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Brian Klaas: Why Are There So Many Psychopaths in Politics?

Author
Charlie Sykes
Published
Tue 10 Jun 2025
Episode Link
https://shows.acast.com/to-the-contrary/episodes/6847589fd911dedd65192443

Charlie Sykes is joined by political scientist and author Brian Klaas for a sobering look at how modern politics has come to attract the worst kinds of personalities—and why that’s no accident. They unpack the structural rot that fuels a rise in psychopathy, narcissism, and performative extremism among elected officials, and discuss the accelerating shift from public service to influencer-style spectacle. From Trump’s latest authoritarian overtures to the international view of America’s democratic backsliding, Klaas and Sykes make the case that the real danger isn’t the chaos itself—but how numb we’ve become to it.

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