To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

You are not the crazy ones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

May 23, 2026 50 mins

Justin Wolfers is a professor of economics at the University of Michigan and author of the Platypus Economics Substack. In this episode, he joins Charlie to make the case against big tech moguls, discuss the price tag of Trump's Iran adventure, and talk about how crony capitalism is reshaping America.



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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 Trump's corruption, his desperate Iran's gambit, and his weak position in global politics. 



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May 19, 2026 56 mins

Nicholas Grossman, editor of Arc Digital and professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, joins Charlie to discuss the new levels of corruption Trump and his family have descended into. They also discuss Trump's visit to China, his Iran conundrum, and whether Cuba is next.



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Tim O'Brien, Senior Executive Editor at Bloomberg Opinion, joins Charlie to discuss the President's recent China visit, the poor state of American democracy, and Trump's golden phone scam. 



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David Frum of The Atlantic joins Charlie to discuss Trump's China visit, his ignorance on oil and the global economy, and the Democrats' missteps heading into the midterms. The conversation also turns personal: Frum reflects on loss and his wife's new book about their family's journey through grief after losing their daughter.

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May 9, 2026 47 mins
On today’s episode, Charlie welcomes Gal Beckerman, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the book, “How to Be a Dissident.” The two walk through Gal’s book which outlines the simple but difficult steps anyone can take to avoid falling mistakenly in line with a political system that’s going off the rails.

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On today's 'To the Contrary" podcast, Charlie is joined by NYT contributor Molly Jong-Fast to discuss the latest developments: the GOP's billion dollar ballroom; stunning new polling on the Trump-as-Jesus meme; this week's TACO on Iran, and why the abortion issue has exploded back onto the political scene. (They also talk about Molly's cameo in the new "Devil Wears Prada 2" movie.)



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On today’s episode, Charlie welcomes attorney, NYT Best-selling author and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Greg Lukianoff. Charlie and Greg discuss the ways Trump is weaponizing the FCC to skirt free speech and how his efforts fit into the larger nuances of 1st Amendment rights in the US today.

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The New Yorker's Susan Glasser joins Charlie to discuss Trump's war on free speech and press freedom, US relations with Ukraine, Russia, and China, and Trump missing the point of King Charles' speech. 

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April 30, 2026 53 mins
Peter Wehner, a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, joins Charlie to dissect King Charles' historic address to Congress and Trump's feud with the pope.

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The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum joins Charlie to discuss the fallout from the White House Correspondents' dinner, Victor Orbán's defeat, and why Trump wants to talk about his ballroom and his triumph arch rather than Iran.

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April 25, 2026 47 mins
Economist Justin Wolfers joins Charlie to rage about Trump's Fed chair nominee. They also discuss the importance of Fed independence, prediction markets, and private credit markets. 

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Former Congressman and now children’s book author, Adam Kinzinger, joins Charlie to discuss gerrymandering, the state of Congress, and what should the next President do to make sure there isn't another Trump-style presidency in the future.

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Tom Nichols, Atlantic staff writer and author of The Death of Expertise, joins Charlie to discuss the anti-vax movement, the continuing crisis with Iran, and why Trump and his cabinet are "melting down." 

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On today’s episode, Charlie sits down with former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, former Managing Editor of TIME, and author, Richard Stengel. The two discuss the Trump administration’s ever-worsening performative piousness, how the Iran “deal” is just a recovery of Trump’s own doing and how the US’s global reputation is changing for the worse.

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April 16, 2026 39 mins
Legal analyst and Talking Feds host, Harry Litman, joins Charlie to break down the Justice Department's efforts to vacate January 6 convictions for far-right extremists as well as its surprising position on the Presidential Records Act. Also in the episode: JD Vance's latest bizarre comments, the administration fight with the Pope, and the Epstein scandal.

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Ian Bassin is Co-founder and Executive director of Protect Democracy and a 2023 recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant. He joins Charlie to discuss what are the lessons from Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary's elections, global authoritarian trends, and the importance of coalition-building in defending democracy.

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Sarah McLaughlin is a Senior Scholar of Global Expression at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), and author of Authoritarians in the Academy. She joins Charlie to explore the global threats to free speech, especially with recent developments in Turkey, the UK, and Australia, and their implications for free expression in the US. Also, Charlie summarizes one of the strangest weeks we've witnessed.

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Scott MacFarlane recently left CBS News and joined Substack as well as MeidasTouch. In this episode, he tells Charlie about his transition from traditional to independent media and what drove his decision. They also discuss whether the Iran deal is a strategic failure, the new acting US Attorney General, and the ongoing court cases involving Trump's ballroom and Kennedy Center. 

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Sarah Fitzpatrick is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers national security and the Department of Justice. She joins Charlie to talk about why the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is here to stay, digest Trump's "Open the f***in' strait" post, and discuss the effects of gutting expertise within the Pentagon.

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