. If you tune into Rush, Hannity, Beck, etc., you KNOW what their stance is going to be on an issue. If you tune into Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, or Pod Save America, you know what you’re going to get as well.
Not the case with and The Fifth Column.
Foster, Moynihan, and Welch come across as refreshing voices in an ecosystem of talent that do nothing but parrot the same talking points and cater to groupthink. They are independents in every sense of the word. They take jabs at people on the right AND the left and offer often humorous critiques of both. In one moment, they mock Melania Trump for being vapid. In another moment, they turn around and criticize Pete Buttigieg for being unrealistic about how the 10,000 people who lost their jobs on the Keystone Pipeline will find work. They were very unpredictable. It kept me wanting to listen about what they were going to say next and what surprises I had in store.
They come off as real and understand that issues are not black and white. There are complexities in every problem facing the country and they can’t be solved by adhering to absolutes.
They are also unrelenting in their criticism of mass media. In a recent episode they talked about watching the Biden Inauguration coverage and how ridiculously over the top it was. This exchange between the three hosts literally had me laughing out loud:
Suddenly Joe Biden is this figure of immense…world historical gravitas. It’s like…Joe Biden?
And everyone was comparing him to “The Avengers”. And, I haven’t seen that movie, but I guess it’s a movie about boring corporate Democrats.
It was impossible to watch even one…slice of coverage anywhere on any cable network and not feel, like, totally infuriated by the overwhelmingness of their take.
In a way, I felt a bit of validation as I expressed a similar opinion in a recent column for BNM. In a bigger sense, it was refreshing to hear voices who have no problem rolling their eyes at things that many others see as sacred. While I didn’t agree with everything they had to say, they made me think. They also made me feel comfortable that, if I were to engage with them, I wouldn’t feel attacked, patronized, or shut down. I appreciated the fact that my own ideas were being challenged, yet there was an air of very healthy dialogue throughout their conversations and interactions.
Spoken word media, and in particular the news/talk space, is in dire need of fresh, independent voices. Foster, Moynihan, and Welch present that.
They are a welcome addition to my Spotify playlist, and would be a welcome addition to any audio brand looking for a way to cut through the clutter. Check out The Fifth Column Podcast here.
Ryan Maguire is a columnist for BSM, and a longtime sports and news radio program director. He has managed KIRO-FM in Seattle, WQAM in Miami, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, 610 Sports in Kansas City, and 105.7/1250 The Fan in Milwaukee. Presently, Ryan serves as the Executive Producer of Chicago White Sox baseball on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. Originally from Michigan, Ryan still holds out hope that the Detroit Lions will one day deliver a Super Bowl title. He can be reached on Twitter @RMaguire1701.
