To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

On Election Day, Charlie Sykes and political historian Brian Rosenwald of the University of Pennsylvania give you an hour-by-hour guide to election night. They cover when the polls close, the Senate and governor’s races that could signal a wave, how to read the results as they come in at different points of the night, and Rosenwald’s final predictions for the House, Senate and Governorships.

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Three days before the midterms, Harry Litman of the Talking Feds podcast joins Charlie to discuss how far the Trump administration could go to interfere with the election, the court battles over certification, record early voting, the pundit fixation on Alaska, and the races to watch from Texas to Kansas to Georgia.

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Retired federal judge Jeremy Fogel of the Article III Coalition joins Charlie to discuss threats against judges, DOJ’s challenge in Alaska, the “creeping” defiance of court orders, Supreme Court term limits and court packing, and what happens to the republic when one of the three branches is under attack.

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As Trump and the Republicans make their closing arguments, New York Times columnist David French joins Charlie to discuss the backlash to the Ramaswamy ad, whether Texas is really in play, the DOJ’s Alaska lawsuit, Pete Hegseth’s reported Senate ambitions, and how corruption could shape the vote.

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Ten days before the midterms, journalist Tara Palmeri (The Red Letter, The Tara Palmeri Show) joins me to unpack the backlash over the Ramaswamy ad targeting Amy Acton. Plus, GOP insiders are bracing for a wipeout, their search for fall guys and the art of the grift continues with Jared Kushner’s Middle East slush fund.

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Less than two weeks before the midterms, economist Justin Wolfers (University of Michigan, Platypus Economics) joins Charlie to explain why consumer sentiment is at a record low, how tariffs and immigration crackdowns eroded trust in Trump’s economy, and why October giveaways may not work.

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Two weeks before the midterms, the host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong-Fast joins Charlie to unpack Trump’s Putin pivot, Elon Musk’s election spending, the White House infighting, and the post-election chaos that lies ahead. Plus: what Democrats do with power, and the rising stars to watch for 2028.

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Charlie Sykes sits down with political scientist and writer from The Atlantic, Tom Nichols, as they discuss midterms and possible battleground states to look out for, Trump's latest actions in Ukraine, and the motives of the current administration before election day.

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Three weeks before the 2026 midterms, Charlie Sykes talks with former Congressman Adam Kinzinger about where the race really stands, how the political spending of trillionaires like Musk is dangerous, and Trump’s latest moves on Ukraine. They also ask why so few Republicans will speak out against clear violations of the Constitution.

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Three weeks before the 2026 midterms, Charlie and Daniel Drezner dig into Trump’s Russia dealings, Marco Rubio’s rebrand, and what’s really driving the race for Congress. Is the blue wave real, or are Democrats headed for another heartbreak?

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