Podcast Summary: The Five New Year’s Special

Date: January 1, 2026
Podcast: The Five (FOX News Podcasts)
Episode Theme: A heated and humorous roundtable discussing the biggest political, cultural, and media stories of 2025, complete with predictions, viral moments, and classic banter among the five panelists as they kick off 2026.

1. Overview

The Five New Year’s Special brings together Dana Perino, Kayleigh McEnany, Jessica Tarlov, Jesse Waters, Greg Gutfeld, and Juan Williams for a lively review of 2025’s major events, a look at the state of American politics and culture, and their annual set of irreverent predictions for the year ahead. The episode mixes serious analysis with playful humor, signature panel chemistry, and memorable anecdotes, making for an engaging start to 2026.

2. Key Discussion Points and Insights

A. 2025: Year in Review

• Major News Stories:
  • California Wildfires & Political Critique
    • Jesse Waters recounts the LA wildfires and criticizes local officials:
      “After a laundry list of blunders from LA Mayor Karen Bass skipping town... to greasy Gavin Newsom faking a phone call with Biden...” [00:40]
  • Trump’s Inauguration and Policy Shifts
    • Dana Perino: “45 is now 47. Donald Trump getting sworn into office as president of the United States, completing a political comeback unparalleled in history.” [01:01]
    • Gutfeld and Waters praise Trump’s focus on “common sense” and Main Street over Wall Street.
    • Juan Williams suggests economic stresses among working Americans drove Trump’s win. [01:31]
  • International Affairs:
    • Jessica Tarlov is skeptical about Trump’s approach to the Ukraine peace deal:
      “This quote unquote peace deal... means that Zelensky essentially cedes his country to Russia.” [01:42]
    • Gutfeld frames negotiations as natural “walkouts and blowups.” [01:49]
    • Jesse Waters and Williams highlight U.S.–Iran policy changes and military assertiveness without American casualties:
      “This is a best case scenario.” [04:32]; Williams: “The President... orchestrating from all press reports an unbelievable deception within deception was nothing short of astonishing.” [04:53]
  • Historic Firsts:
    • Waters reports on the first American Pope:
      “Robert Francis Prevost, First American in history to be The Pope... Pope Leo XIV.” [02:45]
• Media and Political Satire:
  • Gutfeld skewers media framing, saying, “Media is trying to make Jimmy Kimmel into their Charlie Kirk... getting fired is not the same as getting fired upon.” [07:23]
  • Perino lampoons political theatre and campaign failures:
    “She ran a terrible campaign. She was an uninspiring candidate. She lost big time. I’ve never seen this system work so well.” [05:36]
  • Whimsical moments center on campaign gaffes, media blunders, and personal jabs among the hosts.

B. Table Banter and Memorable Hot Takes

• Humor and Outtakes:
  • Gutfeld makes playful remarks about relationships and parenting:
    “Sydney Sweeney is a reminder that women are always going to be women and men are always going to be men who like women.” [05:20]
    • Debate over groceries, romance novels, and even Doritos in chimichangas brings the signature Five banter to life. [12:38]
  • Memorable One-Liners:
    • Waters on stress: “Real stress is like when they draft you and send you to a jungle in Nam...” [25:08]
    • Perino: “If only there was a book that told you how to behave in the office. And there is.” [30:49]
    • Gutfeld on landlines: “As a serial killer on the loose, I love a good landline because they’re easy to snip.” [26:48]

C. Generational Divide and Social Trends

• Gen Z and Adult Homework:
  • Williams cues up a segment on adult homework: “Adults are assigning themselves homework for fun. Is this how you have fun, DP?” [23:46]
  • Waters: “You know what I do for fun, Harold? I drink like everybody else.” [24:20]
• Pacifier and Coping Trends:
  • Gutfeld: “If you need a pacifier because you’re being inconvenienced... I hope you choke on it.” [24:50]
  • Perino laments forthcoming Gen Z caretakers: “At some point they’re going to be in charge of our wheelchairs and they’re not going to know what to do... Society is just feeding into it.” [25:35]
• Analog Nostalgia:
  • Williams: “Parents are officially bringing back the landline. I’m one of them. Yep—the curly cord and all.” [26:11]
  • Gutfeld: “These little throwbacks are status signals to handicap. Like, look at me handicap myself. Makes me seem enlightened and precious.” [27:12]

