Germanic Tribes in Canada in 300 A.D.?, NYC's Presumed Mayor Embraces Antisemitism, Can one Gen-Z Star Save Cable News?, (The Five for 06/27/25)
Plus, new movie tells the bonkers true story of a prison escapee who lived in Toys-R-Us. The 90's pop culture movement influencing the Tucker Carlson/Ted Cruz foreign policy debate.
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter, but don’t always make the front page.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Well, the guy who probably will be the next mayor of NYC is fond of the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” a Jihadist cry to kill every Jew in the world, claiming it’s pretty much the same thing as the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, in which Jews tried to escape the Nazis during the Holocaust.
What I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in, in standing up for Palestinian human rights. And I think what's difficult also is that the very word is, has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw ghetto uprising into Arabic.
'cause it's a word that means struggle. Sure. And as a Muslim man who grew up post 9/11, I'm, I'm all too familiar in the way in which Arabic words can be twisted, can be distorted, can be used to justify any kind of meaning. Yeah, and I think that's, that's where it leaves me with a sense that what we need to do is, is focus on keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe.
And the question of the permissibility of language is something that I, that I haven't, I haven't.
“Globalize the Intifada” is a common cry to kill all Jews worldwide.
Whatever you think of Mamdami, it’s mainly rich white and Asian voters who backed, him, while black and Hispanic voters strongly rejected him on Tuesday.
So, congrats to a bunch of Ivy League grads on your new pet antisemite, I guess.
(Note: being against Israel’s war with Hamas, or any of Israel’s policies is not necessarily antisemitism…know what is? Co-signing a phrase about killing all Jews).
I won’t be visiting NYC anytime soon…but I’ll watch at a distance as they get exactly what they voted for. Good luck on those proposed government run grocery stores Mamdami is promising (which will either fail, or put immigrant Bodega owners out of business—neither is a great option, politically or practically).
[two]
Well, in light of the Israel/Iran ceasefire (which was broken, and back on again), last week’s debate between Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson about the Bible, differing Christian views on the end of the world, are fresh again.
Note: I didn’t cover this last week, as I believed other writers had done a good enough job that my voice wasn’t needed…but now, this is in new territory.
First, I’m goin to throw it to my friend Craig Dunham of Second Drafts to set the table.
I won’t pretend to know all or any of the pros and cons of expanding U.S. involvement in the Middle East, but one thing I will suggest is to not look for Scriptural justification from the vast majority of our elected political officials.
What are the potential dangers or implications when politicians use selective biblical interpretations to justify foreign policy? Case in point: Texas senator Ted Cruz’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson, as reported by The Christian Post, in which Cruz shares the theology of his political perspective:
“After earlier stating he [Cruz] first ran for Congress in 2012 ‘with the stated intention of being the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate,’ Cruz offered a twofold explanation, rooted first in his Christian faith. ‘As a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible that those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. I want to be on the blessing side of things,’ he stated, an apparent reference to Genesis 12:3.
Cruz’s biblical reference drew immediate scrutiny. ‘Those who bless the government of Israel?’ Carlson countered.
‘Those who bless Israel is what it says, it doesn’t say the government of, it says the nation of Israel,’ Cruz replied.”
Carlson, whatever one thinks of his usual persona, here serves as an important interrogator, challenging a widely held assumption and position that has so often been used to justify carte blanche U.S. support of Israel, regardless of situation.
“When Cruz struggled to pinpoint the chapter and verse, Carlson questioned his theological grounding. ‘You’re quoting a Bible phrase you don’t have context for, you don’t know where in the Bible it is, and that’s your theology? I’m confused…I’m a Christian, I want to know what you’re talking about,’ Carlson said.
Cruz explained his support for Israel is based on the Bible. ‘Biblically, we are commanded to support Israel. Second—’ ‘Hold on,’ Carlson interjected. ‘We’re commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel?’
When pressed whether he believes ‘what God was talking about in Genesis’ is a ‘political entity that’s existed for thousands of years, though it was recreated just over 70 years ago,’ Cruz replied, ‘Yes, but most people understand that line in Genesis to refer to the Jewish people, God’s chosen people.’”
To be sure, the identity of Israel (past, present, and especially future) is and always has been tricky. But here, the reality is that the modern state of Israel is not the the same as the ancient nation of Israel, at least not from the more historical eschatological views of Scripture long held by the Church. These seem of new interest to a new and younger demographic of folks, as The Christian Post acknowledges:
“The debate over the identity of the modern-day political state comes as the number of young Evangelicals in the United States who support Israel and view it as a sign of the End Times is declining, as amillennial and postmillennial eschatology grows in popularity.”
