"Churchill Was the Chief Villain of WWII." -Rogan Guest, Influencer Demands Porn Be Distributed in Elementary School, Major Netflix Star Has a Blue Collar Job (The Five for 04/11/25)
Plus, John Wick goes animated. Tom Cruise doing his best stunts at 62. Americana Legends announce new album....with a single billboard in rural Oklahoma.
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the the stories that matter, but don’t always make the front page.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Well, a Joe Rogan podcast episode kicked up a lot of dust on the internet this week.
Yahoo reports:
American comedian Dave Smith and British cultural critic Douglas Murray joined Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience for a blockbuster episode.
Murray wasted no time in confronting Rogan and criticised him to his face for platforming conspiracy theorists and privileging 'fringe' views.
"We should get it out straight away... I feel you've opened the door to quite a lot of people who have now got a big platform, who have been throwing out counter-historical stuff of a very dangerous kind," he exclaimed, referencing Ian Carroll and Daryl Cooper, who appeared on Rogan's podcast month.
The UFC commentator refuted Murray's suggestion that he is giving non-experts a platform, with Smith calling Cooper 'incredibly knowledgeable'.
Murray rejected Smith's notion, saying: "These guys are not historians, they are not knowledgeable!"
Carroll, an independent researcher, claims Israel was responsible for 9/11 and expressed other views blaming Jewish people for various societal ills.
On Rogan inviting Carroll onto his podcast, Murray questioned: "But if you’re going to interview historians of the conflict, or historians in general, why would you get someone like Ian Carroll?
To which Rogan replied: "Ian Carroll, I didn’t bring him on for that purpose."
Murray also name-dropped Cooper, who argued on Tucker Carlson's podcast that Winston Churchill was the 'chief villain of World War II'.
Asked if he has consumed any of Cooper's content, Murray replied: "It’s pretty hard to listen to someone who says, 'I don’t know what I’m talking about, but now I’m going to talk'."
“In many ways, I view Churchill as the chief villain [of WWII].” -Dave Smith
A couple of things about this episode…and this is coming from someone who’s spent decades watching Rogan as a UFC commentator, and one of the original listeners to his show, back when you got podcasts by plugging your iPod photo into a desktop computer with a cord.
A). Rogan is free to platform a guy who claims Israel did 9/11. I’m free to point out that it’s moronic to think Osama Bin Laden, who lived to destroy Israel, would cover for Israel by taking credit for the attack.
B). The Woke Right is very much a thing now, and it’s really stupid.
C. The line between news and entertainment is so blurred that a BBC interview recently featured TV hosts calling out a politician…for not watching a Netflix show (this clip is worth your time). It’s not just Rogan. It’s not just new media…it’s culture in 2025. And it’s stupid.
[two]
A major TV star revealed…he has a blue collar job in the trades when not filming.
The Mirror (UK) reports:
Netflix sensation Gabriel Basso has finally opened up about his hiatus from the acting world and spilled the beans on his off-screen adventures during his break.
At just 30 years old, Gabriel Basso became a familiar face in homes everywhere with his role as Peter Sutherland in Netflix's hit series The Night Agent. The American action-packed thriller had viewers riveted to their screens and soared to one of the top spots on the streaming giant shortly after its debut.
Despite the series' roaring success and propelling Gabriel to new heights of fame, he disclosed the reasons behind his pause from the spotlight. In a candid chat with ITV's This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, Gabriel expressed his desire to "experience life".
Moreover, Gabriel left the hosts gobsmacked when he revealed that he had been practicing "dry stone walling" and even completed a course in the craft.
Gabriel recounted: "Look actors are insulated from reality in a lot of ways. I remember I was getting coffee, I was coming off a walling site, I was covered in dirt and this guy recognised me in this coffee shop.
"And he was like, 'The Night Agent, are you the Night Agent?' and I was like 'Yeah', and he goes, 'What's all the dirt from? Are you in wardrobe or costume? ' And I said 'No I'm working' and he was like 'why?'"
Gabriel expressed his astonishment at the fans' reactions, remarking: "Like dude, I'm 28, I was 28 at the time and you're asking me why I'm working? There is something that's wrong in today's day and age where I can retire at 30-years-old.
"I don't think people should be able to. I think my responsibility to work as a man, you know, you get a trade, you become self-sufficient, and it feels wrong for me to go through life with people giving me water. You know it feels wrong. I'll do that when I'm old and I can get up from the couch," he added.
Slow. Clap.
[three]
Only Fans, the user-generated porn platform, is now being used by 2% of American women, according to a post on X that went viral this week (originally from December 2024)
The data seems to stem from a report by the Washington Examiner, written a year ago, which found that, of the 3 million creators on the platform, 67 percent of revenue goes to Americans.
