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To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes
What Makes You Think They Won’t Come for You?
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Charlie Sykes unpacks a week of extraordinary events—from the FBI raid on John Bolton’s home to Trump’s humiliating summit with Vladimir Putin and the alarming expansion of visa surveillance. He warns that these actions aren’t isolated but part of a broader campaign of intimidation and authoritarian drift. Sykes argues that if the government can weaponize its powers against critics and outsiders, it’s only a matter of time before it comes for the rest of us.
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Trump's Easter Purge
47:35|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.Trump's War Blunder
58:59|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.“The Military Has Been a Little Bit Confused”
40:34|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.”It’s Time to Admit It: We Have a Psychotic Government
45:49|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.“There’s No National Interest With Trump, Just Personal”
45:42|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.Is Trump TACOing on Iran?
41:07|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.The "Wing Nut" Rise to Power
51:06|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.“I Phoned Donald Trump. He Answered...”
47:12|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.Trumpology and the Iran Quagmire
48:58|Trying to make sense of Trump's incoherent approach to war and peace with the New Yorker's Susan Glasser, one of the nation's foremost Trumpologists.