
The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast
A show about politics, music, technology, rollercoasters, golf carts, and the United States of America.
Latest episodes

Feb 24, 2023 • 44min
Episode 19: Charlie and the Outrage Factory
The soufflé must be ordered with 24 hours' notice, but, as good luck would have it, this episode must not. This one shakes it up a bit and begins with a Q&A. "If you were to create a British Mount Rushmore, what four faces would it display?" Charles was asked by some rotter who then excluded "John, Paul, George, and Ringo" from eligibility. Charles tries to get through it nevertheless.Then it's time for a conversation with Kat Rosenfield, culture writer and author, most recently, of the novel You Must Remember This. Among the topics that were discussed were whether it matters that Roald Dahl's publisher has started rewriting his books to address so-called modern sensibilities, to what extent one should separate art from the artist who produced it, and which sorts of censorship are the most alarming.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Feb 13, 2023 • 44min
Episode 18: Everything Is Awesome?
It's the day after the Super Bowl, and that means it's time for episode 18 of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, which, this week, features a monologue about last week's remarkably embarrassing State of the Union address (which shouldn't exist), and an interview with Marian Tupy, co-author of Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. Are we richer than medieval peasants? Is it easier to buy a vacuum cleaner now than it used to be? Why is a bigger population not only not bad, but good? Do statist conservatives have a point when they complain about free markets? Is environmentalism a religion? Why does cancel culture threaten the economy? Charles asks all these questions—and more. Listen, or don't. It's up to you.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Feb 3, 2023 • 35min
Episode 17: The Man Who Knew Lee Harvey Oswald
How many people can say they knew someone who assassinated a president? Charles's guest today is Paul Gregory, whose fascinating book, The Oswalds, relates his relationship with Lee and Marina. Paul tells Charles how he met the Oswalds, what he thought of them, why he still feels some "shame," why he thinks all the conspiracy theories are bunk, and why it took him six decades to put his story to paperCharles's monologue is on Florida's proposed "constitutional carry" bill, which, despite all the hysterics, actually represents a rather modest reform to the status quo.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Jan 27, 2023 • 43min
Episode 16: Cocktail Hour
It's Friday, and it's 5 o'clock somewhere. That means it's time for episode 16 of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, in which Charles addresses everyone's favorite topic—how we can address our deficits and national debt, and why, despite their protestations, the Republicans aren't serious about doing so—and then chats with Vic Matus about his book on the history of Vodka in the United States, and, in particular, how a grain alcohol “without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color” became the most popular hard liquor in America.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Jan 19, 2023 • 49min
Episode 15: The Sound of Silence
On the fifteenth episode of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, Charles looks at the case of hockey player Ivan Provorov, and argues that a tolerance for political silence should, in almost every imaginable circumstance, be the default position.Charles's guest this week is Billy Binion, a writer at Reason who tells him about the many disturbing cases of equity theft we are seeing in states such as Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Alabama, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Maine. In the Q&A section, Charles answers questions about Florida's summer heat, his support for the Gators, and whether Americans are really as divided as the commentariat likes to believe. And, finally, it's time for another visit from John Ekdahl for this week's Jacksonville Jaguars Update: Kansas City Chiefs Edition.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Jan 12, 2023 • 1h 1min
Episode 14: Gas Panic
In this fourteenth episode of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, Charles proposes that you should be deeply suspicious of anyone who picks up a cause, and, ten minutes later, sounds as if they’ve been fighting in favor of it for their entire life. Such people are impressionable, excitable, and ridiculous—and, ultimately, dangerous. After that, he asks Jonathan Adler, of Case Western Reserve University School of Law how on earth we can square the work of the Consumer Product Safety Commission with the limits on the federal government that are imposed by the Constitution's enumerated powers doctrine. And, finally, it's time for the Color Supplement, which, this week, features a timely Jacksonville Jaguars Update.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Jan 6, 2023 • 40min
Episode 13: Horse, Not Zebra
In the thirteenth episode of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, Charles argues that the ongoing freakout over the House of Representatives's apparent inability to find a Speaker is silly. Perhaps the opposition to McCarthy is frivolous. But it's not a national security threat, or a crisis. Next, Charles talks to Andy Kaplan, a cardiac electrophysiologist, and Steve Pirris, a neurosurgeon, about the effects on the heart and the brain of the cardiac arrest suffered by Damar Hamlin during last Monday's NFL game.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Dec 23, 2022 • 50min
Episode 12: Sunny Side Up
In this pre-Christmas edition of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast, Charles makes the case against conservative nihilism, even when things look really bad. Afterwards, Charles talks to Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs, about America's imperiled work ethic, the brilliant 50-year "PR campaign" in favor of four-year college degrees, and the likelihood that some balance will be restored to the workforce.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Dec 9, 2022 • 56min
Episode 11: Tim Burton Republicans
As promised, Charles sings all four operas from Wagner's 'Ring Cycle' — Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Larry's Giant Subs — while accompanying himself on the Mongolian nose flute.In between arias, he argues that the Republican Party's choice is obvious: it can either find candidates that are palatable to the majority, or it can keep on losing winnable races; talks to Steve Morris about gay marriage—this time, the criticisms come from the Left; and asks Dan McLaughlin what on earth is going on with these $300m+ baseball contracts. The ISBN for this week's episode is 5, and rising.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.

Dec 2, 2022 • 55min
Epiſode 10: Words in the Key of S
This is Episode Ten of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast. Or, as the Founders might have written it: Epiſode 10. Why did English speakers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries do that? What did it denote? When did it stop? Charles starts the show by explaining what he's found. Then, it's on to a debate with Michael Brendan Dougherty on the question of gay marriage: Charles is for; Michael is against. And, finally, in this week's Color Supplement, Scot Bertram helps Charles look back on the remarkable career of Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, who died this week at the age of 79.The dial-up tone in the introduction was recorded by lintphishx and is used under a CC 3.0 License.