The Bulwark

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The Chinese have long envied America's power, influence, and market share. But after Trump's failed trade war, his attacks on allies, and the embarrassment in Iran, the view from Beijing has shifted: It now sees us as a nation in decline. Plus, inflation is creeping back up, the stock market is out of whack, new Fed C...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, and JVL are doing a bonus not-quite-TNL to take on Trump’s staggering $10 billion lawsuit scheme against the federal government, the MAGA civil war over Thomas Massie, and the surreal Capitol Hill bar confrontation involving Rand Paul’s son, antisemitic insults, and Kentucky Republican chao...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the report from NOTUS that Senator Rand Paul’s son confronted Congressman Mike Lawler in a drunken late-night exchange that reportedly included antisemitic remarks, a rant about Thomas Massie’s Kentucky primary, and even complaints about the SALT cap. The two unpack the gr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the explosive Senate hearing where Senator Chris Van Hollen pressed FBI Director Kash Patel over his reported heavy drinking, leak hunts, and polygraph tests inside the FBI. What started as a bizarre exchange about an alcohol “AUDIT test” quickly spiraled into accusations,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump’s recent insomnia-induced, Obama-obsessed posting spree showed a level of paranoia and delusion that should be raising real concerns about the mental health of our commander-in-chief. The new blotch on his neck to go with the giant bruises on his hands is not helping matters. Is the DOJ mulling a $10 billion IRS...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller gives his take on the troubling pattern involving several January 6 defendants who were pardoned by Donald Trump and have since been re-arrested or charged with new crimes in the last year. Recent cases include allegations ranging from assault and harassment to child sexual exploitation charges, as well as...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL, Sarah Longwell, and Tim Miller discuss the Virginia redistricting ruling, what it means for elections this November, and whether Democrats need to start playing as dirty as their opponents. Plus: the Iran war is a strategic catastrophe that most Americans don't understand yet, and what Bob Kagan—the man who cheer...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein is joined by Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, for his take on Trump’s war in Iran, the $29 billion estimate of the cost of the war, the $1.2 trillion cost to make a “Golden Dome” style defense, and Congressman Smith’s plan to investigate the U.S. strike on an Iranian gir...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Jonathan Cohn and Andrew Egger went live to cover the breaking news that FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has resigned. Tickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. Bulwark+ Takes is home to short videos, livestreams,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Because Donald Trump has so thoroughly hijacked the Department of Justice, the public can no longer be confident that a criminal investigation or indictment is legitimate. The default assumption is that official DOJ actions are about servicing Trump's needs for validation, power, or retribution—like the latest seashel...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol went live at 10am ET to discuss Trump's insane overnight Truth Social posts about how “Dumacrats Love Sewage” and how Barack Obama should be prosecuted for treason. Plus, the Trump family's latest grift is their non-existent cellphone Trump Mobile, despite collecting $59 million in deposi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein joined Katy Tur on MS Now to break down the Trump administration’s increasingly desperate messaging on the economy as prices keep climbing and voters feel the squeeze. As top Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett pointed to soaring credit card spending as proof the economy is “strong,” Trump is now proposing...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Instead of doing the job Americans have been paying Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for—like trying to alleviate the high price of gas and air travel—he's been shirking his responsibilities on a seven-month-long family road trip paid for by industry lobbyists. And of course, Trump is also being looked after: His g...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer went live to discuss the golden statue of Trump just unveiled at his golf club, the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy going on a 7-month road trip, Trump's obsession with painting the reflecting pool, and the UFC fight next month on the White House lawn. Join Sam and Will each Monday at...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Eric and Eliot lament the firing of 200 Foreign Service officers and the recent large-scale exodus of senior diplomats from public service. They discuss the impact of the Trump Administration’s diplomatic malpractice including the handling of Operation Freedom and their own disagreements about it. They assess the like...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sonny Bunch and Lt. General Mark Hertling (Ret.) break down the greatest war movies ever made from "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down" to "Gettysburg" and "Patton." But this isn’t just a movie ranking. Hertling explains what these films reveal about leadership, combat, strategy, sacrifice, and the real human c...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com In a special pre-recorded edition of Bulwark on Sunday, Bill Kristol and Sarah Longwell discuss the Virginia redistricting shock, the fight for the 2026 Senate map, Trump’s falling approval numbers, and why Democrats have a much bigger opening than they realize. They also talk about inflation, tariffs, the Iran war’s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com John Avlon speaks with Rep. Seth Moulton about his insurgent Senate campaign against incumbent Ed Markey, the Democratic Party’s leadership crisis, and why he believes Democrats need a forward-looking agenda instead of running solely against Trump. Moulton weighs in on the Iran war, Pete Hegseth, China, immigration, a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Mona Charen spoke with Matt Bennett of Third Way for a diagnosis of where the Democratic Party actually stands: a brand stuck at 28% approval, an immigration message that still hasn't landed, the Hasan Piker debate, a Supreme Court that just made gerrymandering easier, and a tariff-driven economic crisis that Democrat...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller reacts to the escalating fight over redistricting and voting rights after appearances on 'All In with Chris Hayes' and 'Katy Tur Reports,' breaking down the Louisiana and Tennessee map battles, canceled votes, and why he believes Republicans are trying to rig the midterms in plain sight. Plus, Tim discusses...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL is joined by SiriusXM's The Catholic Channel host Katie McGrady to break down one of the strangest diplomatic moments of the year: Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and gifting him a crystal football paperweight. They unpack the awkward exchange, why the Trump administration seems...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com This week's show has a rare note of agreement with our MAGA focus group participants. In Louisiana, Bill Cassidy is running for re-election to the Senate, and trying to pass himself as a MAGA true believer, even though after January 6 he voted to bar Donald Trump from office forever. Our Republican focus groups know h...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Sarah Longwell break down the shocking Virginia Supreme Court decision overturning the state’s new redistricting maps and what it means for the battle for control of the House in 2026. Democrats believed Virginia was their biggest answer to Republican-led mid-cycle gerrymandering in states like Texas, Fl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tennessee just completely disenfranchised its black voters after the Supreme Court gave red states the green light to rig the midterms by redistricting black majority districts out of existence—as long as lawmakers pretend they don’t see color when they’re doing it. And while partisan gerrymandering is A-OK with Alito...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah and JVL had a big show planned for you. Lots of different subjects. Important news. Funny stories. The whole nine. And then everything derailed as they went SUPER deep on Graham Platner and the meta-debate about him. If you think Platner has electoral upside, you love Nazis. If you have concerns about Platner’s...