The Mona Charen Show

Latest Episodes:

About Those Men Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Mona welcomes Richard Reeves to discuss the struggles of boys and men, including a debate about whether marriage promotion is good or obsolete in this day and age.

Richard Reeves’s bio at the American Institute for Boys and Men
Sex Matters by Mona Charen
Boy Mom by Ruth Whippman
How to Save Marriage in America by Richard Reeves (Originally published in The Atlantic)
Pro-Family Policy Priorities for States Shaping Policy, Renewing Culture. Polling and Perspectives from the Sun Belt by Patrick T. Brown of The Ethics and Public Policy Center and Brad Wilcox of The Institute for Family Studies
How family law undermines fatherhood, and how to fix it by June Carbone at AIBM.

Is Womanhood So Bad? Jan 13, 2025

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In the inaugural episode of The Mona Charen Show, Mona welcomes New York Times columnist Pamela Paul to discuss why girls are getting negative messages about womanhood. Also: sex differences, social media, motherhood, and men's struggles.
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Coming soon—a new show hosted by Mona Charen Jan 08, 2025

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The Final Beg to Differ Dec 20, 2024

Show notes

Mona and the gang bid farewell to this format, discuss what will replace it, and offer a glimpse of future plans.
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Highlights / Lowlights:

Mona outlined the future of her new show.
Bill previews his forthcoming book on political psychology.
Linda: The Silver Candlesticks: A Novel of the Spanish Inquisition, Linda’s forthcoming book, which you can pre-order now! Make sure you sign up for Linda’s Substack.

Damon: While Damon finishes his forthcoming book on Leo Strauss, go down the Straussian rabbithole at Notes from the Middleground.

Referenced work: Bret Stephens’s “Done With Trump” in the NYT

Trump's Most Dangerous Nominee Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

Noah Smith joins to discuss what Tulsi Gabbard could do to America, the other anti-qualified nominees, the Penny/Mangione cases, and what Syria should remind us of.
Highlights / Lowlights
Mona: Rupert Murdoch's Succession Fiasco, Clive Irving at Vanity Fair
Linda: Why Does Pete Hegseth Keep Talking About ‘Warfighters’? Elliot Ackerman at The Free Press.
Bill: His WSJ column: Save a Reagan Initiative From Musk and Ramaswamy
Damon: When Democracy’s Defenders Turn Into Its Gravediggers, Yascha Mounck
Noah makes his reasoned pitch as to why rabbits make excellent pets.

Is the Press Preemptively Caving to Trump? Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

Matt Bennett joins to discuss the most dangerous Trump appointments and the worrying signals of fear by MSNBC and others.
Highlights / Lowlights

Mona: The Iron Man of America’s op-ed pages (David Von Drehle, WaPo) and Mona’s contribution to the George Will tribute symposium, ‘Conservatism’s Vital Champion.’

The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen
Matt: The attempted Martial Law coup in South Korea (lowlight) and the response of South Korean politicians and citizens (highlight).
Bill: The DOGE versus the NED by James Piereson (The New Criterion)
Linda: Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth See the Same Enemies (Carlos Lozada, NYT)
Damon: The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the perverse glee of some on the very online left. (Lowlights)

Humiliation Theater Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Robert Tracinski joins to discuss Trump's attack on government, his execrable appointees, and what Dems should do going forward.
Highlights / Lowlights
Damon: Russ Vought's appointment to OMB and the Nancy Mace / Sarah McBride performative cruelty.
Linda: JD Vance appearing in all of those Senate meetings with Matt Gaetz, and A Free Press Conversation with Natan Sharansky
Mona: Hong Kong's jailing of 45 democracy activists sparks criticism from foreign governments, rights groups (CBS)
Bill: House passes bill that would allow Treasury to target nonprofits it deems to support terrorism
Robert:The RFK Jr. McDonalds Photo

As Bad As We Thought Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

David French and Larry Diamond join the group to mull the nature of Trump's victory and the stupefying appointments to DOJ and DNI.
Highlights / Lowlights

David French: Politics are terrible and sports are terrible, at least for David. Kentucky Wildcats, Tennessee Titans, and Ja Morant’s injury.
Damon Linker: A viral tweet and the disappointing Republican whataboutism.

Larry Diamond: A vignette about Matt Gaetz’s selection and surprising a prominent Republican with the news.
Bill Galston: The Onion has won the bid for Infowars’ assets

Mona Charen: Season 2 of Bad Sisters.

Kleptocracy Cometh Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

The Atlantic's David Frum joins the group to analyze the election and consider the implications for domestic and foreign policy.
Highlights / Lowlights:
Damon: The work of Ruy Texiera and Nate Cohn
Linda: My Manifesto for Despairing Democrats by Nick Kristof
Bill: ‘Invisible’ older women speak up at the ballot box by Karen Tumulty
Mona: Trump transition team co-chair endorses Kennedy anti-vax theories and says he would be able to access health data
David: Earth experiencing warmest year on record – again, scientists say

Who Are You Calling Garbage? Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

Tim Miller joins to discuss the big picture about 2024, why Harris could not run as a change agent, and America's oligarchs.
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Highlights / Lowlights
Linda Chavez: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and the Dodgers World Series Victory (Highlights)
Tim Miller: Trump wearing an orange vest and driving a trash truck. (Both)
Mona Charen: Derrick Anderson's Fake Family (Lowlight)
Bill Galston: The Dodgers (Highlight)
Nikki Haley's Get Out the Vote Closing Argument (Lowlight)
Damon Linker: Charlie Kirk: Harris Wants Women to Lie to Their Husbands (Lowlight)

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