The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast

It's been 25 years since September 11, 2001. Charles asks Dan McLaughlin (who was there) and Noah Rothman for their reflections. Where were they? What did they think was happening? Did the world really change? Was an attack of that sort inevitable? Should New York have rebuilt the towers as they were? Was it important to kill Osama bin Laden?

The sequel to 2024's Most Excellent Whizzbang American Roller-Coaster Adventure! This time: the South. Charlie and Luther discuss their trip in a pickup truck from Richmond to New Orleans, via the Rappahannock Oyster Company, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Monticello, the Michie Tavern, The Andy Griffith Show, The Tail of the Dragon, Knoxville, Nashville, Shiloh, the Jug’s One Stop gas station, the Bass Pro Pyramid, Graceland, Johnny's Drive-in, and Vicksburg.

Charles talks to Michael Auslin about his new book, 'National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America.' What is the Declaration of Independence? Who wrote it? How close we were to losing the original copy? Why did it appeal to early nineteenth-century socialists? Why did the committee remove the lines condemning the slave trade? When did women start using it to demand the vote? How did it help assimilate immigrants? What happened to it in WWII? Will it survive the next century?

After the success of the Virginia gerrymander, Charles asks Sean Trende about the history of gerrymandering. What is it? Why is it called that? When did it start? What is a dummymander? When did our modern gerrymandering fights begin? Is mid-decade redistricting a historical anomaly? Who is playing defense here: the Democrats or the Republicans? Why have Republicans opposed federal laws banning gerrymandering? Are independent commissions actually independent? Can we outsource redistricting to a computer? What happens if the Supreme Court reworks its Voting Rights Act jurisprudence? Should we just go back to having representatives-at-large, who run statewide? Did the 2020 Census unfairly undercount gains in Republican states? How will the 2030 Census change our politics? Also: Is Donald Trump unpopular because he's Donald Trump, or because we just hate everyone now? And where are all the moderates?

On episode 101, Charles talks to Sarah Isgur about her new book, 'Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court.' What is the role of the Court? Do Americans understand it? Why has it survived? Do the justices get along? Why does everyone hate Citizens United? Is it a paradox that to get the Court to change the law one often has to break the law?