As the article on eschatology aptly notes, not all of this shift has theological underpinnings, but neither are younger folks automatically accepting more dispensational teachings of the past 100 or so years, made initially popular by the Scofield Reference Bible and more familiar due to The Left Behind fiction series.
From a pop culture perspective, Left Behind was a juggernaut, racking in $650 million, by some accounts, including spinoff merch and a video game that…honestly doesn’t look terrible, 14 years later, with a bit of a GTA vibe.
There have also been three attempts at a movie franchise, starring Kirk Cameron (2000-2005), rebooted with Nicolas Cage (2014) and a prequel with Kevin Sorbo (2023). None of them were huge, but five total movies racked in $50 million, for a total of $700 million from the Left Behind story.
The Cruz/Tucker debate was semi-old-news this week, until Israel broke the cease fire (probably? as a result of Iran breaking it first—the timeline is muddy), in which Cruz’s interpretation that “America has a Biblical mandate to bless Israel” is back in the social media conversation once again.
Observations:
A). The books and movies (from what I experienced, as I only read a couple in high school) are honestly not very good. If you picked them up today. Between the main series and young adult spinoffs, the series spans FIFTY SIX books. You might be able to find them at your local library or thrift store—but they read like a cash grab.
You can certainly agree with Cruz without having read Left Behind, but there’s probably some corolation between fans of the novels and Cruz’s viewpoint.
B). This debate shows just how secular the MAGA movement is compared to the Moral Majority of the 1980’s, in which Jerry Falwell organized Evangelical Christians into a political movement—it worked, until the late 1980’s when the public figured the whole thing had become more about politics than faith…at which point the movement tapered out…it went through teh cycle all social movements go through:
C). A lot of younger people who claim Christianity are more into the “smells and bells” churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, etc.) who are less likely to organize around a political candidate.
D). If that’s all a bit confusing (and it might be if you’re reading this without any kind of religious background), the TL:DR (too long, didn’t read) is that the political right is probably still more religious than the political left, but the events of this week prove that the goal posts have moved some.
E). To close out with my opinion here—it’s two fold. The first, apart from the debate around Israel, is that I lost all respect for Tucker Carlson when he claimed Winston Churchill was the “chief villain” of WWII, may have financial ties to Qatar, and praised Russia’s economy and grocery prices, without comparing Russia’s $7,000 median salary to America’s $61,000. Yes, thing are cheaper where people are poor, moron. That being said, the moron did well as an interview in this case.
As far as a theological view on Israel, I don’t have much (if any) opinion, as I’m unsure how I could personally bless or curse Israel (or any other nation). But from a practical standpoint on Middle East policy, it would have been MUCH better for human rights, stability in the region, and American interests if the U.S. had backed Lebanon Christians during the Lebanese Civil war.
Lebanon is a historically Christian nation, and it would have been MUCH better if America had “blessed” it with arms and supplies in the 1970’s to avoid an unstable Muslim government that ignored human rights and harbored global terrorists. Dating back to the independent Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades, Christians, Jews AND Muslims enjoyed better human rights and stronger economies when radical Islam is not in charge. (For more on this, give Crusades: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands).
Similarly, it generally makes sense to have a good relationship with Israel (and to be seriously pissed when they break a ceasefire), but for those opinions, I lean on common sense and practical policy, not a particular Bible verse.
Also, Gen Z would say that Lebanese Christian Militias had “serious drip.”
[three]
Well, looks like old Christopher Columbus really should lose his holiday…because Germanic Runes from 300 A.D. may have just been found…in inland Canada (as opposed to the Eastern seaboard where viking artifacts have been found).
From Popular Science:
Archaeologists remain baffled by a surprising, seemingly ahistorical find located deep in the Canadian wilderness. But after years of research, analysis, and historical corroboration, an interdisciplinary team has finally made their findings available to the public. Tucked away in a forest approximately 465 miles northwest of Ottawa, a massive slab of bedrock features a hand-etched rendition of the full Lord’s Prayer. But the religious text isn’t inscribed in French or English—it’s composed of over 250 symbols from the oldest known runic alphabet.
The perplexing discovery happened completely by chance, according to the CBC. Hidden for centuries, the stone became exposed only after a tree fell near the town of Wawa, not far from Lake Superior. Closer inspection showed that someone had etched 255 runes into a roughly 4 by 5 foot section of the slab. Additionally, they took time to add a detailed illustration of a boat, an additional 16 runic signs, and 14 X markings.
