The Bulwark Podcast
Episodes
A.B. Stoddard: Focus Only on Winning
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Pelosi has amassed power through persuasion, and she had the nerve to push a sitting president off the ticket because she prioritized victory. M...
Rick Perlstein: The Alternative Is Apocalyptic
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The modern conservative movement has a built-in ratcheting-up mechanism, so that even when Republicans win, they act like they're losing and the count...
Sam Stein and Ron Brownstein: Now We're Talking
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We may have been conditioned to just accept candidates who share their meandering thoughts or end sentences with 'anyway.' But Kamala Harris is delive...
James Carville: Kamala-Gras
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's now the Kamala Harris parade, and James Carville has grabbed his whistle and baton for the march. The veteran strategist shares some campaign adv...
Bill Kristol: Biden Drops Out of Race
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After banging the drum for quite a while, Bill Kristol and Tim Miller got their wish, and the political world is scrambling for the 106-day sprint to ...
S.E. Cupp: Grieving the Insanity
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans wanted a 'do no harm' convention, but it was too corporate and lacked any joie de vivre. And then they ended the affair with grievance, fa...
Adam Kinzinger: Everything Is on the Line
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans are tamping down the crazy and the weird at the convention—like no election fraud, no abortion ban talk, and no vaccines—to present th...
Jeff Sharlet and Joe Perticone: The Confidence of a Bully
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump's shark/electrocution anecdote was not a sign of deterioration. Trump is actually getting better at communicating a solid message in a carnivale...
Alyssa Farah Griffin: National Unity Is Not Where the GOP Is
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
J.D. Vance is an incredibly polarizing figure, and his addition to the ticket signals a complete realignment of the Republican Party. Plus, he gave th...
Bill Kristol: Not Resigned to a Trump Presidency
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We begin with a rejection of the fatalist rhetoric from the left. It may be an uphill battle, but the pro-democracy forces have to keep our morale up ...
Sam Stein: Violence Is Not the Answer
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode following the assassination attempt on Trump, The Bulwark's managing editor Sam Stein joins Tim Miller to discuss the precarious...
Amanda Carpenter: A Life or Death Bet
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Not having dementia is not enough to change the dynamic. Biden needs a proactive message against Trump. Meanwhile, you don't have to play 'Connect the...
David French: Trump Tries To Run Away from the Christian Nationalists
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Inviting "populist slut hero" Amber Rose to speak at the Republican convention and adjusting the platform on abortion—Trump is trying to distance hi...
Ezra Klein: A Path to Defeat
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Top Democrats say they don't see a way for Biden to win, and some are resigning themselves to being the resistance against Trump, despite the threat h...
Bakari Sellers and Elaina Plott Calabro: The Case for Riding with Biden
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is not a moment for a politician's origin story or soaring oratory. Some think that means dancing with the one that brung ya. But maybe it’s a ...
Bill Kristol: The Joe Biden Survival Plan
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It would have been nice if Biden had gone on Morning Joe the day after the debate instead of waiting 11 days. But he still is not providing a forward-...
Annie Lowrey: The Worst Best Economy
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Housing prices, the cost of insurance, and sticker shock at the supermarket are still stressing Americans out even while the economy is booming. Annie...
Clint Smith: A Reckoning with History
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Author, poet, and native New Orleanian Clint Smith grew up in the city that was the heart of the domestic slave trade, but realized his understanding ...
Jon Lovett: Unprecedented Times
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The quiet coming from the White House sure suggests that the people around the president don't think Joe at his best can overcome Joe at his worst. Jo...
Ben Wittes and Steven Shepard: He Is Still a Criminal
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
No matter how much the Supreme Court pretends that the words 'high crimes and misdemeanors' are not explicitly in the Constitution, Donald Trump is st...
Tom Nichols: Political Malpractice
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
All Americans who love this country and hate Donald Trump deserve answers about Thursday's abysmal performance—and how we are going to move forward....
Sarah Longwell, Jonathan V. Last, and Jonathan Martin: A Disaster
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Secret Pod makes an emergency appearance to work through last night's terrible performance by Biden and to urge the Democratic Party to do the res...
Kate Bedingfield and Marc Caputo: Debate Day
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former White House comms director Kate Bedingfield serves up some keen insights into Poppa Joe—he is a night person, he regularly seeks out Jill's o...
Stuart Stevens: I think Joe Biden Has Been A Great President
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
So many of the people who worked around POTUS 44 think no one will ever be as good as Obama, but Stuart Stevens argues that Democrats need to make the...
Symone Sanders-Townsend: Don't Say We Didn't Warn You
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Project 2025 sounds mundane, but it would institutionalize Trumpism, eliminate the Department of Education, mass deport 11 million people, and turn th...
Jared Polis and Bill Kristol: Live from Denver
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gov. Jared Polis says Biden should focus on what he'll do for the American people in his campaign, rather than getting caught up in the crazy of Trump...
Jane Coaston: He's So Not a Badass
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump is not drawing support from black voters because of his criminality—that's just MAGA's bigotry of low expectations. Meanwhile, he's now promis...
Adam Kinzinger: Bat**** Crazy
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Felon 45 didn't even really like being president and no one is taking his ludicrous tariff plan seriously—but Republicans can't stop tripping over e...
George Packer: Phoenix, the Most American City
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Phoenix is a microcosm of the big issues in the election and the country generally, including political extremism, climate change, and the border. But...
Lauren Windsor and Ben Wittes: A Deep Rot
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Justice Alito and his wife seem to have some pretty deep and dark feelings about the people they dislike. Tim Miller also asks Lauren Windsor about th...
Will Saletan: Nonstop Shamelessness
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump visited an African American church in Detroit and the pews were filled with white people; Republicans keep flooding social media with cropped vi...
Jonathan V. Last and Ben Raderstorf: Retribution Agenda
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans had a tête-à-tête with Trump to remind him how, if he wins, he should extend the tax cuts before he gets tied up with punishing all his...
Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer: The Inside Story of the Fall of Roe
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A coalition of Christian lawyers, activists, and politicians methodically and secretly took down Roe, and in the process, outsmarted Democrats who bel...
Jennifer Senior: Secrets and Lies
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pulitzer-Prize winning Jen Senior joins Tim Miller for a free-form conversation about jail-bound, faux martyr Steve Bannon, the debilitating reality o...
Bill Kristol: Tuberville's Policy Is the Same as Trump's
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tommy Tuberville's know-nothing appeasement of Putin lines up exactly with where the ex-POTUS is—Biden should be making Trumpworld squirm over that ...
Mike Madrid: The Latino Century
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Young Latinos are a giant emerging voter bloc with populist leanings—who also favor tougher border security. If Trump was to win reelection, it woul...
Adam Kinzinger: The New Axis Power Alliance
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This D-Day is a good reminder that the growing nationalist movement across the globe aims to undermine the alliance between free and democratic countr...
Will Saletan and McKay Coppins: Fear and Loathing
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump and MAGA, with all their banana republic claims, are not being America First—they're being anti-American, and renouncing the country they live...
Ritchie Torres and Ben Smith: Pride and Priors
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rep. Ritchie Torres joins Tim Miller to discuss how to win working-class voters, his Dickensian upbringing, and Israel under the microscope of 24-hour...
Bill Kristol: Rally Around the Flag
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a good moment for Biden to proudly raise the flag right-side up, and share his love of America—even as his Justice Department's prosecution ...
Ben Wittes and Ron Filipkowski: Guilty!
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump collaborated with a slimy crew to break the law, and it may have swung the 2016 election. Russia's election interference was troubling—...
Derek Thompson: Negativity Bias
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
America is currently stuck in a negativity vibe, and it's shaping the media we consume, impacting how we look at the economy, and contributing to the ...
David Frum: Complete Chaos
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If Trump were to win, his plans to sabotage the Justice Department and consolidate power would plunge the country into chaos: Our government would be ...
John Heilemann: Piss and Vinegar
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If persuadable voters are going to back an octogenarian, they are going to need to see less caution—and more piss and vinegar from Biden to combat T...
Sarah Longwell and A.B. Stoddard: Won't Get Fooled Again
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
First off, Nikki, you're canceled. And while Trump's out on bail flaunting his partnership with Putin and showcasing two men charged with murder, too ...
Jasmine Crockett: Nikki Haley and B6
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rep. Jasmine Crockett joins Tim Miller to talk about the origins of "bleach blond bad built butch body," what it's like to work with a House GOP that ...
James Comey and Ben Wittes: A Demagogue Our Founders Feared
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former FBI Director James Comey joins Tim Miller to discuss the choices he made in 2016, the DOJ's self-sabotaging avoidance of the media, and how to ...
Rick Wilson: The Reich Stuff
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The "unified Reich" reference was no accident: Trump is aiming to both fire up the base and court public controversy. Meanwhile, Giuliani is hawking s...
Tom Nichols: The Cult Around the Sad Boy from Queens
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump has embraced the culture war on guns and abortion, but he is somehow being painted as a moderate again. Meanwhile, Giuliani and Abbott served up...
Anne Applebaum: A New Propaganda War
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Russia, China, and their authoritarian allies are working overtime to poison the idea of democracy everywhere in the world. It's a theme so heartily e...
