The Bulwark Podcast

Susan Glasser: A Lame Lame Duck

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A sense of Biden's irrelevance has descended on Washington, with Trump flying off to Paris and meeting world leaders, and also openly conducting his o...

Bill Kristol and Michael Weiss: Catastrophic Success

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump is threatening members of Congress with jail and Republican senators may be circling the wagons around his nominees, but we still need to protec...

Jamelle Bouie: Bad at Being President

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump may have authoritarian aspirations, but he's very bad at governing and managing—four weeks into the transition, he's had two major Ls. Meanwhi...

David French: We Are in the Bad Multiverse

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kash Patel is making legal threats to try to silence his critics, and Tulsi Gabbard wouldn't even be able to get a security clearance in the regular j...

Rep. Mikie Sherrill: Who Will Be In Charge of Our National Security?

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're going back to a president who can't be bothered to read his briefing books. So who will be getting in the ear of the man who had the judgment to...

Michael Weiss and Thomas Zimmer: Competent and Radical

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russ Vought, Trump's nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget—and a Project 2025 author—believes we are living in a post-constitutional ...

Bill Kristol and Elaina Plott Calabro: A Sordid Lot

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kash Patel, who could potentially run the FBI, is a compulsive liar who can't keep his facts straight about his work experience or even where he was b...

Jonathan Chait: A Scary Clown

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pete Hegseth may have a winning Fox & Friends smile, but his desire to shoot protesters, commit war crimes, and purge non-MAGA leaders from the mi...

George Will: Democracy Rests on Persuasion

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For those living under a gray cloud because of what the American electorate has done, it's time to get to work on changing opinions. People who follow...

Bill Kristol: We Were Right To Be Alarmed

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The danger of Trump's nominees is that the main condition of employment—aside from being on Fox—is their fealty to him, and a willingness to go al...

Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: The Lonely Boy Club

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The country is now paying for the pathologies of the oligarchs and baddies who were stuffed into lockers when they were kids. And let's be honest: A c...

Sam Harris: Our Democracy Is Already Unraveling

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Because Trump wasn't penalized for trying to steal the 2020 election, our democracy has already been damaged. And he was laying the groundwork to do i...

Marc Caputo and Dan Goldman: Trump v. the United States

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The incompetent and compromised nominees Trump has assembled at record pace show how little regard he has for the essential functions our government p...

Jen Psaki: Don't Speak to Me

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Democrats focus too much on reaching white college-educated voters, and the threat to democracy was not the right closing message. Plus, Nancy Mac...

Bill Kristol: A Power Play for Autocracy

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump is flooding the zone with unqualified nominees who would destroy government norms and standards and create the kind of chaos that would let him ...

Amanda Carpenter: Lessons from the Tea Party Era

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ted Cruz and Jim DeMint ground things to a halt in the Senate quite effectively during the Obama era, and Democrats should take a cue from them for Tr...

Rick Wilson and David Brooks: MAGA to the Max

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump's appointments—like degenerate Matt Gaetz and Putin stooge Tulsi Gabbard—are about his raw power and his stupid show, but are also a risk to...

Osita Nwanevu: Democrats Need A Better Story

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Republicans have been good at telling a story about the economy and how people should feel about it, and Democrats haven't responded in a sufficiently...

Jon Lovett: The Worst People Are Happy

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The worst people believe their worldview has been validated, while the best people are uncertain, scared, and angry. But we have to stay focused on th...

Bill Kristol: A Pro-Putin America First

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump team is moving quickly to sell out Ukraine, but it's not clear yet whether Putin would settle for taking a quarter of the country—or if he...

BONUS EPISODE with James Carville: We Are the Opposition

09 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's time to get our opposition organized and develop a narrative about Trump. And one narrative that's likely to emerge is how he betrayed his voters...

Ben Wittes: Americans Elected a Serial Criminal to Be President

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump trials were a cosmic democratic disaster, and the justice system did not do justice: Trump was not treated in the same way as other people w...

Tom Nichols: This Is What They Want

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The American people made their choice, and the fight to preserve the global democratic coalition against the global authoritarian movement continues. ...

Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: Election Debrief

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala's tailored campaign message and ground game didn't matter. Voters were unhappy with Biden and didn't want a 'regular' politician. They also did...

David Frum: Pride in the Fight

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Whatever happens tonight, Never Trumpers and voters should be proud that we rose to the challenge of Trump—and that a majority of Americans see thro...

Bill Kristol: Maybe It's Dobbs, After All

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Republicans are crowing about a big turnout of early rural voters and a decrease in African American voters in the cities. But the early vote also fea...

