Show overview
The Mona Charen Show has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 278 episodes, alongside 1 trailer or bonus episode. That works out to roughly 280 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 56 min and 1h 7m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language News show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 21 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 52 episodes published. Published by The Bulwark.
From the publisher
After a great five year run on Beg to Differ, Mona Charen brings you a new show dedicated to deepening your understanding of complex issues and trends facing society. Each week she'll engage an expert for a probing discussion that goes past the day's headlines.
Latest Episodes
View all 278 episodesTrump's Tariffs Trashed the Economy. Why Won't We Say That? (w/ Matt Bennett)
Trump's War on the Enlightenment (w/ Steven Pinker) | Mona Charen Show
Orbán Rigged the Game—and Still Lost! (w/ Dalibor Rohac)
A Beautiful Victory in Hungary
A 250-Foot Monument to Trump's Ego (w/ Philip Kennicott)
Confronting Anti-Semitism, Left and Right (w/ David Frum)
RFK's War on Vaccines Is Political Loser
Jonathan Cohn joins Mona to discuss the growing public health crisis under RFK Jr.’s leadership at HHS. From vaccine rollbacks to misinformation about autism and common medications, they walk through how policy decisions are already affecting real people—and why diseases like measles are making a comeback.They also look at the politics: internal pushback inside the Trump orbit, warning signs from polling, and whether any of this can be stopped before the damage spreads further.
DOGE Dumbed Down the Nation (w/ Jessica Riedl)
Brookings scholar Jessica Riedl analyzes the DOGE debacle and the failure of Americans to make grown up choices about spending and taxes.
Candace Owens Is Tearing MAGA Apart (w/ Will Sommer)
Will Sommer takes us on a tour of the groypers and other right wing influencers.For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code MONA at https://oneskin.co/MONA.
Why Primaries Reward The Most Extreme Candidates (w/ Nick Troiano)
Mona Charen talks with Unite America’s Nick Troiano about the structural problem driving America’s political polarization: the primary system.
Tom Nichols: There Are 500 Ways This War Goes Wrong
In this emergency episode of The Mona Charen Show, Tom Nichols lays out the tremendous risks Trump has taken with Iran war.Go to https://Quince.com/MONA for free shipping and 365-day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. And you will.
Kleptocrat-in-Chief (w/ Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon)
NOTE: 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.” Go to https://Quince.com/MONA for free shipping and 365-day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. And you will.
Health in the Time of MAGA (w/ Atul Gawande)
Dr. Atul Gawande reports on what cuts to USAID are doing to the world’s most vulnerable, as well as how that is coming home. Also a look back at Covid and reflections on end of life care.
The Real Conflict is Between Decent and Indecent (w/ David French)
David French discusses culture wars morphing into hot wars, partisanship, and the idiocy of threatening Greenland.Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MONACHAREN at https://www.oneskin.co/MONACHAREN #oneskinpod
Why Minneapolis Gives Hope (w/ Peter Wehner)
Mona is joined by the Atlantic’s Peter Wehner to discuss the psychology of MAGA and why defeating them must be the precursor to depolarization.Wildgrain is offering $30 off your first box - PLUS free Croissantsfor life - when you go to https://Wildgrain.com/MONA to start your subscription today.
How Can I Save Democracy? (w/ Ian Bassin)
Protect 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.Go to https://Quince.com/MONA for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.
Is a Blue Wave Coming in November? (w/ Dave Wasserman)
Dave Wasserman joins Mona to discuss what’s changed and what hasn’t since 2018, including electoral map, redistricting, public discontent, and likely turnout.
Loneliness Is Reshaping America (w/ David Brooks)
Mona speaks with David Brooks (author, contributor to PBS NewsHour and opinion columnist for The New York Times) about why so many Americans feel unseen, how loneliness and moral drift are reshaping society, and what we lose when human connection is replaced by screens, algorithms, and artificial companionship.How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652822/how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks/
A Brave and Interesting Film About Repression (w/ Sonny Bunch)
Sonny Bunch joins to discuss “It Was Just an Accident” a film from dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi. It raises profound questions about guilt, judgment, and revenge. Also, amazing that it was made at all.Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MONACHAREN at https://www.oneskin.co/MONACHAREN#oneskinpod #adFilms & References Mentioned:It Was Just an Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi)The film discussed throughout the episode — a clandestinely made Iranian dissident film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30841958/The Seed of the Sacred Fig (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof)Recommended by Sonny as further viewing; set during post–Mahsa Amini unrest in Iran.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29362290/The Lives of Others (dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)Cited as a thematic comparison for life under a surveillance state.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/A Hero (dir. Asghar Farhadi)Mentioned as another standout contemporary Iranian film about truth, lies, and social pressure.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11777738/
Venezuela Was Not Liberated (w/ Quico Toro)
Quico Toro offers an insider’s perspective on his lost homeland and the American raid.Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box - PLUS free croissants for life - when you go to https://Wildgrain.com/MONA to start your subscription today.