Joe Walsh: Red Lines
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This election is about being a grownup and making a choice. One candidate is clearly preferable, and a protest vote sends a message to no one. Meanwhi...
Ben Wittes and Brody Mullins: Code Red
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Cohen substantiated 99% of what's needed to prove Trump's hush money reimbursement scheme—and so far, Cohen held his own under the weak defe...
Eddie Glaude Jr.: Biden Needs to Thread the Needle
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joe has to tell campus protesters it's OK to disagree with him—and that they can hold him to account. But if they want to keep the ability to protes...
Will Saletan: Trolls and Liars
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today's GOP is not a governing party—it's a grievance and trolling party, and Trump has the nihilist vote all locked up. Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham a...
Mark Leibovich: The Oracle of Washington
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Johnson may have seen the light in the SCIF, but is he scheming with Trump for Jan 6, 2025? Plus, imagining Gavin Newsom 2028 if we get to keep o...
Ben Wittes and Ro Khanna: Stormy Rafah
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In New York, we are getting the trial we deserve: It's not about high principles and democracy, but the trashy celebrity culture America let into the ...
Adam Kinzinger: A Small Man
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The ex-POTUS who claims he was taken down by the deep state is looking even smaller in court, getting scolded by the judge and sitting through testimo...
Elizabeth Neumann and Geoff Duncan: Republican Voters Against Trump
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two conservatives describe their break with Trump. Former DHS official Elizabeth Neumann saw both the mafia culture up close and Trump's disinterest i...
Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger: Lying Is the Price of Admission
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Any apprentice who wants to join Trump's ticket has to prove they won't accept the election results unless Trump wins—and Tim Scott shows he is a wi...
Live from Philly
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Will Saletan and (Hubert Humphrey alum) Bill Kristol join Tim Miller before a live audience in Philadelphia to discuss the uncanny parallels to 1968, ...
Gov. Josh Shapiro: We Can Do Big Things
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, sits down with Tim Miller in Philly to talk about the kind of language that wins over voters, the campus p...
Ben Wittes and Eric Cortellessa: Trump's Autocratic Agenda
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump went on the record, explaining how in a second term, his staff would only be (election denying) loyalists, he'd run a massive deportation operat...
Bakari Sellers: We Are in a Dark Moment
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the very hot summer of George, Breonna, and Ahmaud, we seemed to be on the brink of a third Reconstruction. But that moment from 2020 was lost. Now...
Christians and Political Power
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Political power often changes the church more than the church changes those in power—the most glaring example is the damage Trump has done to the cr...
Simon Rosenberg: I Think We're Going to Kick His Ass
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The polling isn't there yet, but Biden is delivering on the job, MAGA is extreme and dangerous, the GOP is a dumpster fire, and Trump is the ugliest p...
Mark Joseph Stern and Dave Weigel: A Bad Day for Jack Smith
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch, the real threat to democracy is not Trump's attempts to steal the election—but the DOJ's effort to hold hi...
Olivia Nuzzi and Dana Mattioli: A Deflated Trump
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The one-time most powerful man in the world is now being told when to sit, when to stand, and what he's permitted to say. Scenes from the New York cou...
Frank Bruni: The Age of Grievance
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tocqueville noted that Americans forever brood over advantages they do not possess, but now our grievance culture has run amok. From the aggrieved-in-...
Tom Mauser and Bill Kristol: Columbine, 25 Years On
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Mauser lost his son, Daniel, in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. He joins Tim Miller to discuss his long fight against gun violence, sm...
Amanda Carpenter: Welcome to Coalition Government
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey, look: Republicans and Democrats are working together! Meanwhile, Trump is still trying to destroy our institutions, Bill Barr is comfortable play...
Ali Vitali and Will Saletan: An Epiphany on Ukraine?
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Johnson shows hints of Reaganism with his new push for a foreign aid bill that includes support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Republicans in Arizona se...
David Sanger: New Cold Wars
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States lived in a delusion that Russia and China could not touch us. And while Americans ar...
Ross Douthat: Elite Outrage Is Not Enough
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump wins voters who don't read The New York Times or listen to The Bulwark Podcast, and elite opposition may not be enough to defeat him. Ross Douth...
Bill Kristol and Ben Wittes: The Split-Screen Reality
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While Biden spent the weekend helping fend off Iran's missile and drone attack, supposedly pro-Israel Trump embraced the anti-Israel chant, "Genocide ...
Jonathan Chait: Trump Broke the Scales
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pound for pound, the media treats Trump better than any Democrat. Plus, talking about abortion in a way that wins the most votes, NPR and identity pol...
Isaac Arnsdorf and Joe Perticone: Trying to Finish What They Started
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Bannon fueled the rise of MAGA by offering true believers a sense of community and purpose. A new book tells the story of ordinary Americans swe...
