Charlie Sykes welcomes Atlantic writer Tom Nichols for a fiery, wide-ranging conversation on a week that felt pulled from a dystopian novel. From a U.S. Senator being manhandled at a press conference to Trump’s military parade dreams and the radicalization of the armed forces, Nichols warns of authoritarian drift masked as political theater. They also dig into Israel’s bold strike on Iran, and whether the world is stumbling into a war it won't be able to control. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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34:39
Harry Litman: Trump, the Troops, and the Threat to Democracy
Charlie Sykes is joined by legal analyst and Talking Feds host Harry Litman for a sobering conversation about Donald Trump's latest maneuvers to militarize immigration enforcement—and what it signals for the future of American democracy. From the potential invocation of the Insurrection Act to the silence of military leadership, the two explore how far Trump might go and whether any meaningful guardrails remain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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51:02
Brian Klaas: Why Are There So Many Psychopaths in Politics?
Charlie Sykes is joined by political scientist and author Brian Klaas for a sobering look at how modern politics has come to attract the worst kinds of personalities—and why that’s no accident. They unpack the structural rot that fuels a rise in psychopathy, narcissism, and performative extremism among elected officials, and discuss the accelerating shift from public service to influencer-style spectacle. From Trump’s latest authoritarian overtures to the international view of America’s democratic backsliding, Klaas and Sykes make the case that the real danger isn’t the chaos itself—but how numb we’ve become to it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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46:27
Sen. Angus King: The Fragility of American Democracy
Senator Angus King joins Charlie Sykes for a sobering conversation on the erosion of constitutional norms, the rise of authoritarianism, and Congress’s failure to defend its own power. Drawing lessons from history—including Margaret Chase Smith’s defiance of McCarthyism—King warns that America’s democratic experiment is more vulnerable than most realize. From executive overreach to geopolitical isolation, this episode explores what’s at stake when ambition no longer counteracts ambition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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28:17
Adam Kinzinger: The Billionaire Breakup
Charlie Sykes and Adam Kinzinger dig into the political fallout from Elon Musk's dramatic split with Donald Trump, examining what it means for MAGA loyalty, conservative orthodoxy, and the future of Republican messaging. They explore how the culture war has overtaken fiscal policy, the strategic shifts in the war in Ukraine, and the geopolitical implications of China’s dominance in rare earth minerals. The episode also highlights the dangerous consequences of performative politics, from renaming ships to gutting battery research, as America prepares for a new era of warfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
USA