The outlet then calculated that, if revenue share was taken to be an average per user, 2 million Americans are creators on the platform.
In addition, 70 percent of Americans using the platform are women, the WashingtonExaminer found, meaning 1.4 million American women are OnlyFans creators.
The outlet went further, saying that 2 percent of American women aged between 18 and 45 are creating content on the platform.
That’s a fairly abstract numbers, until you start to look at some of the “survivor stories.” This is a complex topic, as I’m against prohibiting speech, including speech that can be harmful (pointing to the famous case in which the Supreme Court allowed Neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, IL, a town I used to live near with my 1/2 Jewish wife and 1/4 Jewish then-newborn. Let them make noise…if they go further than that, we can find out if they’re allergic to .556 hollow points).
While I’m not advocating for legislation…I am advocating for taking a sober look at the damage of everybody’s neighbor being naked on the internet. One “child survivor story” of an Only Fans mom was published in the Daily Star (UK).
A teenager says he has been left "depressed and suicidal" after his classmates flaunted naked pictures of his mum from her OnlyFans account.
The 13-year-old says he had no idea his mother was on the provocative social media site and suffered a panic attack when youngsters from his school began mocking him and shared naked pictures of his mum.
He says he confronted his mother about the Only Fans account and was told he was overreacting - with his mum insisting that sex work is "basically the same" as working in a supermarket.
Posting to Reddit the unnamed teen said: "I'm 13 and my mom is 33. Things at school were never great. I'm sorta short so I get picked on some but it was manageable.
"That was until one of my classmates showed me a picture of my mom naked. I almost had a panic attack and had to be excused from the classroom. I ended up not showing up to school for a few days (faking sick). I was hoping that things would cool off but they didn't.
"As soon as I got to school almost everyone in my class was staring and laughing at me. This has been going on for about a week now."
The teenager says the bullying is gradually getting worse and now lots of students had nude images of his mum which they are sharing after his mother shared a link to her OnlyFans on her personal Twitter page.
He continued: "I was wondering how my classmates even got the pictures and apparently my mom advertises her OnlyFans on her personal Twitter account.
This feels like another “DeTrans,” moment, in which something which was initially celebrated by society (childhood gender transition) is now getting a second look, which these formerly-trans adults have gone back to their original gender identity, and are medically maimed forever.
But one British Only Fans star claims she has the answer…just put Only Fans content in late elementary school. (That’s not hyperbole, she made that claim).
Lily Phillips: I probably watched pornography first when I was maybe 11. Um, and so I, I've always known about it. I've always knew it was a thing. Um, and I always thought it was very normal to watch. Right.
Interviewer: But if you started watching it at 11 Yeah. I mean, that is so young. Yeah. And you say it's normal. Can you describe how it has influenced you and you and your brain?And your outlook on sex?
Lily Phillips: You know what, I, it actually made me really sex confident and learn a lot of things. I mean, that's mostly how I learned through pornography. And I, I, I do think it has a po positive effect on me just in terms of like understanding things a little bit more. Right. But as we know, what we see in pornography online.
Interviewer: It can be extreme. Yeah. Is not, is not, is not normal.
It depends what type of pornography you're watching. That's what I would say. Okay. And when you look back and reflect on the fact that you had access to this pornography, and were looking at it from the age of 11, and not just you, any Gen Z who's got a smartphone.
Yeah. Do, does that suggest to you that maybe. Your generation has been let down by politicians or the tech companies or even parents?
I think it's hard because sex is a part of life and I think you should be learning from it from that age [age 11]. I do believe that.
Phillips brain appears to be permanently rewired from excessive porn use from pre-pubescence, and she now wants to make that a norm.
As I’ve written about before, this doesn’t just have personal implications for individuals, but affects the economy.
Elder Gen Z’ers are not dating, or even talking to strangers of the opposite sex in public. Which means less relationships, marriage, house buying, car upgrading, and other economic stimulus events that happen as a person moves through life stages. For a generation who was raised watching a lot of sex, they’re not having any of it.
Marriage and family tend to stabilize a person in society, get them working hard in a career rather than sleeping until noon. And, as painful as it is on some days, responsibility and adulthood are far more fulfilling than adolescence in your 20’s and 30s.
We’re gonna see the long term effects of these trends ripple for decades. There may not be a lot you or I can do on the macro here, but on the micro—for God’s sake, don’t give your 11-year-old a smartphone. Jonathan Haight’s “wait until 8th” (grade) pledge for parents to ban together and not let their kids have smart phones until the tale end of jr. high would go a long way to curbing some of these long term effects.