Olivia Nuzzi: Kari Lake Is No Meryl Streep
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kari Lake can deliver a good performance, but she's not really a true believer, as her flip on the Arizona abortion law shows. Plus, the normal part o...
Adam Kinzinger: Yes, Russian Propaganda Is Infecting the GOP
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two powerful Republican congressmen say some of their colleagues are advancing Russian propaganda, but they're still letting Moscow Marjorie run the s...
Bill Kristol: Pure Oligarchic Greed
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump's billionaire donors had it so bad under Obama, Clinton, and RINO presidents that they just have to go with the authoritarian. Plus, the return ...
Ron Brownstein: A Republican Realignment?
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While Trump's calling card is stoking white grievance, he's making unprecedented inroads with Black and Hispanic voters. But in a twist, Biden is matc...
Ruth Ben-Ghiat: There Is No Alternative
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans can't get off the Trump highway to hell, but business and media elites are also cozying up to him in case he returns to power. Meanwhile, ...
Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Marc Caputo: The Least Productive Congress
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The 118th Congress has made history: by removing a speaker, expelling a member, and holding sham impeachment hearings. Without Dem votes, the governme...
Stephen Richer and Will Saletan: Kari Lake Lied
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kari Lake said she'd fight to the bitter end to prove the AZ governor's race was stolen from her, but in court she essentially conceded that it was al...
Bill Kristol: Easter Egg (T)roll
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MAGA spent the holiday weekend arguing that Trump is more faithful than Biden, and also managed to slip in a possible dog whistle to evangelicals abou...
A.B. Stoddard: Liz Cheney Groupie
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cheney makes clear where she comes down on the POTUS rematch and is showing ex-Trumpworld figures how it's done. Plus, the 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty' show...
David Frum: American North Korea
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republicans have entrapped themselves with the promise of a massive surveillance state for American women. Plus, how Never Trumpers can put Biden over...
Justin Kanew and Justin Fenton: Tennessee, Laboratory of Theocracy
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As local news is hollowed out, rightwing news fills in the gaps. In Tennessee—ground zero for the culture war—Justin Kanew's site, The Tennessee H...
Don Lemon: Elon Is a Troll
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk, for all his keyboard courage, couldn't handle Don Lemon's Q and A, but then sicced his Twitter minions on the ex-CNN host after their inter...
Bill Kristol and Joe Perticone: The Quitters
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Gallagher is following Ken Buck out the House door, as they both abandon their jobs, their voters, and any sense of public service. Plus, MTG thr...
Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman: White Rural Rage
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rural white voters wield outsized power in our democracy, yet they are also more likely to support violence as a political tool—and to hold antidemo...
Jake Tapper: American Scandal
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It used to be that politicians who had affairs, took bribes, and paid people off lost their office or lost their base. Tapper joins Tim to discuss his...
Stephen Hayes: Grading Biden
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A recent editorial in The Dispatch rejected both Trump and Biden as acceptable choices in 2024. Tim takes strong exception to that position, arguing i...
Susan Glasser: An Edifice of Lies
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump's 2024 lies are not just the familiar ones about a 'rigged election' and 'Sleepy Joe.' He's also unleashing a flood of untruths about Biden and ...
Bill Kristol and Ben Wittes: A Subversive Enterprise
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trump stands and salutes the insurrectionists during the national anthem, and may rehire the treasonous Paul Manafort to help out in '24. Plus, the ...
Amanda Carpenter: Is Trump Depressed?
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He lost, he's low on campaign cash, and he's juggling criminal court dates. Are the bad things he says about America a projection of how he feels abou...
Josh Barro: Dear Fed, Please Lower Interest Rates
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the biggest reasons voters are not happier about the economy is because interest rates are much higher than they were few years ago. Plus, publ...
Sasha Issenberg: Politics, Disinformation, and 2024
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016, the Trump campaign used microtargeting to suppress the Clinton vote. Since then, digital malfeasance has become the dominant subplot in our p...
Evan Osnos: Biden Brims with Confidence
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Biden has the air of a man with no doubt about his campaign strategy—which is not exactly soothing to some Democrats and Never Trumpers. Plus, Hur's...
Bill Kristol and Sarah Longwell: Is the Wishcasting Over?
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Old guy Biden got Ezra Klein to back down—and Kristol a little bit as well. Plus, Orbán at Mar-a-lago, the fallout from the "illegal" immigrant lin...
Ben LaBolt and Will Saletan: The Stakes of the Moment
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The White House explains why Biden led his State of the Union speech with the threats to democracy at home and abroad. Plus, MAGA's meltdown over Bide...