The Bulwark

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller joins Nicolle Wallace to discuss why the Republican Party can see Trump dragging it toward a midterm disaster but still can’t bring itself to break away. They also discuss the horrifying death of a young Haitian immigrant targeted by Trump’s deportation crackdown and the administration’s escalating efforts...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com MAGA pollster Rich Baris joins Tim Miller to explain why Republicans may be underestimating just how competitive the 2026 Senate map could become. Baris says that Michigan and Georgia are effectively locks for Democrats Abdul El-Sayed and Jon Ossoff. He also sees Democratic opportunities in states Republicans have lon...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos give their takes on Russia’s attempted attacks in Germany, the growing threat of Russian hybrid warfare across Europe, and why Germany’s muted response could invite even more aggression. They also dig into the extraordinary contradiction at the heart of U.S. policy:...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The Army is currently operating without any Senate-confirmed civilian or military leaders at the top. For Navy secretary, Trump is nominating an election-denying veteran who thinks witches and Wiccans are taking over cities. And when Hegseth is not busy purging the DOD’s leadership, he seems to be under the spell of a...

Everyone has a take on the economy. Catherine Rampell has the receipts. After getting its start on Bulwark Takes , Receipts is becoming a show of its own—launching September 18 here on our site, Substack, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Ad-free and member-only editions will be exclusively available for Bulwark+ members on Substack and YouTube. On Receipts , Catherine follows the money,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The USS Abraham Lincoln finally returns to port after nearly 300 days at sea—and the visible wear and tear is a stark reminder of the strain being placed on the U.S. military. Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) discuss the Navy’s mounting readiness challenges, the Pentagon’s purge of senior Army leaders, and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A 20-year-old Haitian college student, Pierre Damas Bel, came to America to study, play soccer, serve in JROTC, and pursue a career in medicine. Instead, he was placed with an ankle monitor, bullied and humiliated by classmates, and made to feel like a criminal despite having committed no crime. Tim Miller and Sam Ste...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Lauren Egan give their takes on the behind-the-scenes scramble for campaign staff, the Democrats already courting operatives in early primary states, and why South Carolina is suddenly such a crucial piece of the 2028 puzzle. They also debate just how massive the Democratic field could get and where the...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim, Sarah, and JVL discuss the U.S. Supreme Court letting Trump’s ballroom go ahead (for now), why JVL thinks John Roberts is the Susan Collins of the Supreme Court, and whether Sarah is warming up to tearing down the ballroom in 2029. Plus: Trump says Kristen Welker should be punished for pointing out that his endor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Vaccine skepticism and distrust of pharmaceutical companies long predated RFK, Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign. But the distrust of mainstream medical authority has now grown so deep that the United States can no longer contain the spread of measles. The country’s measles-vaccination rates have dropped below the thre...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Egger has uncovered one of the strangest congressional candidate stories you’ll hear all year: a woman facing federal fraud charges in Illinois appears to have resurfaced as a different candidate in Florida and denied being the same person. Plus, Dan Driscoll’s stunning resignation exposes the deepening chaos a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller and a secret guest take on JD Vance’s disastrous trip to Michigan, from his awkward attempt to defend Trump’s deeply unpopular data-center push to an astonishing 9/11 gaffe and an ugly attack on Abdul El-Sayed’s Muslim faith. Tim breaks down the hypocrisy behind Vance’s “populist” persona—and eventually, he...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Donald Trump is posting AI-generated war footage, threatening Canada, spreading dangerous vaccine misinformation, and flooding Truth Social with bizarre content—and Andrew Egger and Catherine Rampell are trying to make sense of it all. From the fake footage showing U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island to Trump’s bizarr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump’s war is far from over, top military leaders are warning Hegseth that prolonged ops in the region are unsustainable, and Americans have been financing Pentagon propagandists who’ve been secretly collecting taxpayer money to try to convince us that things are going great in Iran. This is not the time for congress...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Will Sommer went live to cover the Pentagon’s secret army of MAGA influencers, including the government employees allegedly working behind anonymous accounts to attack Pete Hegseth’s critics and target the left. Next, Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported. Watch the video to see Will break down the spectac...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Ben Parker unpack a brutal 24 hours for press freedom: Trump threatening Kristen Welker with the FCC, journalists barred from G20 Treasury access, a leaked Pentagon assessment on Iran drawing threats against reporters, and big tech's silent complicity as DHS bypasses judges to subpoena journalists' data....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller talks with author and Tulane professor Nathaniel Rich about climate change, the growing backlash to data centers, their security and privacy risks, and Rich’s new novel, Cloudthief. They also discuss public anxiety about AI and technology, the appeal of scams and get-rich-quick thinking, and how people navi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol talks with Jim Swift, reporting from Springfield, Ohio on ICE's crackdown on Haitians who lost protected status, and ACLU attorney Sarah Mehta on third-country deportations, "remigration," and the legal and legislative fights over immigration enforcement.

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 Milo Yiannopoulos being detained by ICE, Laura Loomer taking credit, and the latest bizarre fallout inside the MAGA world. Plus, a KKK/Nazi-linked staffer in the orbit of Georgia Senate candidate Mike Collins, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s unforgettable message to...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Mona Charen speaks with former CIA officer Julie Curlee about her two decades in intelligence, her removal from the Trump White House, and what she describes as the dangerous erosion of expertise and nonpartisan analysis across the national security apparatus. They examine intelligence politicization, Iran and Venezue...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Trump’s immigration crackdown isn’t just targeting people who entered the country illegally—it’s making it harder for legal immigrants, international students, nurses, and highly skilled workers to come to and stay in the United States. Catherine Rampell and Doug Rand, former senior advisor at U.S. Citizenship and Imm...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Why is 80-year-old Ed Markey surviving a Democratic revolt against aging politicians? Sarah Longwell and GBH’s Adam Reilly listen to Massachusetts voters explain why Rep. Seth Moulton’s 'new generation' argument isn’t landing—and what the race reveals about what Democratic voters really want. Plus, they discuss Moulto...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Karoline Leavitt is leaving the White House and George Conway has a few thoughts about her tenure as Donald Trump’s press secretary. Andrew Egger and George give their takes on Leavitt’s talent for lying, deflecting, insulting reporters, and never losing her cool, even when defending the indefensible. They also look a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL is out this week, so Tim and Sarah discuss Mark Cuban’s comments that he could run for president as a Republican (and why Tim isn’t buying it), and Sarah’s conversation with the New York Times discussing her book, and what Democratic voters REALLY want right now. They also discuss the race Rob Sand is running for...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The wars in Iran and Ukraine are increasingly entangled, CIA Director John Ratcliffe had to personally deliver a message to Moscow, and Trump is driving our Gulf allies into the arms of China. Meanwhile, the U.S.-Israel relationship keeps mucking up our domestic politics, particularly in Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign in M...