Kids, do not, in fact, need porn in 5th grade. Nor to they need to see nude photos of the parents of their peers on Twitter.
[four]
When faced with a declining population, Illinois decided the way to attract new residents…is to jail homeschool parents and put their kids in foster care.
From Illinois Policy:
An Illinois bill to regulate homeschool and private school students was filed in response to a child abuse case, but a study showed homeschooled students face half the risk of abuse and neglect than when they leave home.
“Thus, the chances of abuse for homeschooling children at family are half or less than at community or school,” according to a nationally representative survey in the Journal of School Choice.
They found the homeschoolers’ greatest risk came when they were at public schools for extracurriculars or out in the community.
House Bill 2827, filed by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Lombard, would impose extensive regulations on homeschool families and private schools.
For homeschool families, it would require filing an annual declaration form with their local school district giving personal information on themselves and their children. Failing to file the form carries the threat of fines or jail time.
The bill also imposes mandates on private schools to provide information on students and their families without an option for families to stay off the government lists.
And as a bonus, video from the legislative session hinted at charging homeschool parents who legally own guns with felonies for violating “gun free zones” at their school (home).
Um, and by categorizing these schools, this is probably a question more for ISB, by privatizing the schools and calling them co-ops. Now, does that establish a gun free zone around those schools?
Uh, I'll have to get back to on that one. Okay. Don't have that answer at this time. Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of an important point too.
So, a state that hast lost 250,000 residents since 2010…just gave a bunch more a really compelling reason to relocate. In the immortal words of Dr. Phil… “let me know how that works out for you.”
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup.
[movies] The next John Wick spinoff…will be an animated prequel. || Three movies out this week, all with excellent reviews: Sinners (1932 blues/horror/vampire mashup), DROP (date-gone-wrong thriller) and Warfare (true story of the Iraq War). You can’t make a bad choice off that list.
[shows] Netflix is doing a Monopoly themed reality competition show. It won’t be people playing the board game…not sure I get it, but that’s not the kind of TV I watch anyway. || The Last of Us season 2 debuted at 82% on Metacritic. The video game adaptation did massive numbers for HBO in 2023.
[gaming] The Playstation IP Death Stranding is getting the movie treatment from the guy who did A Quiet Place: Day One.
[music] Red Dirt six piece Turnpike Troubadours announced their new album (out today) via a rural billboard in their native Oklahoma, and just let it go viral on social media from there. Well played.
I’m not sure how many of the Mission Impossible films I’ve seen, but this looks pretty cool. The stunts here, particularly Tom Cruise hanging onto the side of an old WWI biplane as it zooms just above a canyon floor…is absolutely bonkers. More bonkers…the guy has an AARP card at 62 years old.
See it Memorial Day weekend (05/23).
On paper, there’s nothing new here. Tom Hardy (The Bikeriders, Warrior), plays a take-no-prisoners mercenary up against impossible odds (the John Wick formula). But in execution, the cast is great and this is clearly bringing some new steps to the action movie dance (like throwing a washer at a squad car). On Netflix 04/25.
I’m going to step up and defend the choice to go animated here for Predator: Killer of Killers. Prey was the best Predator movie since…well, Arnie battled that sabre-toothed thing in the jungle and screamed the iconic line “Get to the choppa.”
The skull-hunting alien going toe-to-toe with Vikings, Ninjas and WWII pilots is pretty intruiging, but wouldn’t be a good bet for a studio to shoot live-action.
It’s a cool story idea that might just translate well to animation, which requires less financial risk. Streaming June 6th.
The next live action flick in the franchise, Predator Badlands, fetures the iconic alien teaming up with Elle Fanning (Maleficent, A Complete Unknown) in an unlikely pairing that will feature the Predator as the protagonist…to save a young girl?!
[new music]
At one point, it was doubtful that we’d see Arcade Fire again. The band was at their largest in 2010, when The Suburbs, a record themed around singer Win Butler’s childhood in Houston, won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
But in 2022, Win’s brother, Will will left the band around the time the frontman was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by a gaggle of women. Win’s wife Regine, is also in the Arcade Fire…and Win claims he had affairs (when, exactly, he had time to do that, is the first question that comes to mind), but denied any misconduct.
Somehow, the Butlers’ marriage survived (I guess?!), and they appear to have found an interesting new direction to take their indie rock sound, thanks in part to Win moving to drums (at least in the studio) and Regine taking over her husband’s former slot on bass guitar.
There are art vs. artist questions surrounding the mess that is Arcade Fire…but taken as a standalone song, “Year of the Snake” is a heck of a re-introduction.
Until the next one,
-sth