Photos of the site soon wound up in front of Ryan Primrose, president of the Ontario Center for Archaeological Education, who was immediately stunned by the images.
“It’s certainly among the least expected discoveries of my career. It’s absolutely fascinating,” he told CBC.
Williams eventually determined that the message was written with Futhark alphabetic runes. First developed and used by Germanic peoples between the 2nd and 8th centuries CE, Futhark eventually evolved into a simplified version adopted by Scandinavians. Both the Anglo-Saxons and Frisiacs also expanded it into their own variants, but the knowledge of how to read its original iteration died out by the High Middle Ages (around 1000-1300 CE). It wouldn’t be until 1865 that Norwegian scholar Sophus Bugge finally succeeded in deciphering the long-lost language.
It’s just one more piece of evidence on a growing mountain of data pointing to the earth being circumnavigated MUCH earlier than the Columbus/Magellan era.
[four]
Can Gen Z talent save cable news?
Fox News is getting a Gen Z glow up, bringing on rising online star Brett Cooper to provide her insights on the conservative-leaning network, the Daily Mail can exclusively report.
The 23-year-old first came into right-wing prominence as the host of Daily Wire's podcast, The Comments Section, which she hosted from January 2022 until December 2024.
She still hosts The Brett Cooper Show on her independent YouTube channel, which boasts 1.58 million followers, where discusses current events, pop culture, politics, generational shifts and relationships – all from a young, conservative perspective.
Cooper, however, is now an exclusive contributor to Fox News, where the age of the average viewer is 69 years young, according to the most recent Nielsen data.
The Gen Z conservative personality will make her debut in her new role on The Will Cain Show in the 4:00 p.m. hour on Fox News Channel on Wednesday.
A person familiar with the industry told the Daily Mail that while Cooper wasn't hired to attract a different audience, it's very likely that she will help Fox reach a younger generation that doesn't usually tune-in to network television.
The question is whether other cable networks can attract similar talent to boost ratings with younger viewers, or if Millennials and Gen Z can even be talked into buying cable in the first place.
Your move, MSNBC, CNN.
[five]
As always, let's head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup…
[movies] The script for the upcoming Ronda Rousey biopic was written by the former fighter (VERY rare in the movie world for the subject of movie to write the script). Not only that, but Rousey penned the script in just 7 days after studying screenwriting for months. like a championship fight, Rousey has set her self up for a massive victory or blistering defeat. || The original Spiderman trilogy (the one released during when Dubya was President) is heading back to theaters this fall, with extended cuts of all three Toby McGuire led films. || Denis Villeneuve, best known for directing DUNE Pt. 1 and 2, will helm the next James Bond film. || Variety has released their best movies of 2025 (so far).
[shows] The Bear returns to Hulu, but the restaurant driven show earned the lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes so far, but some reviews, like IGN, claim it’s the best season so far. || Ironheart, the latest MCU show to divide critics…is getting lukewarm reviews overall. I watched the first 15 minutes or so at the gym. I didn’t hate the setup, but it feels more Disney Channel than something in the prestige TV lane like Daredevil.
[music] Bruce Springsteen is releasing four albums of material that were recorded, then put on a shelf to collect dust back in the 80’s and 90’s. Pitchfork is calling it some of his best work. || The bassist for the Grammy winning country group Midland will direct Cowboy, an upcoming film also written by the musician, and will (presumably) contribute to the soundtrack. Bassist Cameron Duddy has previously directed music videos for John Mayer and Bruno Mars.
Channing Tatum as an escaped convict who lives in Toys-R-Us and robs McDonalds at gunpoint…AND it’s a true story? Bonkers. In theaters 10/10.
I’m certainly not one to bet against Oscar winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13), and his latest looks…pretty dang intriguing. This is a very different “based on a true story” than the Tatum project (above), but no less intriguing.
Ana De Armas (Ballerina, Knives Out), Vanessa Kirby (Fantastic Four, The Crown), Jude Law (Cold Mountain, Sherlock Holmes) and Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria) is certainly a lineup that will gain some attention. Looks like Howard is hunting for more hardware come awards season. See it 08/22.
[new music]
Texas Country is having a pretty good spring/summer. In addition to Midland (the town featured in Landman) native Kat Hasty dropping one of the best albums of 2025 with The Time of Your Life, and now Hamilton, TX native Presley Haile has released a show-stopping debut EP.
Highly recommended. If you like the genre at all, do not miss this one.
Until the next one,
-sth