The Bulwark

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Join JVL, Catherine Rampell, Andrew Egger, and many, many others from The Bulwark for live "No Kings" rally coverage. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. Bulwark+ Takes is home to short videos, livestreams, and event archives exclusively for Bulwark+ members. Add Bulwark+ Takes feed to your player of choice...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein takes on a series of bizarre Trump appearances, ranging from crude jokes and made-up stories to comments that may have revealed something far more serious. The pattern raises a bigger question: when the president speaks, how much of it is real? As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. Bulwark+ Takes is...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Artificial intelligence is such a big change to human civilization that our political class is struggling to keep up. The voters in our focus groups are struggling, too. The Washington Post 's Megan McArdle joins the show to discuss how everyday Americans are using (and misusing!) AI, its impact on the political proce...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller was on MS NOW's Deadline: White House to explain why Trump’s Iran decision may be doing lasting damage to his own coalition. From GOP infighting to failed election interference efforts and another Democratic win in Washington, MAJOR cracks are starting to show. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Tim Miller give their takes on the latest fiasco for FBI Director Kash Patel after Iran-linked hackers breached his email and released a trove of personal messages and photos. From embarrassing photos during a trip to Cuba to serious counterintelligence concerns, it’s another brutal moment for a guy alre...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com In addition to the global energy shock brought on by Trump's war, mortgage rates are surging, and labor costs and prices are rising. And Republicans don't seem to have a plan except to spend more, blame trans kids, and feed Trump's megalomania by allowing him to put his ugly signature on our currency. Plus, JD thinks...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Bill Kristol—filling in for Sarah—discuss escalating Iran conflict, the risky push toward a wider war, and why the real damage may outlast the fighting. They also get into the global fallout—from threats to the petrodollar system to the collapse of U.S. alliances—and what a rushed exit might look like. Pre-ord...

On this week’s episode, I’m very pleased to be joined by McKay Coppins, author of April’s cover story in The Atlantic : “Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.” We discussed the rise of sports betting apps, why his boss gave him $10,000 to lose, how the wild proliferation of sports gambling could destroy faith in the sports we watch, and why Kalshi/Polymarket could wind up getting people killed....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller, Sam Stein, and Will Sommer give their takes on Kash Patel’s girlfriend, a country music “sensation,” over her bizarre Twitter rant about Michael Flynn, Candace Owens fights with MAGA media darling Nick Shirley, and comedian Druski mocks Erika Kirk in viral video. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comme...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Andrew Egger watched an hour-and-a-half long Trump cabinet meeting and it was a mess. From ranting about $1,000 pens and fake gold columns to personal attacks on Gavin Newsom’s dyslexia and Jerome Powell, Trump spent more time complaining about the Kennedy Center than he did on foreign policy. We break d...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com For nearly 50 years, since the Ayatollah seized power in Iran and took Americans hostage, the U.S. has known that the regime could single-handedly shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Trump was reportedly warned of this threat, but the failed casino owner blew it off. And now Iran unilaterally controls 20% of the world’s o...

Tim Miller talks with Ezra Levin—co-founder of Indivisible— about Saturday's “No Kings” protests. They get into whether protests actually work, how movements grow beyond a single weekend, and why discipline, nonviolence, and even humor can throw off an authoritarian playbook. Plus: the rising threat of political violence, how organizers are preparing for it, and what comes next if this keeps growi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller was on with Katy Tur to take on a surprising shift in Florida politics after Democrats flip a seat in Trump’s own backyard. Is this a one-off—or the start of something bigger? Plus: the corruption questions that still aren’t being investigated—and what it all could mean for 2026. As always: Watch, listen, a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Andrew Egger take on a surreal White House briefing where everything is supposedly “going great”—even as TSA chaos, rising gas prices, and a widening Iran conflict tell a very different story. Plus: how JD Vance is getting boxed into a political no-win situation. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Katie Couric joins Tim Miller and JVL to dig into some of the biggest stories so far this week on a special edition of Bulwark Takes happening live on Wednesday at 6:30 PM ET. With Iran rejecting a cease-fire proposal, what will President Trump do next? And why is Iran requesting that Vice President JD Vance come to t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump's shamelessness has been his political superpower, but the regime in Tehran is seeing a desperate and panicked man doing the opposite of what he's said about Iran for the past decade. But his supporters at home are not likely to see the dangerous moment we are in unless or until they feel real economic pain pers...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Daniel Biss joined Lauren Egan to discuss his win in a crowded Democratic primary for Illinois' 9th Congressional District. AIPAC spent more than $7 million trying to stop him. Biss, whose mother is Israeli and whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, opens up about what it felt like to be personally targeted and w...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com California Governor Gavin Newsom joins John Avlon for a wide-ranging conversation starting with a blunt assessment of the Iran war, what's happening with TikTok and media power under Trump and why Newsom thinks American democracy's biggest test isn't 2028, it's 2026. The conversation also dives into Newsom's leadershi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein, Joe Perticone, and Will Sommer give their takes on the bizarre rise and abrupt fall of Nick Adams, the self-styled “alpha male” known for his tweets about boobs, Hooters, and American exceptionalism. Adams saw his ambassador nomination pulled before landing in a made up new State Department role. As always:...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller is going live to talk about the news of the day and just generally hang out. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. Bulwark+ Takes is home to short videos, livestreams, and event archives exclusively for Bulwark+ members. Add Bulwark+ Takes feed to your player of choice, here .

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller, JVL and Sam Stein (filling in for Sarah) discuss Trump’s shambolic approach to the Iran war—no clear objective, mixed signals, and rising economic fallout. As gas prices climb and markets wobble, they ask whether the political damage has already begun, even if the polls haven’t fully caught up. Plus: signs...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A war of choice may evolve into a war of necessity because the brains at the White House apparently did not anticipate that Iran—in response to the bombing campaign—would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which the global economy depends on being open. It's also not a good look for the U.S. to be got by a power like Ira...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Lauren Egan take on a real idea circulating among Democratic operatives: run more “hot” candidates. They discuss what that actually means—youth, charisma, online presence—and whether it reflects a deeper effort to fix the party’s image and win back voters. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. B...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger discuss the DHS funding fight, ICE at America's airports, and Trump's erratic flip-flops in Iran. As always: Watch, listen, and leave a comment. Bulwark+ Takes is home to short videos, livestreams, and event archives exclusively for Bulwark+ members. Add Bulwark+ Takes feed to your player...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller was on Deadline: White House to take on the political fallout from Trump’s Iran war, warning that the real backlash hasn’t shown up in polling yet as rising costs start to hit voters. He also looks at growing cracks inside the GOP, where even MAGA voices are struggling to defend a war with no clear objectiv...