<![CDATA[The Bulwark: The Mona Charen Show]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/s/monacharenshowhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QWq4!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7bdbd69-ae32-45de-8348-8913f6966d53_256x256.pngThe Bulwark: The Mona Charen Showhttps://www.thebulwark.com/s/monacharenshowSubstackThu, 04 Jun 2026 04:24:39 GMT<![CDATA[Trump's Staggering Corruption Is Finally Catching Up to Him]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-staggering-corruption-is-finallyhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-staggering-corruption-is-finallySat, 30 May 2026 22:23:50 GMTJonathan Chait of The Atlantic joins Mona to discuss the incredible scope and scale of Trump’s corruption—from the $4 billion the Trump family has added to its net worth since January 2025, to the $1.776 billion “weaponization” slush fund, to the dozens of DOJ officials who quit rather than follow corrupt orders. They trace how a century of progressive-era reforms that kept American government relatively clean is being systematically dismantled, and why the mafia-style loyalty-and-punishment logic now governing federal law enforcement is more authoritarian than merely corrupt.

Plus: are Senate Republicans finally showing a spine? And is the Democratic Party’s new obsession with monopolies as the root of all evil a winning strategy—or a trap?

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show notes

Read Jonathan’s article on the $1.8 billion slush fund

Read Mona’s article on Trump’s corruption

Bulwark Book Club: Mona will interview retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling abour his book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal.

Join the conversation! Drop your questions or comments about the book for Mona to explore with Gen. Hertling here. We’ll pin this post to the top of The Mona Charen Show page on the site.

Programming note: June 8 at 7pm EDT, Mona will interview retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling about his new book If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal live on Substack. Watch your inbox for details.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Saturdays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members. Access member edition in the Bulwark App—now available on Apple and Google.

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]]><![CDATA[Bulwark Book Club for June: “If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal”]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-book-club-for-june-with-mark-hertlinghttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-book-club-for-june-with-mark-hertlingSat, 23 May 2026 22:57:22 GMT

Hey Bulwark fam –

We know so many of you love reading, so we are excited to share with you that we are starting a monthly book club with Mona Charen.

Mona’s first pick: retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling’s book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal

We want this discussion to be lively and fueled by you, like an IRL book club, so Mark and Mona will be discussing the book and answering your questions live on Monday, June 8 at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

Drop your questions and thoughts about the book in the comments of this post.

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Mark’s book is a series of journal entries he wrote to his two young sons while he was deployed in the Middle East.

You can order the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or buy a copy signed by Mark via the publisher. Of course you can also check your local library for a copy.

Mona and Mark will go live at 7 p.m. Eastern on Monday, June 8 on Substack exclusively for Bulwark+ members. A recording of their discussion will be available for everyone in the June 13 edition of The Mona Charen Show.

]]><![CDATA[Danielle Crittenden on Losing Her Daughter]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/danielle-crittenden-on-losing-herhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/danielle-crittenden-on-losing-herSat, 23 May 2026 22:35:10 GMTMona Charen is joined by her dear friend Danielle Crittenden for a powerful and honest discussion about the journey that led Danielle to write a book titled Dispatches from Grief. Danielle’s daughter died suddenly in early 2024 at the age of 32. Mona and Danielle talk about the shock of the loss, the ongoing emotional and physical pain of grief, the power of religious rituals and how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has helped with Danielle’s healing.

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Show notes:

Danielle’s book Dispatches From Grief: A Mother’s Journey Through The Unimaginable

We know so many of you love reading, so we are excited to share with you that we are starting a monthly book club with Mona Charen.

Mona’s first pick: retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling’s book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal.

Join the conversation! Drop your questions or comments about the book for Mona to explore with Gen. Hertling here. We’ll pin this post to the top of The Mona Charen Show page on the site.

Programming note: June 8 at 7pm EDT, Mona will interview retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling about his new book If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal live on Substack. Watch your inbox for details.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Saturdays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members. Access member edition in the Bulwark App—now available on Apple and Google.

]]><![CDATA[What Can 'A Man for All Seasons' Tell Us About Today?]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/what-can-a-man-for-all-seasons-tellhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/what-can-a-man-for-all-seasons-tellSat, 16 May 2026 20:08:39 GMTA Man for All Seasons is one of cinema's great moral arguments—six Oscars, a cast of legends, and a story about conscience under autocracy that feels more relevant than ever. Mona Charen and Sonny Bunch dig into why this 1966 film became a touchstone for conservative intellectuals, what it says about people who preach virtue and then fold when it counts, and why Robert Bolt—a leftist—wrote the right's favorite movie. Plus: the rule of law, the seduction of power, and what it means to stand fast even when it costs you everything.


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The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Trump's Tariffs Trashed the Economy. Why Won't We Say That? (w/ Matt Bennett)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-tariffs-trashed-the-economyhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-tariffs-trashed-the-economySat, 09 May 2026 22:31:04 GMTMona Charen spoke with Matt Bennett of Third Way for a diagnosis of where the Democratic Party actually stands: a brand stuck at 28% approval, an immigration message that still hasn't landed, the Hasan Piker debate, a Supreme Court that just made gerrymandering easier, and a tariff-driven economic crisis that Democrats inexplicably won't run on.

