The Comedy Cellar: Live From The Table

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon joins Live From The Table to talk about the emerging splits on the political right—Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, anti-Semitism, and the responsibilities that come with free speech. Topics (AI gleaned): The Babylon Bee and modern satire Trans debates and free speech Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Turning Point Anti-Semitism and cowardice on the right Religion, truth, and respect in public debate

Two years after October 7th, the Comedy Cellar hosts Bret Stephens (New York Times), Coleman Hughes (The Free Press), and Michael Moynihan (The Fifth Column) for a discussion of how the Hamas war against Israel ignited something larger — and perhaps more enduring. The panel explores: How sympathy for Israel inverted almost overnight into hostility toward Jews. The emergence of “October 8th Jews” and the new sense of isolation in America. The Plight of the Long Suffering Palestinians Double Standards The rise of conspiratorial right-wing rhetoric and the failure of moderates to confront it.

Noam Dworman, Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by NYC Mayoral Candidate and Founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa.  He addresses why he is the best candidate for the job and and why he will not bow out of the race.

The Moshes Brothers—Joshua and Benjamin—creators of Congestion-Pricing-Tracker.com, break down the latest developments in New York City’s grand congestion pricing experiment. What does the data suggest about whether this historic policy will succeed? And, why are two college kids the only ones tracking it?

Impossible choices haunt every war. John Spencer, executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute, joins Live from the Table to confront the hardest questions raised by Israel’s war against Hamas. How are civilian deaths justified in war? Can Israel defeat Hamas ? What does it mean to fight an enemy that will not protect its own people? Is Israel held to a different standard than other nations Difficult questions, no easy answers.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has sparked a firestorm of conspiracies. The Live from the Table crew, joined by journalist Ross Barkan, exposes how antisemitic tropes are spreading on the right—from Candace Owens’ tweetstorms and Max Blumenthal’s “sources” to Holocaust denier Ian Carroll’s overt accusations. And why is Megyn Kelly - staunchly pro-Israel - hesitant to call out Candace Owens, even at times praising her, as Owens’ conspiracy talk spreads? Why has Kirk’s murder been reframed around his Israel stance?

Journalist Michael Tracey and Epstein mega-expert Michael Tracey stops in to tell us what is and isn't true about this remarkable story. Subscribe to Tracey's awesome Substack: https://substack.com/@mtracey

University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape maintains that Israel is passing "historic thresholds of civilian punishment" and is risking its own future existence. Please Note: This PDF contains the post-show conversation between Noam and Pape. It contains many links to articles and videos that Pape draws from. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rk9NJ6BEYx6qa7JUEjuwzKG7R2MUOus4/view?usp=sharing Here is Pape's recent article on the matter in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/gaza-unparalleled-devastation-robert-pape ("The Unparalleled Devastation of Gaza")

Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by Gregory Lyakhov, America's the youngest nationally syndicated columnist. He serves as a columnist for Newsmax, The Gateway Pundit, and Townhall Media, regularly contributing to major outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and The Hill. His work has appeared in dozens of other publications and has been cited by top institutions, including the White House. He shares his views on the war in Israel, anti Semitism and why he wants to be like Ben Shapiro when he grows up.  Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CE... and use code CELLAR and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup!

Social and political critic extraordinaire Richard Hanania joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on Israel, Epstein, and whatever else he's thinking about these days.

Suzy Weiss is a co-founder of The Free Press. Before that, she worked as a features reporter at the New York Post. There, she covered the internet, culture, dating, dieting, technology, and Gen Z. Her work has also appeared in Tablet, the New York Daily News, and The Wall Street Journal among others.

Matt Welch is the Editor-at- Large at Reason magazine and co-host of The Fifth Column podcast.

Omer Bartov discusses his recent article in The New York Times accusing Israel of genocide. A contentious conversation. Links: https://newrepublic.com/article/96369/hitler-wwii-middle-east-islam https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2004/12/19/an-end-full-of-horror/f62352ab-2561-45bf-ad33-e1368d1e81cd/ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/opinion/israel-gaza-holocaust-genocide-palestinians.html https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/01/israel-south-africa-genocide-case-fake-quotes/677198/ (https://archive.ph/tnIVC) https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-human-rights-expert-william-schabas-a-strong-case-that-israels-response-constitutes-the-crime-of-genocide-a-da7e4524-ab3b-40e4-b409-f8fca9c081b8 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/world/middleeast/hamas-gaza-israel-fighting.html

Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand discuss using notes on stage, Dan's cruises, the adult obsession with the weather, Ozempic, Periel's new show and whether or not Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide.Live from the Table Bonus Episode: Ozempic, Stand Up and Jeffrey Epstein.

Noam Dworman and Dan Naturman are joined by Tom Nash, a self described storyteller and vagabond. Noam gets nostalgic, Dan gets philosophical and Tom explains anti-fragility. Nash is a Global Keynote Speaker and has graced the stages of some of the world's largest conferences and festivals including TED and SXSW. He is also a club DJ, author. He lost all four of his limbs after a devastating brush with a deadly disease.

Noam Dworman unexpectedly joins Dan Naturman and Periel Aschenbrand despite the fact that he had a colonoscopy earlier in the day. They discuss his procedure, the recent Diddy Verdict and what it means to globalize the intifada.Live from the Table Bonus Episode: Colonoscopies, Diddy, Mamdani and Bob Vylan

Comedians Modi and Eric Neumann join Periel Aschenbrand. They discuss the history of the Comedy Cellar, Eric's new girlfriend and what it's like performing stand up for a room of seven people.

Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MhxjO0q9vmkhttps://youtu.be/MhxjO0q9vmk 2 hours of debate (plus another hour over drinks after) and we didn't settle it. Discussed: Is It Genocide? Does Hamas maximize civilian deaths? Comprehending martyrdom - does Hamas consider all civilians to be combatants? Does Hamas have "no choice" but to break the rules? Does Israel break the rules? Why all the name-calling? Is civility possible in debating Israel's action in Gaza? More More from Matthew: https://historyspeaks.substack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9z6CwgycPjUbOLElkLuHjQ

Two Zionist Jews discuss: "Until Israeli politics can radically reorient itself, it’s time to construct a vision of Jewishness that’s independent of the state that pretends to act on our behalf. It’s time for Jews to reclaim the moral mantle of our ancestors. For the Palestinians, but also for the future of the Jewish people, it’s time for Jews to abandon Israel." https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Josh Szeps is the host of the podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps.