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The Mona Charen Show — News
The Mona Charen Show

After a great five year run on Beg to Differ, Mona Charen brings you a new show dedicated to deepening your understanding of complex issues and trends facing society. Each week she’ll engage an expert for a probing discussion that goes past the day’s headlines.

Copyright: © Bulwark Media

Latest Episodes:

The 'Rally Round the Criminal' Effect Jun 07, 2024

Show notes

Sasha Havlicek and Philip Bump join the panel to discuss online disinformation, the GOP reaction to Trump guilty verdict, and the Fauci follies in Congress.
highlights / lowlights

Sasha- The 80th Anniversary of D-Day at Normandy American Cemetery.
Damon- The Tower and the Sewer by Mark Lilla (NYR)
Linda- This Catholic leader shelters migrants. Texas says he runs ‘stash houses.’ (WaPo)
Philip- Two years later, Dinesh D'Souza's obvious misinformation is finally taken down
Mona- World War II Veterans meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky at Normandy and "The Biggest War on the Small Screen" by Benjamin Parker (Bulwark)

Wanted: A Biden Campaign May 30, 2024

Show notes

Famed presidential photographer David Hume Kennerly joins Bill Kristol and regulars to discuss the Ford Library's cowardly refusal to honor Liz Cheney, how Democrats should handle the Trump verdict, and Biden's standing with the young and old.
highlights / lowlights
David: In closing, Trump’s team takes the jurors for idiots (Dana Milbank, WaPo)
Mona: Why Trump is hobnobbing with rappers facing gang-related charges (MSNBC)
Bill Kristol: The impressiveness of the Manhattan Trump Trial (NYT).
Linda Chavez: Mexican Democracy Hangs In The Balance (Enrique Krauze, Persuasion)
Bill Galston: Highlight: NATO’s boss wants to free Ukraine to strike hard inside Russia (The Economist)
Lowlight: Almost 6,000 Dead in 6 Years: How Baltimore Became the U.S. Overdose Capital (NYT)
show notes:
The Danger of a Small Act of Cowardice by David Hume Kennerly. (Includes the Cheney / Ford photo referenced in the show.)
David's Resignation Letter from the Ford Presidential Foundation

What if What the Electorate Knows is Flat Wrong? May 24, 2024

Show notes

Joe Klein joins the panel to discuss Haley's Trump support, Alito's freak flags, and polls showing Americans are deeply misinformed about the state of the economy.
highlights / lowlights
Damon: Is the Biden Campaign Running on False Hope? (Isaac Chotiner, NYer)
Linda: Three Books to Help You Understand Nations in Transit 2024 (Freedom House)
Joseph: The U.S. assembles the pieces of a possible Gaza war endgame (David Ignatius, WaPo)
Mona: The Birth of a MAGA Conspiracy Theory (Andrew Egger, The Bulwark)
Bill: If Trump wins, what would hold him back? (Andrew Prokop, Vox)

Will Debates Reset the Race? May 17, 2024

Show notes

Sarah Longwell, Chris Cillizza, Will Saletan join Mona and Bill to discuss the upcoming debates, the polls (and Biden's response to them) and how to spend a record $61 million on a Senate primary and still get trounced.
highlights / lowlights
Mona: Thousands sign petition urging canceled concerts by Israeli ensemble to go ahead in Amsterdam (Times of Israel)
Sarah: GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says Biden should have pardoned Trump (NBC)
Biden killing the presidential debate commission.
Chris: The beauty of no audience at the Presidential debate.
Bill: Can the Declaration of Independence’s Ideals Hold America Together? (Colin Woodard, Washington Monthly)
Lowlight: The reports from the battlefield in Ukraine, after the GOP delayed aid for so long.
Will: RFK Jr.’s Rich Running Mate Just Added $8 Million to His Effort.
The hypocrisy of Congressional Republicans who voted against aid to Ukraine and Israel but lectured Biden over withholding 2,000 pound bombs for Rafah.

Does This Make Me Look Weak? May 10, 2024

Show notes

The Society for the Rule of Law's Gregg Nunziata joins to discuss the NY and other cases against Trump; Biden's pivot on weapons to Israel, and RFK, Jr's brain worm.
highlights / lowlights:

Mona: In Letter, 540 Jewish Columbia Students Defend Zionism, Condemn Protests
Gregg: Highlight: This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity by Daniel Currell, Lowlight: Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump allies who tried to overturn the 2020 election roll out voting 'integrity' bill
Linda: The New Propaganda War by Anne Applebaum
Bill: Liberland: Populism, Peronism, and Madness in Argentina by David Rieff
Damon: The curse of presentism by Brink Lindsey

The Revolution Will Not Be Catered May 03, 2024

Show notes

FT's Ed Luce joins the group to discuss campus protests and whether Biden is losing.
highlights / lowlights:
Mona: Country Music, a film by Ken Burns
Ed: The Colombia student asking that the protestors be brought food in their encampment.
Linda: MTG's bizarre defense of her anti-Semitism vote.
Bill: Netanyahu: Israel will invade Rafah — regardless of hostage deal
Damon: The new Steve Martin documentary.

"Ukraine is anti-Christian" and other Russian Lies Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

Anne Applebaum joins the panel (with Philip Bump) to discuss Ukraine's war effort, Russian disinformation, campus protests, and a change of pace for final segment.
What would you have put on the Voyager Spacecraft?
Mona: Images of human love: parents interacting with babies (joy), a dog reacting to being reunited, humans taking care of other humans with a handicap (compassion).
Damon: Holy texts of major religions, Plato's Republic, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and the Beatles.
Philip: The vessel itself is a message, and a Haiku by Issa.
Linda:, a reproduction of Aphrodite of Knidos Sculpture by Praxiteles, Michelangelo's David, Gorecki and Beethoven.

Will Dysfunctional House GOP Do the Right Thing? Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

Lawfare's Ben Wittes joins the group to discuss Iran's attack on Israel, Congress's action on Ukraine, Trump's NY trial, and the Supreme Court.

highlights / lowlights
Mona: The Great Hypocrisy of the Pro-Life Movement (David French, NYT)
Bill: Efforts to reform the insurrection act.
Linda: Restoring Civics in Higher Education (Wilfred McClay, AEI)
Ben: Mona is given an award, but Chatham House Rules.
Damon:The Retconning of January 6 by people who knew better

The Tabloidization of America Apr 12, 2024

Show notes

Patterico joins the panel to analyze Bragg's case against Trump. The panel also looks at the Arizona Supreme Court decision, and the GOP's clownish attempt to find something on which to impeach Biden.
highlights and lowlights
Damon: Anxious Parents Are the Ones Who Need Help (NYT)
Patrick: Famed photographer quits Ford board over Liz Cheney snub (Politico)
Linda: A Region Reordered by Autocracy and Democracy (Freedom House)
Mona: Cass review: Health secretary criticises gender care 'culture of secrecy' (BBC)
Bill: High interest rates, rising inflation: The economy still isn’t normal (WaPo)

Will Double Haters Park Their Votes on RFK, Jr? Apr 05, 2024

Show notes

Matt Bennett of Third Way joins to discuss the end of No Labels, RFK, Jr., and other third parties as well as Florida's new abortion law.
highlights / lowlights
Mona: Karl Rove admonishing Trump's embrace of January 6 criminals (audio)
Damon: Why We Can’t Stop Arguing About Whether Trump Is a Fascist (Andrew Marantz, New Yorker)
Matt: How the No Labels 2024 Presidential Campaign Failed to Launch (WSJ)
Bill: Build Back Faster (Sean Kennedy, City Journal)
show notes
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