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The Mona Charen Show

The Bulwark
Donald Trump
Ukraine
Republican Party
Hamas
Joe Biden
Immigration
Russia
Nikki Haley
NATO
2020 Election
Trump
American Politics
Trade Policy
Globalization
JD Vance
Ukraine War
U.S. Foreign Policy
Israel
New Hampshire Primary
Qanon

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.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes274Founded7 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
NewsNews CommentaryPolitics

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Latest Episodes

Washington Post architecture critic Philip Kennicott discusses Trump’s physical desecration of Washington DC.

Read more from Philip Kennicott: www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/04/07/artemis-moon-trump-iran-war/

David Frum analyzes the roots of both left and right-wing anti-Semitism and what it means for a liberal democracy.

Go to Quince.com/MONA for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too!

Jonathan Cohn joins Mona to discuss the growing public health crisis under RFK Jr.’s leadership at HHS. From vaccine rollbacks to misinformation about autism and common medications, they walk through how policy decisions are already affecting real pe... more

Brookings scholar Jessica Riedl analyzes the DOGE debacle and the failure of Americans to make grown up choices about spending and taxes.

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Recent Guests

Jessica Riedl
Budget analyst par excellence and political commentator
Brookings Institution
Episode: DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)
Will Sommer
Bulwark colleague, writes the False Flag newsletter
Bulwark
Episode: Candace Owens Is Tearing MAGA Apart (w/ Will Sommer)
Nick Troiano
Executive Director and Founder of Unite America
Unite America
Episode: Why Primaries Reward The Most Extreme Candidates (w/ Nick Troiano)
Alexander Cooley
Claire Toe Professor of Political Science at Barnard College; Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Barnard College; Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Episode: Kleptocrat-in-Chief (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon)
Daniel Nexon
Professor in the Department of Government and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Episode: Kleptocrat-in-Chief (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon)
Atul Gawande
Noted author and professor at Harvard Medical School, former Assistant Administrator of USAID, contributor to The New Yorker, and leading surgeon.
Harvard Medical School
Episode: Health in the Time of MAGA (w/ Atul Gawande)
Ian Bassin
Founder and Executive Director of Protect Democracy, former associate White House counsel in the Obama administration, and MacArthur Fellow
Protect Democracy
Episode: How Can I Save Democracy? (w/ Ian Bassin)
Dave Wasserman
Editor at the Cook Political Report and expert on the House of Representatives and redistricting
Cook Political Report
Episode: Is a Blue Wave Coming in November? (w/ Dave Wasserman)
Sonny Bunch
Movie critic and writer for The Bulwark
The Bulwark
Episode: A Brave and Interesting Film About Repression (w/ Sonny Bunch)

Host

Mona Charen
Host notably recognized for engaging and thoughtful discussions on societal issues, emphasizing the need for nuanced conversations in a combative political landscape.

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 1.6k ratings
  • Horrible People

    I join the growing crowd of people asking some variation of “What happened to Mona? Did she hit her head?”

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    WrigleyFieldMarshal
    United Statesa month ago
  • Interesting conversations with guests worth hearing from

    I enjoy listening but the production is not well done. Ads start when the host and guests are mid-sentence. I’ve never heard a podcast with such a strange/sloppy production issue. It makes the content harder to listen to, which is a shame! I hope they can fix this.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    Hummingbird414
    United States7 months ago
  • Essential, Superb

    A home for the politically homeless.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    lizofthenorth
    United States7 months ago
  • Overall positive, but...

    Smart, intelligent and insightful exchanges, would easily give five stars except...there are regularly snafus with audio quality.

    8/25 update: WAY too many commercials! Unlistenable…

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    bittybump
    United States8 months ago
  • Mamdani episode

    Great insights from the discussion with S. Dhume on several interesting topics. In particular, the history of failures of socialism. Hoping more people will become aware of this.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    GP San Diego
    United States8 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners appreciate the thoughtful analysis and intelligent discussions with well-informed guests.
Criticism is often directed towards production quality with mentions of audio issues and commercial breaks interrupting content unexpectedly.
The host is often described as providing a civil and respectful atmosphere for exploring divisive topics, with listeners valuing the depth of the conversations.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#186
United States/News/Politics
Apple Podcasts
#245
Canada/News/Politics
Apple Podcasts
#90
Argentina/News/Politics
Apple Podcasts
#159
Hong Kong/News/Politics
Apple Podcasts
#179
Ireland/News/Politics
Apple Podcasts
#209
Japan/News/Politics

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)
Q: What is the value of keeping the filibuster, and why is reconciliation not a cure-all for deficits?
The filibuster acts as a brake on partisan overreach, ensuring some level of bipartisanship for most bills. Reconciliation bypasses that brake but can turn into a vehicle for temptingly large, often unsustainable, policy changes that add to deficits over time, as history has shown.
DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)
Q: Can you walk us through what actually happened with the doge spending gimmick and why it failed to deliver real savings?
Doge promised large savings but delivered only a fraction of the claimed cuts, largely because most spending is hard to trim without touching core programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Defense. The exercise ended up focusing on smaller, trivial programs and token cuts, which amounted to budget dust rather than meaningful reform.
DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)
Q: And tell us your sense of where both parties are now.
Both parties have grown more fiscally irresponsible in different ways: Republicans talk about cutting taxes while not delivering commensurate spending restraint, and Democrats push for more spending with tax talk that doesn't translate into durable revenue growth. The result is two parties locked in a cycle of promises that outpace realistic budget reform.
Why Primaries Reward The Most Extreme Candidates (w/ Nick Troiano)
Q: What would a reform look like in practice, especially on the presidential level?
Troiano outlines open all-candidate primaries, instant runoff (ranked-choice), and a potential national primary day, along with nuanced changes to party structures and nonpartisan administration to increase broad-based representation and reduce partisan incentives in both state and federal elections.
Why Primaries Reward The Most Extreme Candidates (w/ Nick Troiano)
Q: How did primaries become the problem, and what historical shifts contributed to current polarization?
The guest traces primaries from their pro-democracy origins in the early 1900s to their transformation into ideological purity contests in the early 2000s, aided by media ecosystems and interest groups, creating incentives for lawmakers to appease party activists rather than the broader electorate.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

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Frequently Asked Questions About The Mona Charen Show

What is The Mona Charen Show about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Engaging deeply with the complexities of contemporary issues, this podcast features interviews with experts from various fields aimed at unpacking intricate topics that shape society today. The conversations often highlight the sociopolitical climate, emphasizing themes related to democracy, political polarization, healthcare, and cultural dynamics in the United States. Each episode is designed to provide listeners with a more profound understanding that transcends mere headlines, tackling thought-provoking questions surrounding governance, national identity, and humanitarian crises, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the intersection of politics and personal narratives.

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Which podcasts are similar to The Mona Charen Show?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Mona Charen Show:

1. The Next Level
2. The Focus Group Podcast
3. To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes
4. The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell
5. Conversations with Bill Kristol

How many episodes of The Mona Charen Show are there?

The Mona Charen Show launched 7 years ago and published 274 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on The Mona Charen Show?

Recent guests on The Mona Charen Show include:

1. Jessica Riedl
2. Will Sommer
3. Nick Troiano
4. Alexander Cooley
5. Daniel Nexon
6. Atul Gawande
7. Ian Bassin
8. Dave Wasserman

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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