The Mona Charen Show

Mona Charen talks with Casey Revkin of Each Step Home about what happens to children and families caught inside the immigration detention system, including U.S.-citizen kids separated from their parents, postpartum mothers separated from infants, and families detained after showing up for routine ICE appointments. Revkin also explains how her group gets food, water, medicine, and other basic necessities to families being held at the Dilley detention center.
Each Step Home: https://eachstephome.org/
ProPublica: More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents: https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will
Washington Post: She’s Feeding Hundreds of Kids in ICE Detention Using Commissary Accounts: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/09/02/california-mom-sends-10000-week-buy-food-kids-ice-detention/
Texas Immigration Law Council: https://txilc.org/
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Bulwark Book Club pick for October: Jon Grinspan’s ‘The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865–1915.’ Mona Charen and JVL will discuss the book with the author LIVE with Bulwark+ members on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Send your questions, comments and thoughts to them on the book through this post: http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxd2uInylq-1yUJoDeKNd3qLYNJa4GDVjf?si=Fy14pgN9erXZk9Sb

Mona Charen is joined by Sonny Bunch to talk about The Odyssey for the September edition of The Bulwark Book Club with viewers. Mona and Sonny read Emily Wilson’s translation–the first English translation by a woman–and discuss the differences between the epic poem and Christopher Nolan’s recent film adaptation.
Show notes
Read Sonny Bunch’s review of The Odyssey film here.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-odyssey-review
Get The Odyssey original motion picture soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson vinyl set
https://madebymutant.com/products/the-odyssey-original-motion-picture-soundtrack

Mona Charen talks with Adam Isacson and John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America about Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, and the secret legal theory being used to justify them. They examine the killing of survivors in a second strike, Pete Hegseth’s purge of military lawyers, the evidence that the campaign hasn’t reduced the cocaine supply, and why U.S. allies are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence that could be used in the strikes.
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Further reading:
WOLA — Killing Spree: Extrajudicial Executions in the U.S. Boat Strikes Campaign
https://www.wola.org/analysis/killing-spree-extrajudicial-executions-in-the-u-s-boat-strikes-campaign/
The Washington Post — Deadly U.S. boat strikes have failed to curb cocaine supply, Pentagon and DEA officials say
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/27/operation-southern-spear-has-not-slowed-cocaine-entering-us/
Reuters — We bought everything needed to make $3 million worth of fentanyl. All it took was $3,600.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/we-bought-everything-needed-make-3-million-worth-fentanyl-all-it-took-was-3600-2024-07-25/

Mona Charen is joined by Bill Galston, Linda Chavez, and Damon Linker for a "Beg to Differ" reunion! They discuss the Trump administration’s foreign policy and corruption, America’s standing in the world, Israel and Gaza, antisemitism, the Democratic Party’s internal battles over the DSA, and the political significance of upcoming races in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Plus: recommendations for books and TV shows.

Mona Charen speaks with former CIA officer Julie Curlee about her two decades in intelligence, her removal from the Trump White House, and what she describes as the dangerous erosion of expertise and nonpartisan analysis across the national security apparatus. They examine intelligence politicization, Iran and Venezuela, and why Curlee believes the loss of experienced public servants could take a generation to repair.
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