Ann Selzer: How Could This Be?

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Few states are as red as Iowa, and yet the legendary Iowa pollster Ann Selzer found that Kamala has leapfrogged over Trump to take the lead there. The...

Mehdi Hasan: Memory-Holing the Worst President

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The WSJ wants readers to think that Trump is too stupid to coup—despite Jack Smith's indictment showing a very clear plan. And for those on the left...

Adam Kinzinger: All the Little Bros

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump and his pack of dude-bros are pitting men against women, even inside the home—the current Republican Party is definitely not pro-family or pro...

Alex Vindman and Lakshya Jain: No More Petty Tyrants

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The character of the nation is on the line: We have to stop an autocratic minority from imposing its will on the majority of Americans. And no questio...

Robert Draper: The Prosecutor

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala Harris sees the world as divided between those who follow the rules and those who break them—and that injustice requires action, not whining....

Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol: It's Already Happening Before our Eyes

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By de-prioritizing The Washington Post in his business empire, Jeff Bezos is showing exactly how a free press gets dismantled. Other corporate titans ...

Bret Stephens: Pray Kamala Wins

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump is corrosive to the soul of our democracy. He's a bigot, an ogre, and an isolationist. And for all the Reagan Republicans on the fence: If Trump...

David French: 2017 Trump Is Gone

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

 A whole faction of Red America thinks the judges and tax cuts in the first half of Trump's presidency were the 'real' Trump. But the Jan 6 'burn it ...

Jeffrey Goldberg and Catherine Rampell: The Un-American

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump doesn't share our values or our norms, and he wants the privilege of being able to shoot down Americans in the street. And former officia...

Mitch Landrieu and Will Saletan: Trump Lives in the Mud

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The ex-POTUS has resolved that his route to regain power is creating hate, fear, and anger. Meanwhile, his little fascist from Santa Monica is plannin...

Mallory McMorrow and Bill Kristol: Imagining a World Where Trump Is Irrelevant

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Remember those few weeks when Trump ceded the stage to Kamala and didn't do any campaigning? How glorious it was not to have to talk about him. Meanwh...

Live from Philadelphia (Again)

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Bulwark kicked off its weekend 'Swing State Swing" in the City of Brotherly Love Thursday before a packed house. George Conway, Sarah Matthews, a...

Bob Woodward: The Threat Is High

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since the release of Woodward's "War," Gen. James Mattis has reached out to the journalist to endorse the book's warnings about Trump, and to urge tha...

Susan Rice and Mondaire Jones: The Dictator Hugger

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Amb. Rice says Trump is a "surrender monkey" who is all about building up Russia and China for his own benefit—and to the detriment of our national ...

Tom Nichols: He's Bait for the 25th Amendment

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump's fitness for office is a central question now more than ever after his bizarre town hall Monday night, where instead of taking questions, he ca...

BONUS EPISODE with Jason Calacanis: The Civil War in Silicon Valley

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump used to be considered an existential threat throughout Silicon Valley, but now the tech world is split between Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman on on...

Bill Kristol: He's Not Hiding the Authoritarianism Anymore

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump's authoritarianism has intensified—with his calls for using military force against political opponents, taking away broadcast licenses, and de...

Susan Glasser and Jared Polis: Shaking Up the Holdouts

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Barack Obama made a direct appeal to people who don't like Trump, but may end up voting for him anyway. Team Kamala has to keep up the drumbeat: Make ...

David Axelrod: Change Agent

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Voters have a real hunger for something beyond the constant state of pugilism and the weaponizing of every problem. In her closing arguments, Kamala n...

James Carville: We Just Have to Win

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The information ecosystem is getting crazier than ever: The monster Trump created must be fed, even when the lies are too much for some MAGA members o...

Timothy Snyder: The Politics of Impotence

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump and Vance are pioneering a form of politics where American power means nothing, everything is bad, and politicians focus on tearing people down—...

Bill Kristol: The Musk of it All

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do not sleep on this: The billionaire tech bros are on board with the authoritarian project so they can capture the regulatory state. They are showeri...

BONUS EPISODE with Doug Emhoff: We Have a Mission

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The second gentleman says Kamala has really stepped it up for this abbreviated campaign, and is showing the country the most badass version of herself...

John Dickerson: Hero Story

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Liz Cheney sticks to her values under incredible pressure in an old-fashioned Republican way. And she reminded us that Jan 6 is not in the past—but ...

Kaitlan Collins: Still Surreal

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jack Smith's filing on Jan 6 reads almost like a novel—with Trump shrugging about Pence having to be evacuated, mocking true believer Sidney Powell,...

