The Mona Charen Show

Linda Chavez joined Mona Charen to discuss her debut novel The Silver Candlesticks, inspired by a personal revelation during an appearance on Finding Your Roots that her ancestors were secret Jews persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition. The novel explores themes of religious identity, repression, and survival, drawing on her family's history in Spain and the New World, as well as her own experience converting to Judaism. Their conversation also delved into parallels between historical persecution and contemporary immigration policies, warning against rising authoritarianism in the U.S.

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Kevin D. Williamson of The Dispatch muses about the voters' culpability for Trump, socialism, and the "Abundance" agenda. They explore the cultural and economic decline of American civic virtue, the bipartisan slide into demagoguery, and Williamson’s disdain for both Trumpism and technocratic central planning. 

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The Atlantic's Jonathan Rauch joins Mona to talk about Trump's Achilles Heel.

Jay Nordlinger returns to discuss whether conservatism remains valid in the MAGA era.

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REFERENCES:

Against All Hope – Armando Valladares
Memoir of a Cuban dissident imprisoned for his anti-Castro beliefs.

Children of Monsters – Jay Nordlinger
Referenced indirectly by Mona as part of Jay’s dissident coverage; a book profiling the children of dictators.

Peace, They Say – Jay Nordlinger

JayNordlinger.com, Jay’s new Substack.

Economist Noah Smith delves into the myth of the "hollowed out" middle class, the folly of protectionism, and more. He and Mona differ on Trump's handling of Covid and . . . American chocolate.

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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.

Columnist and music critic Jay Nordlinger joins Mona for an excursion into classical music. No coat or tie required.

REFERENCES:

Here’s a list of every musical piece played in the episode.

The New Yorker's Susan Glasser joins Mona to discuss Trump's big beautiful deals, the cowardice of the press, and more.

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References: 

The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 by Susan Glasser and Peter Baker

"Letter from Trump’s Washington" (Glasser's New Yorker column)

Opinion by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson on Abrego Garcia (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals)

AP’s lawsuit regarding press access and the Gulf of Mexico naming controversy

Mona talks with Richard Kahlenberg about a proposal to make college admissions more fair in a post race preferences world.

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.

Listen now to the NPR Politics Podcast, only from NPR – wherever you get podcasts.

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📚 References 

Books:

Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions, edited by Richard Kahlenberg (2010)

The Atlantic's Peter Wehner offers insights into the transformation of the GOP from the party that passed PEPFAR to the MAGA warriors of today.

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.

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REFERENCES:

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

The Closing of the American Mindby Allan Bloom

The Power of the Powerless and Summer Meditations by Václav Havel

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

1984 by George Orwell

Greg Lukianoff of FIRE joins Mona to discuss why free speech matters (hint, it's not for the powerful) and how left and right are attempting to destroy it.

The Mona Charen Show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/mona and get on your way to being your best self.

REFERENCES:

The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All―But There Is a Solution by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott.