Charlie Sykes sits down with Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Independent Veterans of America, for a wide-ranging conversation about America’s mass shooting crisis, the culture of grievance fueling extremism, and the dangerous consolidation of presidential power. Rieckhoff highlights the role of isolation and disconnection among young men, the failures of political leadership, and the urgent need for new role models. It’s not all bad news though. The two also discuss the rise of independent veteran candidates as a possible antidote to partisan dysfunction.
To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes: Paul Rieckhoff – Grievance, Guns, and Power
The Brief
→ Four things from today’s episode
01
Why Paul is calling AI the number one national security threat. bigger than Trump himself
02
The New York Times report that OpenAI’s tech meddled with th. The New York Times report that OpenAI’s tech meddled with three US government websites this summer without the lab’s knowledge
03
How NATO, the UN, Congress, and the World Bank are failing to keep up with AI. and why Congress being out of session makes it worse
04
The Iran war as a sucking chest wound. gas and diesel prices soaring, Republicans finally breaking with Trump as midterm pictures darken
Show Notes
Recent Episodes
“Why I’m Suing the State of NY.” The #1 threat to America isn’t Trump — it’s AI. OpenAI meddles with three federal sites. Iran War sucking chest wound hits GOP at the pump.
Will Trump’s Iran War drag down the whole GOP? Tillis, Murkowski, Collins, Rand Paul break ranks. Fetterman sides with Trump. Media Blitz Pod
Iran’s President in NYC. Xi in DC. AI Without Guardrails.
Friday Football: The collision of sports and politics with Joshua Robinson, Wall Street Journal Sports editor.