To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

Sarah Fitzpatrick is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers national security and the Department of Justice. She joins Charlie to talk about why the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is here to stay, digest Trump's "Open the f***in' strait" post, and discuss the effects of gutting expertise within the Pentagon.

New York Times Opinion writer David French joins Charlie to discuss the beginning of "the great Trump purge," which started with the firing of Pam Bondi but is now rippling through the Pentagon and the military.

In this solo episode, Charlie answers listeners' questions on Trump's order on mail-in voting, the reports on Pete Hegseth's war stock, the future of NATO, and more. We decided to release this episode earlier than usual because of Trump's address to the nation.

Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling served as commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe during the Obama administration. In this episode, he tells Charlie that it's very difficult for the military to draft a campaign plan for Iran when the end state goal is unclear. He also discusses his new book: “If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal.”

Jonathan Rauch is a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. In this episode, he makes the case that the Trump administration is, as a whole, psychotic, erratic, and unpredictable.

Phillips O'Brien is a historian and Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. In this episode, he joins Charlie to discuss the different ways Trump could operate in Iran right now and the biggest obstacle to it all — the fact that Trump is only motivated by personal gain and that many people have given up.

Former Congressman and Substack superstar, Adam Kinzinger, joins Charlie to discuss the economic implications of the Iran war, Trump's response to the death of Robert Mueller, and ICE deployment at airports.

On today’s episode, Charlie welcomes author, journalist, political commentator and former Congressional candidate, John Avlon. The two discuss the stark contrast between the decorum of past presidents and Trump, along with the broken incentive structures at the heart of the American political system, and how all this has brought political extremists to the forefront of American politics. 

Ed Luce from the Financial Times joins Charlie to discuss his recent phone call with the president, Trump's obsession with the British Prime Minister, and whether the US is opening another front in Cuba.