The Bulwark Podcast

The Bulwark Podcast

Tim Miller and guests discuss the latest political news for the flagship podcast of the Never Trump movement and the reality-based community. Every weekday we provide insightful analysis, political hot-takes, an unabashed defense of liberal democracy and long-form interviews that cut through the "both-sides" BS. Plus a few laughs to help you wash down the crazy. Bulwark+ members can get a totally ad-free version of the show delivered right to their favorite podcast player.

Episodes

September 4, 2025 55 mins
The lethal U.S. military strike on a speedboat in the Caribbean was more about putting on a show than countering the drug trade out of South America. And it's not even clear that the people killed on the boat were running drugs, or that any contraband was bound for America. Meanwhile, if senators are truly concerned that local police departments are insufficiently staffed, then they should pass a bill to fund more officers ins...
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The economic populists at the Nat Con conference may be talking a lot about elites screwing over the little guy, but the Trump administration itself has been catastrophic for working people—its policies are all about doing special favors for elite interests. And while many loud voices in Silicon Valley cursed the Biden administration for blocking some deals, other start-ups appreciated the efforts to try to level the playing f...
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September 2, 2025 52 mins
Democrats need to learn to fight like Republicans. So when senators with serious foreign policy chops vote to confirm a middling weekend talk show host as secretary of defense, Dems need to call them out for being unpatriotic. And when they allow an ex-junkie to sabotage vaccines that have saved millions of American lives, say they're destroying the legacy of what the Greatest Generation built. The party of Putin-philes is no ...
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September 1, 2025 43 mins
Red States are flexing their muscles and imposing their will on the other states through their coordinated redistricting efforts. And if they deploy their Guard troops to other blue cities beyond D.C., the only real precedent would be the era before the Civil War when the South tried to force more slave states on the union. Meanwhile, the infighting at the CDC over the Covid vaccine seems to be upsetting Trump, but what can he...
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August 29, 2025 53 mins
Trump is like a dysfunctional 8-year-old whose parents are always in the principal's office arguing that their son is a good boy. The media, CEOs, and Wall Street keep giving him a pass for his behavior while his supporters and apologists explain why he just had to set the school on fire. At the same time, he's empowering ideologues behind the scenes who are dismantling the government and executing their policy wet dreams. Plu...
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August 28, 2025 70 mins
The resignations of senior leaders at the CDC is a calamity. People with decades of expertise in infectious disease are leaving the agency because the new director—who Trump just appointed—refused to get on board with RFK's anti-vax crusade, including limiting access to Covid boosters. And Wednesday's violence in Minneapolis may be a sign that the FBI should be keeping its eye on the threats from domestic terror instead of arr...
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A year ago, China was globally isolated and its economy was struggling. But once Trump was back in office pursuing his own personal and political gain, the U.S. brand got tossed in the toilet and the view from Beijing got pretty sweet. Trump has allowed China to buy American microchips that could be used against our own national security interests, he caved on his own trade war with the country, and the divisions he's creating...
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Some rando far-right social media suck-up, who Trump rewarded with an appointment to his administration, is pushing mortgage fraud investigations of Adam Schiff, Tish James, and now Fed governor Lisa Cook. Trump claims he's fired Cook based on a tweet—but will any institution stand up to these McCarthy-like campaigns against his political foes? Meanwhile, Bolton is being investigated because he went on TV and called out Trump'...
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August 25, 2025 51 mins
Trump and his people have used the summer months to up the despot game—sending armed troops into the streets, taking over the police in D.C., and promising to export the same tactics to even more blue cities. And the attempted deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda shows the lengths the administration will go for not submitting to its coercion. At the same time, Vance sounds downright Orwellian on the John Bolton matter...
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August 22, 2025 71 mins
