The Mona Charen Show

The Atlantic's David Frum joins the group to analyze the election and consider the implications for domestic and foreign policy.

Highlights / Lowlights:

Damon: The work of Ruy Texiera and Nate Cohn 

Linda: My Manifesto for Despairing Democrats by Nick Kristof

Bill: ‘Invisible’ older women speak up at the ballot box by Karen Tumulty

Mona: Trump transition team co-chair endorses Kennedy anti-vax theories and says he would be able to access health data

David: Earth experiencing warmest year on record – again, scientists say

Tim Miller joins to discuss the big picture about 2024, why Harris could not run as a change agent, and America's oligarchs.

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Highlights / Lowlights

Linda Chavez: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and the Dodgers World Series Victory (Highlights) 

Tim Miller: Trump wearing an orange vest and driving a trash truck. (Both)

Mona Charen: Derrick Anderson's Fake Family (Lowlight)

Bill Galston: The Dodgers (Highlight)
Nikki Haley's Get Out the Vote Closing Argument (Lowlight)

Damon Linker: Charlie Kirk: Harris Wants Women to Lie to Their Husbands (Lowlight)

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat joins the regular group to discuss his objections to Harris, the likelihood of a Trump fascistic reign, and which party has gone crazier.

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Highlights / Lowlights

Ross: Can AI be blamed for a teen’s suicide? (NYT)

Damon: Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos (MAX)

Linda: The Ghosts of John Tanton (ProPublica)

Mona: The Envy of the World (The Economist)

Bill: The Fight for a New Israel (Dahlia Scheindlin, Foreign Affairs)

The New Yorker's Susan Glasser joins the group (plus Philip Bump) to discuss Harris's Fox interview, Trump's spiraling mental state, and the oligarchy/corruption a second Trump term would usher in.

Highlights / Lowlights

Mona: Harris Needs a Closing Argument. Here's One. By Bret Stephens
The FTC is making it easier to cancel subscriptions.

Damon: Confessions of a Republican Exile by David Brooks

A spate of recent content from Matthew Yglesias

Susan: The Gates of Gaza by Amir Tibon

Philip: A preview of this weekend's "How to Read This Chart" newsletter

Linda: The General's Warning by Tom Nichols

NY Times columnist Bret Stephens joins to discuss the Iranian threat (to Israel and the US), the amazing Israeli penetrations of Hezbollah and Iran, and the fate of NATO, Ukraine, etc in a Trump 2.0 world.

TV Recommendations of the panelists: 
Mona: Call My Agent
Damon: Game of Thrones
Bill: Babylon Berlin
Linda:   Slow Horses / Pachinko

The Financial Times's Ed Luce joins to discuss the VP debate, the future of MAGA, and the Israel/Iran war.

Mona’s highlight: The impartiality of the DOJ, indicting members of the sitting party in power when they commit crimes.

Tim’s lowlight: The failure to have more than one debate.

Tim’s highlight: The young, hungry, improbable turnaround of the Detroit Tigers.

Sonny’s highlight / lowlight: Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

Sam’s highlight: Ohtani’s historic 50-50 season.

Sam’s lowlight: The indictment of Eric Adams.

Bill’s highlight: VP Harris’s economic speech on building and permitting overhaul.

AEI's Kori Schake joins the group to discuss Trump's "crazy guy" strategy, the 111 GOP leaders endorsing Harris, and Hezbollah's exploding pagers.

Show Notes:

Referenced: U.S. Shrugs as World War III Approaches, by Walter Russell Mead (WSJ)

Highlights / Lowlights

Kori: Gov. Mike DeWine defending Ohio against MAGA’s lies about Springfield (ABC)

Damon: The tired dance of the demagogue by Matthew Yglesias (Slow Boring)

Mona: How an AI ‘debunkbot’ can change a conspiracy theorist’s mind (Popular Science)

Linda: The Exotic Cat-Eaters of Springfield, Ohio by Kevin Williamson (The Dispatch)

Bill: The Future of Free Speech by Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey Richard Stone (Dædalus)

Third Way's Matt Bennett joins to discuss the debate, Harris's centrism, and which candidate would be better on inflation.

Highlights / Lowlights

Mona: Why Mike Lee Folded by Tim Alberta, The Atlantic.

Matt: The lies being pushed about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, and the political opportunism of a young boy’s death.

Damon: Behind the Catholic Right's celebrity-conversion industrial complex (Vanity Fair)

Linda: What led to rumors Trump shared about Venezuelan gangs taking over a Colorado building? (NBC)

Bill: Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Lawyer Kim Wehle discusses her book on the pardon power. The group then delves into Israel/Gaza, campus protests redux, and Tucker Carlson "Just asking questions" about Holocaust denialism.

Highlights / Lowlights

Mona: Andrew Egger's "Pennsylvania Man Speaks" reporting.
Bill: The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America
Linda: Republicans Seize on False Theories About Immigrant Voting (NYT)
Damon: DOJ alleges Russia funded US media company linked to right-wing social media stars (CNN)