Twitter Files Explained w/ Kmele Foster

The Twitter Files exposed what we already knew.

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Elon Musk opened up the secret Twitter vaults before a select group of journalists who went on to chain-tweet their findings. David French sits down with Kmele Foster, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, to figure out whether the response to the findings should be a vociferous freak out, a tired shrug, or something more nuanced. They discuss political censorship, media spins, and Big Tech.

Show Notes:

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    This was really good. Much more interesting than I expected, to be honest.

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  2. Yoshi

    Can y'all have David Frum on the podcast? I think he'd add a lot to the discussion regarding Ukraine

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  3. Acre00

    This was a much better discussion than I was expecting, to be honest. I kind of expected this to boil down to "nothing straight up illegal was exposed, so nothing to see here" as other outlets have done. Thank you for reminding me why I love both The Dispatch and David French so much.

    On the government censorship side, I see the appeal of the argument that because stuff was posted on Facebook and then violence happened, the government and/or the social media site should censor the topic or at least label "misinformation". On the other hand, remember when Obama and the State department swore up and down that a YouTube video was responsible for assault on a US embassy? And remember when the CDC and WHO swore up and down that there was absolutely no way COVID-19 could have come from a lab?

    On why Twitter sucks so much, I think the very structure of Twitter makes it the objectively worst platform for important discussions. Because tweets are limited to 280 characters, nuance is outright impossible without work around - yes, you can make a tweet thread or post a screenshot of a larger document if you need to make a larger statement, but you know what might be better? A better platform. Because tweets are so limited, hot takes are far more encouraged.

    I don't think Twitter can be fixed without fundamental changes to its very nature. That's the main reason I was so in favor of Musk buying it. Either he'd improve it or sink it, and either option would be better than the current tire fire it currently exists as.

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  4. Wakernan

    U need to record at a higher audio volume

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      Christopher Jenkins

      The same thing has been happening with other Dispatch podcasts, especially The Remnant. I have always been able to listen to podcasts with the volume in my car turned up to about 50. Lately. I've needed to turn The Remnant, and now this episode of The Dispatch podcast up to 65 to get it to be the same volume it was before.

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    Christopher Jenkins

    I've been waiting for Kmele to show up in The Dispatch content for a long time. Figured it would happen eventually given his friendship with David. Hopefully this isn't a one-time thing. Excited to listen.

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    Ryne Click

    Wow, the long awaited Dispatch/Fifth Column crossover. 🥰

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    Holly Merriman

    Just listened to The Fifth Column…I usually love your recommendations (and Sarah’s) but this was 30 minutes of vulgar frat bros hating on Antifa and fighting the culture wars. And there was no sign of Kmele, maybe he is on the full/paid episode. I want my half hour back.

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      Christopher Jenkins

      Yeah, if you're offended by language and/or vulgarity, The Fifth Column probably isn't for you. Matt Welch and especially Michael Moynihan have potty mouths, ha ha.

      Kmele is regularly a big part of the episodes. Sometimes, not all three of them are present, or one of them has to dip out for a few minutes while they're recording. I don't know what the situation was on the episode you listened to, since it was an excerpt of a premium episode.

      What's not to hate about Antifa? Are they supposed to ignore Antifa because you're sympathetic to them? Aside from some vulgar humor, what was wrong about the way they talked about it? It seemed pretty responsible to me. None of the three hosts are social conservatives, nor are they Republicans, or all that sympathetic to the Republican Party.

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    The Bell Tower

    Tocqueville describing the Streisand Effect:

    "For if there are periods of history when the state control of writers succeeds in checking all progressive thought, there are others when it has exactly the opposite effect. But never has a policy of restrictions on the freedom of the press such as then prevailed failed to augment its influence a hundredfold. Authors were harried to an extent that won them sympathy, but not enough to inspire them with any real fear. They were, in fact, subjected to the petty persecutions that spur men to revolt, but not to the steady pressure that breaks their spirit. The legal proceedings taken against our writers were almost always dilatory, widely publicized but ineffective; indeed, they seemed less calculated to deter them from writing than to incite them to persist. In short, total freedom of the press would not have been so injurious to the Church as these half measures."

    The proliferation of pamphleteering and its effects on the French and American revolutions is an interesting correlation to social media today.

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  9. Sean Smith

    Had a thought or two on David's concern about tweets inciting violence in foreign countries or on January 6. I've been provoked to violence exactly one time in my adult life. It was many years ago when I was in my early twenties and witnessed a man physically assault my then girlfriend. I saw red, flew at him in the wildest, most indescribable rage I've ever experienced before or since, and very likely would have beaten him to death had 3 grown men not pulled me off of him (and believe me, it took all 3 of them). He went to the ER with several bruises, lacerations that required stitches and lumps on his head, but fortunately nothing life-threatening. I paid his medical bills to settle the matter and am relieved to say a federal case wasn't made of it.

    Never once in my life, however, have I been "incited" to take part in a riot or rampaging mob by rhetoric some politician spewed from a soapbox, whether an actual soapbox or the online variety. Moreover, I submit that fully 100% of those who have participated in this sort of mass lunacy were long spoiling for it and simply waiting for an excuse. Each is fully responsible for his/her actions, not the "inciter" or whatever entity supplied him with a platform. As conservatives we're supposed to believe in personal agency and responsibility. Being spontaneously provoked to a primal rage when someone you love is physically attacked is NOT the same thing as quite voluntarily, pre-meditatedly taking part in group idiocy.

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    Ryan McKenzie

    Ok - not finished yet, but David, are you leaving the Dispatch altogether?

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      Christopher Jenkins

      David will not be writing for The Dispatch any more. He will still be doing the AO podcast with Sarah, and will still make appearances on Dispatch Lives and other podcasts. Pretty sure his employment with NYT makes it so that he exclusively writes for them, but he's free to do other stuff elsewhere.

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        Ryan McKenzie

        Happy I get to hear him and Sarah on AO still. I really enjoy their conversations.

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