D. Pop Culture & Viral Videos

• Favorite Viral Moments:
  • Jessica Tarlov recounts a viral sports blunder: “Savannah Banana star Robert Anthony Cruz face planting on live CNN... a busted lip and several stitches—but he laughed it off.” [36:46]
  • Light rail driver asleep at the controls—a segment that mixes humor and genuine concern. [37:44]
  • Food influencer close call: as two bloggers narrowly escape injury in a restaurant crash, Gutfeld quips, “It would have been a more interesting story. They plowed into the restaurant... You said, I’ll bet you 100 bucks the driver was a woman. I’m glad I didn’t take that bet—because in fact, she was a woman.” [38:59]
• Classic Five Banter on Movies and Relationships:
  • “You cannot watch a movie with a woman. You can’t.” –Gutfeld [27:39]
  • “It’s not that it’s too loud. It’s that everybody else with all of their noises... I’ve never been back.” –Perino [28:27]

E. Workplace Culture & Etiquette

• Oversharing and TMI:
  • Williams: “Are we dropping way too much information? TMI at work. Business insiders now calling to make coworkers mysterious again.” [30:26]
• Phones, Meetings, and CEO Perspective:
  • Gutfeld: “If you have an iPad in front of me and it looks like you’re reading your email... I tell you to close the damn thing.” [32:57]
  • Kayleigh McEnany and Perino advise discretion, especially with Gen X bosses, and recall examples of distracting or unprofessional behaviors becoming normalized. [34:02]
• Gen Z Job Habits:
  • Williams: “Gen Z is faking it till they make it... nearly half... admit to lying on their job applications.” [34:57]
  • Gutfeld: “Want to get far enough in a career where you can put your resume on a cocktail napkin. The shorter the better, you know, boom, boom, boom. People respect that.” [35:19]

F. 2026 Predictions from the Panel

[19:08-22:43]

• Greg Gutfeld:
  • The media will brand someone from Trump’s White House a racist and Nazi (“The exact date, January 30, 2026... February 4, 2026.”)
  • Police/ICE action will incite national protest (“second week of August”)
  • Seth Meyers will retire, and nobody will notice.
• Jesse Waters:
  • A “Five” panelist will leave, maybe for medical reasons; someone will have a baby—suggesting either himself or Greg.
    “You or Greg were gonna have another baby next year.”
• Dana Perino:
  • Chuck Schumer won’t run; AOC won’t seek his seat but has higher ambitions.
  • Senator Cornyn will win his primary.
  • Hakeem Jeffries will not be Speaker if Democrats retake the House.
• Jessica Tarlov:
  • Taylor Swift to marry and become a mother next year.
  • Democrats retake Congress, Jokic breaks triple-double record.
• Kayleigh McEnany:
  • Republicans will outperform in midterms.
  • A Democrat (possibly Newsom) will announce for president as a Trump “playbook” move.
  • Kamala Harris will publish a campaign book.

3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “45 is now 47. Donald Trump getting sworn into office as president...” —Dana Perino [01:01]
• “This was a man who’s met his destiny. He said he was saved by God in order to make America great again...” —Jesse Waters [01:11]
• “This quote unquote peace deal... means that Zelensky essentially cedes his country to Russia.” —Jessica Tarlov [01:42]
• “Common sense.” —Greg Gutfeld on Trump’s inaugural speech [01:19]
• “The President... orchestrating... an unbelievable deception within deception was nothing short of astonishing.” —Juan Williams [04:53]
• “You cannot watch a movie with a woman. You can’t.” —Greg Gutfeld [27:39]

4. Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:40: Major news of 2025—wildfires, Trump’s inauguration, and first American pope
• 04:32–05:36: Middle East, Iran, and international military action recap
• 08:56–10:42: Domestic politics, Zoran Mamdani’s mayoralty, and state of the economy
• 12:09–16:09: Banter, personal anecdotes, and favorite show moments
• 19:08–23:08: Panel’s 2026 predictions
• 23:46–27:32: Generational trends: adult homework, pacifiers, landlines, nostalgia
• 30:18–35:19: Workplace etiquette, oversharing, early rising, and Gen Z job tactics
• 36:36–39:58: Viral videos: sports injuries, train driver sleeping, influencer mishaps

5. Episode Tone and Dynamics

The Five’s New Year’s Special delivers its trademark blend of political analysis, mockery, generational friction, and panel camaraderie. The tone is brash, witty, and skeptical of media and political narratives, with regular interruptions for good-natured ribbing, pop culture references, and unexpected humor.

6. Conclusion

If you missed this New Year’s roundtable, you missed a rapid-fire tour of the nation’s most talked-about issues, one-liners skewering Gen Z, warnings for the future of American politics, and behind-the-scenes laughs. The Five’s crew remains both deeply opinionated and willing to poke fun at themselves, their rivals, and the news cycle—ensuring there’s never a dull moment at their table.

For further listening, check out the episode in full for panel laughs, viral video commentary, and signature fireworks among the Five.