To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

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. 

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.

Economist Justin Wolfers joins Charlie to explain the impact of rising oil prices but also to remind us that there are much deeper questions that need to be asked.