The Bulwark

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah and JVL are together again and JVL is raging. * The president of the United States accused the Democratic party plotting to assassinate him and . . . everyone just pretends it didn’t happen. * Diesel prices are going to the moon. * Trump wants to demolish the Kennedy Center. * Joe Manchin came back from the grav...

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by the one and only Chris McKenna who, alongside writing partner Erik Sommers, co-wrote the highest-grossing film of all time, domestically: Spider-Man: Brand New Day . He broke down the thought process that went into getting Peter Parker back together with his friends, the tricky negotiations between Marvel and Sony over who could use which characters and when...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes to The Daily Wire’s bizarre new movie, Run Hide Fight: Infidels . They dig into the film’s deeply anti-Muslim premise, its portrayal of liberals, LGBTQ students and campus progressives, and the strange political fantasy at the center of the story. Will explains the chaotic pl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Republicans are reeling, the vibes are shifting, and the wave is building. Jesse serves up a particularly optimistic view of the Democrats’ chances in the midterms, with even stretch districts now in play. And ahead of Saturday’s Ole Miss-LSU game, Wright shares how Mississippians are responding to the gutting of the...

Trump is threatening the future of the Kennedy Center if he doesn’t get the recognition he wants. Andrew Egger and George Conway give their takes on Trump’s push to put his name on the institution, his talk of demolishing the building, and the surreal image of Trump looking at a mock-up of the Kennedy Center in ruins. They also discuss the growing clash between the Trump administration and the cou...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A quick note: Bulwark+ members make shows like the Trio possible, including the substantial workplace hazard of making Will Sommer investigate all these weirdos. Join today and help us keep Will where he belongs: several Chrome tabs deeper into the internet than any sane person should be. Tim Miller, Sam Stein and Wil...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Gas prices are surging and this time, the outlook is getting even uglier. Tim Miller is joined by Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, to break down why oil prices are climbing, why diesel prices are hitting record levels, and why Americans could be facing $7 and $8 diesel this winter. De Haan expl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The Fed raised interest rates to curb inflation, as expected, but mortgage rates are surging and flailing Scott Bessent remains the treasury secretary. Meanwhile, the alarm raised in the AI community is not an op despite the backlash from people like Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who seems to get everything he wants from Don...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Mona Charen is joined by Sonny Bunch to talk about The Odyssey for the September edition of The Bulwark Book Club with viewers. Mona and Sonny read Emily Wilson’s translation–the first English translation by a woman–and discuss the differences between the epic poem and Christopher Nolan’s recent film adaptation. Octob...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) give their takes on the rapidly expanding Iran war, from attacks on U.S. military installations and disruptions to oil supplies to the growing conflict with the Houthis and the strain on American forces across the Middle East. They discuss the potential economic consequence...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein is joined by Chris Whipple, who wrote in Vanity Fair about the remarkable political transformation of J.D. Vance, from a young Trump critic at Yale Law School to Trump’s vice president and a potential MAGA successor. They dig into Vance’s behind-the-scenes efforts in 2016 to help Hillary Clinton defeat Trump...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL's on the west coast for Sarah's book event, and he, Tim, and Andrew Egger discuss Mitch McConnell's triumphant (?) return to the Senate, Donald Trump casually floating conspiracy theories over the Butler, PA assassination attempt, and Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth. Then, they turn th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump is raging at the Supreme Court after his own appointees helped block his administration’s mail-ballot rules, and George Conway joins Sam Stein to discuss the ruling, Trump’s extraordinary attack on the justices he picked, and what could come next as the midterms approach. Then things take a sharp turn as they wa...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The co-author of the signature book inside Trump 2.0 says the media only knows 5% of what is happening inside the administration—particularly when it comes to national security, the money-making, and the self-dealing. Jonathan does have new reporting about how the administration keeps pretending that our military is n...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol and guest host Ben Parker break down the latest New York Times/Siena polling showing Democrats with a significant advantage on the generic congressional ballot heading into the midterms. They discuss why Democrats are now leading Republicans on the economy, cost of living, immigration, and foreign wars. T...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Republicans spent their midterm convention warning that communists are coming for America. Will Saletan runs their own definition of “communism” against Donald Trump’s promises of $5,000 checks, government stakes in private companies, admiration for China, and even his jokes about being “the greatest communist in hist...

Sam Stein and Andrew Egger cover the breaking news that the Supreme Court has blocked Trump's executive order on mail-in ballots. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebulwark.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Catherine Rampell and Andrew Egger take on the pure Trumpian madness engulfing the Kennedy Center, which could close as early as Tuesday after Trump’s takeover drove away donors, performers, and audiences. Now his handpicked board says Trump may be the only person who can “rescue” it—and has laid out ten different (in...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A Putin bestie who's involved with the kidnapping of Ukrainian children bankrolled Don Jr.'s island wedding for some mysterious reason. Kushner is calling on Ukraine to give in to Putin's territorial demands. And Trump himself is blaming Zelensky for the high cost of diesel even though prices shot up after Trump launc...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Marc Polymeropoulos and Michael Weiss give their takes on the ProPublica report that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin secretly bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish Bahamas wedding. They examine the counterintelligence implications of a Putin-connected figure giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to the pre...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer dig into the bombshell ProPublica report that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin secretly bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish Bahamas wedding. Then, they take a critical look at 60 Minutes’ investigation into the booming business of lobbying for presidential pardons, including its un...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Saletan take on Mike Johnson’s defense of Republican congressional candidate Brandon Herrera despite the gun YouTuber’s grotesque comments about women and children—and the stark contrast with how Democrats police their own candidates. They also dissect Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 payout if Republ...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller takes on two political moments from the weekend that caught his attention. First, he discusses the backlash from a Texas Republican candidate over viral photos of Indian American students celebrating a football game at the University of Texas, and why Republicans should be forced to answer for openly racist...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol and Richard North Patterson trace how America went from a seemingly conventional political system to Trump’s second term, where the institutions and powerful people expected to serve as guardrails have often failed to stand up to him. They look at the GOP’s transformation, economic insecurity, the capitul...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Mona talks with Adam Isacson and John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America about Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, and the secret legal theory being used to justify them. They examine the killing of survivors in a second strike, Pete Hegse...