The Mona Charen Show

Latest Episodes:

Tom Nichols: There Are 500 Ways This War Goes Wrong Mar 03, 2026

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In this emergency episode of The Mona Charen Show, Tom Nichols lays out the tremendous risks Trump has taken with Iran war.

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Kleptocrat-in-Chief (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon) Mar 01, 2026

Show notes

NOTE: This episode was recorded before the US/Israel attack on Iran.

Two professors describe the staggering corruption Trump is normalizing and how it is affecting foreign policy. Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon join The Mona Charen Show to discuss their Foreign Affairs piece “The Age of Kleptocracy.”

Go to https://Quince.com/MONA for free shipping and 365-day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. And you will.

Health in the Time of MAGA (w/ Atul Gawande) Feb 23, 2026

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Dr. Atul Gawande reports on what cuts to USAID are doing to the world’s most vulnerable, as well as how that is coming home. Also a look back at Covid and reflections on end of life care.

The Real Conflict is Between Decent and Indecent (w/ David French) Feb 16, 2026

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David French discusses culture wars morphing into hot wars, partisanship, and the idiocy of threatening Greenland.

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Why Minneapolis Gives Hope (w/ Peter Wehner) Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

Mona is joined by the Atlantic’s Peter Wehner to discuss the psychology of MAGA and why defeating them must be the precursor to depolarization.

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How Can I Save Democracy? (w/ Ian Bassin) Feb 02, 2026

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Protect Democracy founder Ian Bassin talks about victories and setbacks in the effort to thwart authoritarianism America-style, and what each person can do to preserve free and fair elections going forward.

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Is a Blue Wave Coming in November? (w/ Dave Wasserman) Jan 30, 2026

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Dave Wasserman joins Mona to discuss what’s changed and what hasn’t since 2018, including electoral map, redistricting, public discontent, and likely turnout.

Loneliness Is Reshaping America (w/ David Brooks) Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Mona speaks with David Brooks (author, contributor to PBS NewsHour and opinion columnist for The New York Times) about why so many Americans feel unseen, how loneliness and moral drift are reshaping society, and what we lose when human connection is replaced by screens, algorithms, and artificial companionship.

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A Brave and Interesting Film About Repression (w/ Sonny Bunch) Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

Sonny Bunch joins to discuss “It Was Just an Accident” a film from dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi. It raises profound questions about guilt, judgment, and revenge. Also, amazing that it was made at all.

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Films & References Mentioned:

It Was Just an Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi)
The film discussed throughout the episode — a clandestinely made Iranian dissident film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30841958/

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof)
Recommended by Sonny as further viewing; set during post–Mahsa Amini unrest in Iran.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29362290/

The Lives of Others (dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)
Cited as a thematic comparison for life under a surveillance state.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/

A Hero (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
Mentioned as another standout contemporary Iranian film about truth, lies, and social pressure.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11777738/

Venezuela Was Not Liberated (w/ Quico Toro) Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

Quico Toro offers an insider’s perspective on his lost homeland and the American raid.

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