The Secret Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah and JVL are back together, looking at Trump’s NATO disgrace, wondering if Mitch McConnell is really talking to people on the phone about detailed policy questions, and analyzing the factional fight in the Democratic party between the people trying to elect Democrats and the insurgents focused on displacing the e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah Longwell and Bill Kristol (filling in for JVL) take on America’s 250th birthday under Trump—and how far the GOP has fallen from Reagan’s “you can become an American” to 2,000 ICE arrests a day. They break down the right-wing meltdown over the birthright citizenship ruling, Megyn Kelly’s race to the bottom, why t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com It’s a special show this week where JVL gives Sarah a series of impossible choices. Will she choose institutionalism, or Secretary Mayor Pete? Will she endorse the political analysis of [REDACTED] ? What will she do when Cletus says that he doesn’t like democracy and wants minority rule? Come find out! Also: There are...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The Iran war deal is falling apart (already). Israel is turning on Trump. And the two most insipid trad-Cath poasters in America are podcasting together again. Plus: JVL (finally) explains his disdain for the NYT’s DEI Trump apologist. Hit the like button ❤️ and come to the comments so JVL doesn’t get all needy. show...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com A super-sized Secret this week: * Sarah and JVL are coming to the legendary 92nd Street Y in New York on September 8. Come and hang out with them in JVL’s back yard! It’s possible he’ll have the championship belt! (Tickets on sale here.) * JVL actually thinks the Iran deal might be real this time. He’s got a theory. *...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah and Sam take on the Graham Platner mess. Plus: is Susan Collins a fraud? The GOP's slush fund cave explained. And Sarah's past as a Republican operative gets dug up—and she's ready for it. The Secret Podcast with JVL and Sarah is exclusively for members of Bulwark+. To watch or listen to future episodes and join...

Sarah and JVL talk about the ongoing meltdown of Trump’s Freedom 250 event; the inappropriateness of putting a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn; John Cornyn’s sudden understanding of what Trump is; and Bari Weiss’s murder of 60 Minutes. It’s a good show / short show because we’re both playing hurt today, so forgive us if we’re not at our most dazzling. Read JVL’s Triad newsletter about 60 Mi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah is in the City of Angels; JVL is in the Big Apple;) and they have A LOT to catch up on. Gas is at $4.65. Trump is at -22 in the latest Fox poll. The Senate said no to the billi for his ballroom. Oh, and maybe we’re going to do regime change in Cuba soon? Plus: They recap the California live shows and go deep on...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Last night news broke that President Trump would drop his $10b lawsuit against the IRS if the people who work for him at the Justice Department would create a $1.7b fund out of taxpayer dollars and allow him to appoint five commissioners to run this fund and they would award money to anyone they deemed fit. Oh, and th...

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...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss the signs that voters are starting to regret their Trump vote—and why that doesn’t mean politics is getting any simpler. Gas prices are rising, a gerrymandering arms race is raging and the Supreme Court reshaped the rules. Plus: the Maine race, the rise of populist candidates like Platne...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell talk about the firing of the Navy secretary mid-conflict and the bizarre “Trump-class battleship” saga, exposing a pattern of impossible promises and chaotic leadership. Plus: the Spirit Airlines bailout and what it says about Trump’s commitment to “capitalism.” ON SALE NOW: Bulwark Live is comi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss a bizarre week where markets surge amid global chaos, Trump feuds with his own allies, and confusion over Iran keeps escalating. They also break down a blowout Democratic win, surging fundraising, and what it all signals for the midterms—plus a growing fight inside the party over Israel...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah discuss the failed ceasefire, Melania’s bizarre Epstein pre-denial, and the growing rift between Trump and “America First” heavyweights like Tucker, Megyn, Candace, and Alex Jones. Is this just another performative feud, or the start of something real? And as AI muddies reality itself, what happens when...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah discuss Trump’s rambling, unfocused address that failed to clarify any of the war’s goals, even as evidence mounts that the situation is getting worse. They also talk about the Bondi firing, why it may have been timed to shift attention, and what it says about how this White House handles bad news. Plus:...

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...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss the Trump administration’s stumble into an Iranian conflict that betrays its "no more wars" promise. They analyze the sudden resignation of Joe Kent over foreign wars, Tulsi Gabbard’s surreal FBI testimony regarding Fulton County ballots, and the looming "bloodbath" within a fracturing R...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah Longwell and JVL talk about what happens if Trump doesn’t TACO and pull the plug on the Iran war excursion after things go from messy to bad. Not great! Also: What happens if we know how to reform the system, but the system is so ossified that it can’t be reformed? And are The People, in fact, the worst? Order I...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss the chaotic firing of Kristi Noem after a disastrous hearing, the MAGA infighting that may have taken her down, and what it says about how Trump runs his administration. They also talk about the war with Iran—why the strategy looks confused, how Tehran may be playing the long game, and w...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com The U.S. government is ordering employees out of Israel and Iraq, the latest signal that war with Iran is approaching. Larry and David Ellison just bought Warner-Discovery and CNN. Sarah and JVL also talk about the new John Fetterman in Maine and the primary in Texas. As well as the Kansas law targeting trans people....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com This week Sarah and JVL did the show with a thousand of their best friends at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll never be able to erase the mind picture of Kid Rock and RFK Jr. as Never Nudes. Come and relive the magic with us in the comments. The Secret Podcast with JVL and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sarah and JVL discuss the Wall Street Journal exposé on Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and the internal fight over whether ICE raids should be loud and viral or quiet and deniable. They talk about why humiliation has become the price of loyalty in Trump World, why Biden is suddenly polling better than Trump on the ec...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Donald Trump posts an overtly racist video, Republicans briefly squirm, and the usual defenses start to crack. JVL and Sarah Longwell explain why this moment exposed GOP cowardice, how Trump’s vanity and distractions are starting to cost him politically, and what billionaire media self-destruction says about power, ac...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah came in hottt today, angry about . . . all of it? Journalists are now being arrested. Masked DHS agents are still terrorizing Minneapolis. The worst “free speech” people you know are building a state media ecosystem. And the Melania movie is here. The Secret Podcast with JVL and Sarah is exclusively for...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss the latest—from Trump's sinking poll numbers and the Greenland spectacle to escalating ICE actions and local resistance. They also talk about new focus-group findings showing Gen Z Trump voters cooling on JD Vance (and warming to Marco Rubio), react to the White House’s use of AI imagery...