The Bulwark

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...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Tim Miller takes a closer look at Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, whose record as a doctor is under new scrutiny after a New York Times investigation found that he sued more than 700 patients over medical debt, with 81 ultimately arrested after missing court dates. Plus: Marshall’s views on healthcare and vaccines, his su...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Sam Stein and Sonny Bunch unpack Sonny’s experience covering the Republican Party’s bizarre midterm convention in Dallas where they almost didn’t let him in the arena. Sonny walks through the convention’s strange credentialing saga, the overwhelming focus on Donald Trump, and an event that seemed less like a tradition...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Against all odds, Democrats still have a chance in the Texas Senate race. So, is it because Ken Paxton is bad, or because of James Talarico's Nice Young Man energy? Turns out, both. Veteran Texas journalist Christopher Hooks of Texas Monthly joins Sarah to talk about Ken Paxton's sordid history in Texas Republican pol...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) break down the latest escalation across the Middle East, including an attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, a critical alternative route designed to move oil around the Strait of Hormuz. With the pipeline damaged and the Houthis taking control of key positions along...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Rudy Giuliani and others who purport to represent the families of 9/11 victims ginned up the idea that it would be wrong for the Muslim mayor of NYC to attend Friday's memorial at ground zero. Republican politicians and Laura Loomer keep pushing their trash Islamification conspiracy. And a law-abiding Muslim family ha...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Bill Kristol sat in for Sarah today and JVL wore a little treat for everyone to mark the occasion. In case you’re not watching the video, the surprise is here . It’s amazing and you’re going to want one. After that unveiling, JVL and Bill talked about JD Vance’s speech, Iran’s devastating attacks on a Saudi pipeline a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Catherine Rampell and JVL break down the latest inflation numbers and why the Trump administration is desperately trying to convince Americans that rising prices are actually good news. Inflation hit 3.4% in August, real wages are falling behind, consumer confidence is sinking, and diesel prices have crossed $6 a gall...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Sommer and Andrew Egger dig into Katie Miller’s previously undisclosed financial stake in Elon Musk’s xAI and why it may shed new light on her relentless promotion of Grok. Miller has posted hundreds of times repeatedly attacked OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies while boosting Grok as the AI for “true pat...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Join Tim Miller, Sonny Bunch, Lauren Egan and Andrew Egger as they cover JD Vance's midterm convention speech live.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com As Sarah explains in her new book, Trump has been so successful teaching a new generation of Republicans about the political value of vice signaling that Nazi talk and racism has become the norm among young MAGA edgelords. Disdain for women is also a key element. One former true believer, Pedro, says the right sees al...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Catherine Rampell and Andrew Egger take on the increasingly hard-to-dismiss warnings about superintelligent AI, after an Anthropic researcher quit over fears that the technology could eventually threaten humanity. They ask whether anyone can actually control increasingly powerful AI, whether the Trump administration i...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Will Sommer and Sam Stein went live for a special Thursday edition of MAGA Mondays. They give their takes on the fallout from Trump’s marathon RNC midterm convention speech, including his bizarre promise to give every American adult a $5,000 “dividend” if Republicans win the midterms. The proposed payout could cost mo...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com Andrew Weissmann turns the tables on Sarah Longwell for a conversation about her new book, How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time —and what a post-Trump political future could look like. They get into Trump’s unusual hold on his voters, the right-wing media ecosystem, why Democrats too often let polls dictate wha...