To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.