Jim Messina and Michael Weiss: Midwestern Nice

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Harris campaign clearly opted not to send out an attack dog in last night's debate. While JD Vance helped the reputation of the Yale debate club, ...

Lis Smith: Go After the Weird Angle

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

JD Vance may be a good debater, but his creepy obsession with lady parts could put him on defense. Meanwhile, Kamala seems to embrace a more robust me...

Bill Kristol: Prepping A Closing Message

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While the Trump campaign is opting for trans panic, Kamala really needs to remind people to be alarmed about the disaster possibilities with Trump. Pl...

Amanda Carpenter: Get With the Program, Already

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If Mitt Romney and Mike Pence really want to have influence over a future GOP, then they need to join the Cheneys in what may be the greatest cross-pa...

Pete Buttigieg and A.B. Stoddard: Talk Is Cheap

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump likes to promise a manufacturing renaissance as though one isn't going on right now. But we also had a manufacturing recession when he was in of...

Dana Milbank: Fools on the Hill

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The current Congress is the most do-nothingest since 1861—when the Union was falling apart right before the Civil War. Speaker Mike Johnson is compl...

Michael Medved: America Is No Accident

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Longtime conservative talk show host Michael Medved believes America was chosen for a special mission—Republicans used to understand that, but now i...

Bill Kristol: Trump's Just A Huckster at Heart

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Melania is selling Christmas ornaments, while Trump is offering up 99.9% silver coins—the vibe feels more like a going out of business sale than hea...

Peter Hamby: Living the Racist Porn Message Board Life

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Robinson thinks so much about porn, he wouldn't have enough head space or time to do the job of being North Carolina's governor. Meanwhile, the "...

Sam Stein and Susanne Craig: Look Beyond the Polls

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're swimming in polling data, but we should also consider that Kamala has more money and a superior ground game. On the other hand though, she doesn...

Tom Nichols: The Cat Was in the Basement

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

JD Vance thought he had confirmation of his Haitian migrant conspiracy when a Springfield, OH resident filed a police report about her missing cat. Bu...

Amy Walter: A 50-50 Race

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The presidential race is essentially tied, with movement on the margins that may not be picked up in polling. So prepare for a lot of mood swings in t...

Bill Kristol: Fanning the Flames

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

MAGA is trying to take political advantage of what was apparently a second assassination attempt on Trump, but it's not the Democrats who routinely en...

Jeffrey Goldberg: Trump Doesn't Believe in America

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The former president doesn't think our country is exceptional, and the political press won't hold him to any standard because it has zero expectations...

Mark McKinnon: Taking Back the Freedom Agenda

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While Republicans paint a vision of America as a dystopian hellscape, Kamala is helping herself to the sunny optimism of Reagan and the Bushes. Plus, ...

S.E. Cupp: A Sucker and a Loser

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala laid trap after trap during the debate, and because he's so impulsive, Trump walked into every single one. And while he seethed, she was the no...

Symone Sanders Townsend and Olivia Nuzzi: Kamala v the Weirdo

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump and Kamala are meeting for the first time at tonight's debate, because in 2021, he took his ball, went home, and skipped the inauguration. Seven...

Bill Kristol and Colin Allred: What's So Hard about This, Pres. Bush?

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is not a close call, Bush 43: Follow your vice president's lead and say you're voting for Kamala. Meanwhile, stay alarmed that this is a close ra...

Live from Dallas

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before a packed house in D-Town, Tim Miller and Adam Kinzinger covered it all, from Trump's incoherent muttering about childcare to his graveside came...

David Frum: Villains and Monsters

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After the decade we've been living through, we will remember the people like Liz Cheney, who have made the choices that really matter. Meanwhile, will...

Neera Tanden and Heidi Heitkamp: Trump Playing the Media, Again

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The media still haven't figured out how to cover Trump, so they don't scrutinize even his most shocking statements—like when he claimed he had the r...

Brian Schatz and Mona Charen: Democrats Don't Trust Happiness

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala is showing that she's good at politics by uniting the party's coalition and making appeals to the center. But many Democrats can't help themsel...

Bill Kristol: Stay on Offense

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala looks to have a very narrow lead in the polls, but she needs to do more to drive Trump down—a good target would be his announcement that he's...

Margaret Hoover: Kamala, the Real Apprentice

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Harris has been watching and learning about the ways of Washington, and she keeps sticking the landing like a gymnast. Meanwhile, Trump is desperately...

