Charlie Sykes, the founder and former editor of the Bulwark, announced this week he was ending his five-year run as host of the Bulwark Podcast, which has become the go-to listen for anti-Trump conservatives and liberals alike.

Sykes announced Wednesday he was stepping away from both his daily newsletter and the podcast, which has been a mainstay in the top ten of the top-rated political podcasts in the country.

“Actual personal news: After 5 years of daily podcasts and newsletters, I’m leaving the Bulwark. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve done and of my amazing colleagues,” Sykes announced on X, adding:

Founding and contributing to the Bulwark has been an honor and a privilege. But there’s a season for everything…

On Thursday, Sykes discussed his exit in his newsletter and wrote about how the chaos of Trump years has taken its toll on his mental state and he is ready for a reset. The veteran conservative radio host and political commentator look back at the Bulwark’s journey, writing:

On Xitter yesterday, Bill Kristol remembered how it all began: “The Weekly Standard had just been closed, but on Dec. 21, 2018, I joined @SykesCharlie to tape a podcast for a hoped-for new publication a few of us thought we might launch.” None of us could imagine then what it would become.

But there’s a season for everything, and this seems a good time to get off the daily hamster wheel of crazy.

As much as I love putting out a 2000-word morning newsletter and six podcasts a week —and having conversations with the smartest and most interesting people around — there’s always the risk of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of idiocracy out there.

“As I mentioned on yesterday’s podcast, I think it’s easy to lose perspective (and sanity) by tracking every development, hot-take, poll, and hair-on-fire outrage,” Sykes added, referring to his conversation with Joe Klein and John Ellis. On his Wednesday podcast, Sykes asked Klein and Ellis to look back on their decades covering American politics and reflect on what has changed most, leading to a profound, but bleak conversation about the tribalism and cynicism that has gripped American politics.

“It turns out that having your face pressed up against the firehouse of hackery, lies, and absurdity is not the optimal way of understanding what is actually happening to us. Losing our minds is not the way to win this fight,” Sykes continued, concluding:

And we have to win this fight, because everything is on the line this year, and it is more important than ever for rational, principled center-right voices to stand athwart the right’s mad rush toward cultism and demagoguery.
Sometimes we can actually get a better perspective by just stepping back a bit.

So, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be fully engaged in the struggle – and will continue to write and offer commentary – but at a somewhat more measured pace. (I’m also looking forward to accessing that part of my brain that is not TrumpTrumpTrump.)

My last day here — for both Morning Shots and the podcast will be next Friday, February 9. (Since so many of you have asked, I’m staying with MSNBC, so you may catch me there from time to time.)

He ended by thanking the Bulwark’s listeners and readers for helping to propel the small start-up into a force in contemporary journalism and vowed to continue, writing and commenting, but “at a somewhat more measured pace.”

Read Syke’s full newsletter here.

The post Charlie Sykes Jumps ‘Off The Hampster Wheel of Crazy,’ Leaves Popular Podcast to Access ‘Part of His Brain That Isn’t TrumpTrumpTrump’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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