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The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Trump's War on the Enlightenment (w/ Steven Pinker)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-war-on-the-enlightenment-whttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-war-on-the-enlightenment-wMon, 04 May 2026 10:02:21 GMTSteven Pinker joins Mona Charen to discuss why the world is improving in ways most people don’t recognize—and why so many still believe everything is falling apart. They explore the case for Enlightenment values like reason, science, and liberal democracy, the growing backlash from both the left and MAGA world, and how media and human psychology fuel constant pessimism.

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The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Orbán Rigged the Game—and Still Lost]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/orban-rigged-the-gameand-still-losthttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/orban-rigged-the-gameand-still-lostMon, 27 Apr 2026 17:02:33 GMTAEI’s Dalibor Rohac analyzes Hungary’s stunning rebuke of Orban and implications for other democratic nations.

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The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[A Beautiful Victory in Hungary]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-beautiful-victory-in-hungaryhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-beautiful-victory-in-hungaryMon, 20 Apr 2026 10:02:44 GMTMona brings the Beg to Differ panel back for a reunion. They address Orban, Democrats, and Trump Jesus among much else.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[A 250-Foot Monument to Trump's Ego (w/ Philip Kennicott)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-250-foot-monument-to-trumps-egohttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/a-250-foot-monument-to-trumps-egoMon, 13 Apr 2026 14:03:50 GMTWashington Post architecture critic Philip Kennicott discusses Trump’s physical desecration of Washington DC.

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

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]]><![CDATA[Confronting Antisemitism, Left and Right (w/ David Frum)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/confronting-anti-semitism-left-andhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/confronting-anti-semitism-left-andMon, 06 Apr 2026 10:03:55 GMTDavid Frum analyzes the roots of both left and right-wing anti-Semitism and what it means for a liberal democracy.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Is RFK Jr. Being Defanged?]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-rfk-jr-being-defangedhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-rfk-jr-being-defangedMon, 30 Mar 2026 16:31:06 GMT Jonathan Cohn analyzes the first godawful year of MAHA, but are things changing for the better? Or slightly better?

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/doge-dumbed-down-the-nation-w-jessicahttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/doge-dumbed-down-the-nation-w-jessicaMon, 23 Mar 2026 10:03:24 GMTBrookings scholar Jessica Riedl analyzes the DOGE debacle and the failure of Americans to make grown up choices about spending and taxes.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[MAGA’s Online Nutjobs (w/ Will Sommer)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/magas-online-nutjobs-w-will-sommerhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/magas-online-nutjobs-w-will-sommerMon, 16 Mar 2026 16:58:57 GMTWill Sommer takes us on a tour of the groypers and other right wing influencers.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Why Primaries Reward The Most Extreme Candidates (w/ Nick Troiano)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-primaries-reward-the-most-extremehttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-primaries-reward-the-most-extremeMon, 09 Mar 2026 15:41:57 GMTMona Charen talks with Unite America’s Nick Troiano about the structural problem driving America’s political polarization: the primary system.

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]]><![CDATA[There Are 500 Ways This War Goes Wrong]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/there-are-500-ways-this-war-goeshttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/there-are-500-ways-this-war-goesTue, 03 Mar 2026 02:30:15 GMTIn this emergency episode of The Mona Charen Show, Tom Nichols lays out the tremendous risks Trump has taken with Iran war.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Kleptocrat-in-Chief (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/kleptocrat-in-chief-w-alexander-cooleyhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/kleptocrat-in-chief-w-alexander-cooleyMon, 02 Mar 2026 11:02:15 GMTNOTE: This episode was recorded before the US/Israel attack on Iran.

Two professors describe the staggering corruption Trump is normalizing and how it is affecting foreign policy. Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon join The Mona Charen Show to discuss their Foreign Affairs piece “The Age of Kleptocracy.”

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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]]><![CDATA[Health in the Time of MAGA (w/ Atul Gawande)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/health-in-the-time-of-maga-w-atulhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/health-in-the-time-of-maga-w-atulMon, 23 Feb 2026 11:03:06 GMTDoctor Atul Gawande joins Mona to take on the hardening myths about COVID, the collapse of USAID, and the dangerous assault on American science.

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The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to …

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]]><![CDATA[The Real Conflict is Between Decent and Indecent (w/ David French)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-real-conflict-is-between-decenthttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-real-conflict-is-between-decentMon, 16 Feb 2026 11:02:03 GMTDavid French discusses culture wars morphing into hot wars, partisanship, and the idiocy of threatening Greenland.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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]]><![CDATA[Why Minneapolis Gives Hope (w/ Peter Wehner)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-minneapolis-gives-hope-w-peterhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-minneapolis-gives-hope-w-peterMon, 09 Feb 2026 16:02:24 GMTMona is joined by the Atlantic’s Peter Wehner to discuss the psychology of MAGA and why defeating them must be the precursor to depolarization.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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]]><![CDATA[How Can I Save Democracy? (w/ Ian Bassin)]]>https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-can-i-save-democracy-w-ian-bassinhttps://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-can-i-save-democracy-w-ian-bassinMon, 02 Feb 2026 11:03:00 GMTProtect Democracy founder Ian Bassin talks about victories and setbacks in the effort to thwart authoritarianism America-style, and what each person can do to preserve free and fair elections going forward.

  • Power the Polls – Sign up to work as a paid poll worker and help ensure free and fair elections.

The Mona Charen Show is a weekly, one-on-one discussion that goes in depth on political and cultural topics. New shows drop Mondays. Find this show wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Add the show to your player of choice, here.

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Ad-free editions of The Mona Charen Show are exclusively available for Bulwark+ members.

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