Adam Kinzinger: Trump Is Q

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Policy differences pale in comparison to maintaining self-governance and restoring sanity in the country—high time for the anti-Trumpers to endorse ...

D.L. Hughley: Kamala Is the Main Character

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The pundit class keeps talking about how Trump hasn't figured out how to respond to Kamala—but she already knows how to deal with him. And the man w...

Mark Leibovich: The Democrats' Rumor Mill

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rumors have surfaced about Joe feeling sad and resentful about the re-energized party. At the same time, Kamala seems happy to share the limelight wit...

Bill Kristol: Do Something

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the people best suited to make the case against Trump are the jilted Cabinet members and others who worked with him—doing the right thing is...

A.B. Stoddard: Only in America

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala delivered a real work of art—a perfect American story filled with love of country, democracy, family, and the pursuit of big dreams. She also...

Al Franken: Mind Your Own Damn Business

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The former senator from Minnesota recounts his early fandom for Tim Walz and how he won an unlikely congressional race in 2006. Plus, Kamala finding h...

Jon Favreau: Understanding the Assignment

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michelle Obama killed it last night, and did the job that every speaker at the Democratic convention should be doing: persuading the undecided to vote...

Beto O'Rourke: Air of Authenticity

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala's genuine smile and Walz's empathetic version of manhood is coming through loud and clear—and may explain the joy that is coursing through th...

Bill Kristol and Michael Weiss: It's Showtime

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala's first month as a presidential candidate before the Democratic convention has gone exceedingly well—she's been controlling the narrative, in...

Brian Beutler: Vibe Shift

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Swapping out Biden for Kamala has been such a big mood boost that consumer confidence among Dems and independents is suddenly surging. Meanwhile, Trum...

Dean Phillips and Mikie Sherrill: The Right Call

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two Democratic members of Congress who called on Biden to pass the torch join Tim Miller today. Both Rep. Dean Phillips and Rep. Mikie Sherrill said i...

Brian Tyler Cohen and Carol Leonnig: Go Inside the Bubble

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The anti-MAGA world should keep going on right-wing media platforms, and maybe embarrass their hosts in the process—like Buttigieg on Fox, and Tim o...

Amanda Carpenter: Trump's Traumatic Month

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump may be holed up at Mar-a-Lago because he's afraid of another attempt on his life. Meanwhile, he keeps trying to take away Kamala's identity. Plu...

Bill Kristol and Christopher Cadelago: Increasingly Unhinged

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Biden's departure from the race has put Trump in a real funk. He's in denial about Kamala's crowds, he's publicly pining the loss of his preferred riv...

Nate Silver: Underdog Story

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala is now the star of a story involving a woman called into duty at a moment of crisis with a sitcom dad as a running mate—and Trump can see the...

Adam Kinzinger: MAGA Hates America

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump and his supporters don't like America as it currently exists, and their veep pick JD Vance is like the U.S.-hating Code Pink, but in a suit.  ...

Peter Callaghan and Isaac Stanley-Becker: Veep Peeks

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tim talks to a local Minnesota reporter to get the low-down on Tim Walz's recent political history, including where he falls on the progressive-to-mod...

Adam Schiff and Michael Steele: A Stabilizing Force

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Walz is a great foil for Kamala's West Coast vibe: He looks like he'll fix your car, then grab an Arby's sandwich before he goes duck hunting. And...

Bill Kristol: Kama-Momentum

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Recent polls are showing some pretty significant movement to Harris, and she hasn't even had to play defense yet—though at some point she's going to...

George Conway: Crazy in a Bad Way

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump checks all the boxes of a person with narcissistic personality disorder, but the mainstream press goes out of its way not to cover his ap...

Dan Pfeiffer: A Scared and Seething Trump

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are witnessing a man who thought he was cruising to a landslide who's now afraid he doesn't know how to talk about Kamala—or how to beat her. Plu...

Fred Trump and Will Saletan: An Alpha Emerges

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sure sounds like kind words and affection were in short supply in the Trump household in Queens. Perhaps if Donald had been hugged a little more, Amer...

Tom Nichols: Drama Queens About Everything

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Republican men used to be stoic and quiet technocrats, but now they're screechy and freaky. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has a whole crop of strong, silen...

Bill Kristol: Weird and Extreme

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Democrats are leaning into the 'Republicans are weird and creepy' talking point—a strategy Tim has long advocated for. JD Vance is Exhibit A for thi...

Jennifer Palmieri: The Making of the First Woman President

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Women candidates get asked different questions than male candidates—that's just a fact. Kamala has a whole team around her ready to handle queries a...