The fears of jack-booted thugs and the military in the streets that filled the fever dreams of numerous people on the right since the 90s have come to pass. Not to mention that these are boom times for private prisons, deportation camps, and huge data centers driving up electricity bills. (We're building things, Marc Andreessen!) Meanwhile, The Bulwark was live on the scene for the FBI raid at John Bolton's house—just the late...
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While Trump keeps working hard on his own monetization and glorification—and delivers a Watergate practically every hour—the pro-democracy coalition must stay focused on winning next year's midterm elections. Trump is at the point of no return, Congress is becoming the only institution that can stop him, and holding onto that lever of power is his top priority. Meanwhile, not only did Trump look weak in Alaska, he also looked ...
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August 20, 2025 58 mins
Russia is losing the war in Ukraine. More than 1 million Russian troops have been killed or injured, and it's been estimated that it would take another four years and 2 million more soldiers for Putin to conquer the Donbas region. So no, Ben Shapiro, getting Ukraine to sacrifice the region in return for some kind of security guarantee would not be a "masterstroke" for Trump. Meanwhile, red state governors sending National Guar...
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Back in the day, Trump used to puff up his wealth to get on the Forbes list. Lately though, he doesn't talk about how much money he has, especially now that he and his family have pocketed an estimated $3.4 billion off his time in the White House. The bulk of those billions comes from various crypto-related ventures—and money from foreign nationals and some adjustments at the S.E.C. have helped grease the wheel. At the same ti...
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August 18, 2025 44 mins
Militarizing the nation's capital is not a distraction, and Democrats really need to stop using that term. Trump is trying to seize power, intimidate the public, and foment violence in the streets. And it's a purposeful MAGA marketing campaign—the masked federal thugs often have a camera person with them as they tase and tackle people. This is a fight that is central to the pro-democracy coalition, and it must become a politic...
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August 15, 2025 65 mins
While Donald Trump delivers chaos, cruelty, and corruption—and Republicans play the facts-and-hypocrisy don't matter game— Democrats have to do more rallies, more town halls, and more hearings, on and off the Hill. And if Leader Jeffries gets the gavel after the midterms, he promises investigations into Trump's huge pay-to-play scheme and says that Kristi Noem will be one of the first people hauled up to Congress to answer for...
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August 14, 2025 51 mins
At the Alaska summit, Putin will likely be angling for a sequel of the Helsinki meeting, the infamous tête-à-tête in 2018 where Trump got rolled and cajoled. And because Trump refuses to accept that his charisma and imaginary friendship with Vladimir will never be enough to close a ceasefire deal, the best outcome for Ukraine is that Putin makes Trump mad by not helping him land his long-sought peace prize. Meanwhile, Russian ...
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August 13, 2025 67 mins
Tim Cook groveling to Trump with a golden trophy and a dash of MAGA identity politics is probably a sign that we are not currently living in a healthy free-market economy. But business leaders apparently prefer pathetically sucking up to a president than feeling snubbed by one, like they did with Biden. And despite the sluggish job growth, rising prices, and tariff uncertainty, they also say the economy is absolutely totally b...
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August 12, 2025 59 mins
Trump keeps creating all these phony crises—an 'invasion' at the border, immigrants in the interior, crime in D.C.—so he can put on a show of force for his white base. He's also declaring fake emergencies on college campuses so he can shake them down, or declaring an economic emergency to impose tariffs. Now, he's looking at a 'quick reaction force' to respond to protests. It's all a naked power grab, and a potential prequel t...
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August 11, 2025 49 mins
Crime is down in D.C., but Trump is using the pretext of an attempted carjacking of "Big Balls," the former 19-year-old DOGE employee, to take over the city's police department and deploy the National Guard. It's a threat to other blue cities, and an ominous sign ahead of 2026 and 2028. Meanwhile, the DOJ has appointed 'a special attorney' and empaneled grand juries to investigate Trump enemies Adam Schiff and Tish James. Plus...
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There's a direct line between when the Democratic Party got nationalized and when it started getting wiped out in red states. Dems need to embrace heterodoxy in their candidates—running in New York City is not the same as running in Nebraska. And the party has to exorcise itself of people like Andrew Cuomo. Plus, the administration has upped the cruelty quotient by denying retirement benefits to longtime trans members of the A...
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