The Focus Group Podcast
Unfiltered, uncompromising, unexpected—The Focus Group is a look into what the average voter thinks about politics, policy, and current events. Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, has conducted hundreds of hours of focus groups all across the country. She and a series of special guests will take you behind the glass to hear what real focus group participants have to say. https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast/focus-group/
Episodes
October 4, 2025 • 59 mins
We haven't caught up with Democratic voters since the summer. So, who do they see in the Democratic Party who is distinguishing themselves? And, do Democratic voters really want to shut down the government? It turns out some of them are really wrestling with how to wield power. Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America and author of the Substack newsletter The Message Box joins Sarah to download on how the base of the party is...
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September 27, 2025 • 49 mins
Charlie Kirk was one of the most important figures in conservative media for over a decade, especially for Gen Z. We asked a couple of focus groups of young conservatives what Kirk meant to them, how they're grappling with his passing, and who else they think will take up his mantle on the right. Will Sommer, author of The Bulwark's False Flag newsletter, joins Sarah to discuss the state of young conservatives and his reportin...
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September 20, 2025 • 54 mins
Donald Trump is bleeding support from Hispanic voters, including from some who voted for him. So, we found some former Trump voters who are souring on him, and asked them why. Adrian Carrasquillo, author of The Bulwark's Huddled Masses newsletter, joins the show to discuss voter sentiments on immigration, the future of the immigration debate (especially among Democrats), and his on-the-ground reporting in cities around the cou...
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September 13, 2025 • 42 mins
The murder of Charlie Kirk was the culmination of Americans' long-brewing fear of political violence. First, political violence expert Rachel Kleinfeld joins Sarah to discuss the ramifications of Kirk's death on the American body politic, and then Sarah discusses voters' fears of political violence that we've heard through the years.
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September 6, 2025 • 60 mins
Donald Trump has run into some summer doldrums...from the uncertainty in the economy, to his Big Beautiful Bill, to his refusal to come clean about Jeffrey Epstein. We're wondering how voters are processing the last couple of months. Atlantic staff writer Ashley Parker, who's covered Trump for over a decade, joins Sarah for our season premiere.
By Ashley Parker:
'I Run the Country and the World'
Flattery,...
By Ashley Parker:
'I Run the Country and the World'
Flattery,...
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August 16, 2025 • 34 mins
The Focus Group Podcast will be back for real in a couple of weeks, but by popular demand, Sarah and her producer, Conor Kilgore, take on some of our listeners' frequently asked questions about how and why they do all these focus groups.
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July 12, 2025 • 25 mins
The Focus Group Podcast is still on hiatus, but the Trump administration's walkback of the promised "Epstein Files" this week got us curious about how voters were thinking.
The Bulwark's own Will Sommer sat down with Sarah to break down a focus group we convened with 2024 Trump voters who disapprove of Trump's job performance, and discuss how Democrats can talk about this Epstein news.
The Bulwark's own Will Sommer sat down with Sarah to break down a focus group we convened with 2024 Trump voters who disapprove of Trump's job performance, and discuss how Democrats can talk about this Epstein news.
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June 28, 2025 • 61 mins
Our season finale is a bit of a pep talk. America is in a precarious place, but Americans everywhere are speaking up against the authoritarian threat. Historian extraordinaire Heather Cox Richardson joins Sarah to discuss the lessons history leaves for this moment, and Americans' role in fighting back.
By Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America
...By Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America
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June 21, 2025 • 59 mins
The New York City mayoral primary is "dumb" and getting lots of "dumb attention," at least according to our (radically candid) guest. Democratic voters face a choice between disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the inexperienced socialist state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. There's another candidate who was just arrested by ICE, which may shake up this race at the VERY end. The City's Harry Siegel joins Sarah for a wide-rangi...
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June 14, 2025 • 53 mins
Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is moving through Congress, and you may be surprised by some former Trump voters' reactions. Bulwark in-house policy wonk Jonathan Cohn joins Sarah to talk about the bill's negative consequences and why healthcare has been such a political albatross for the Republican Party. We also learn that plenty of voters are irritated by Congress only seeming to pass 'big' bills these days.
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June 7, 2025 • 59 mins
The Democratic primary for New Jersey governor is crowded, and Democratic voters all over the map. But as always, they're united in wanting a candidate who can fight the Trump administration effectively. So which candidate can do it? Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and the podcast The Odd Years makes her sixth appearance on the show to discuss how these off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia can change the polit...
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May 31, 2025 • 38 mins
Sarah had a busy travel schedule this week, so we're bringing you some raw audio. With the recent revelations about Joe Biden's mental state during his term, we asked a couple of groups of Democrats what they thought during (and after) his presidency, and how it might inform their thinking going forward. These voters liked Biden but supported his decision to withdraw from the 2024 race. The excerpts of these groups were edited...
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May 24, 2025 • 45 mins
Donald Trump is looking to pass his Big, Not-So-Beautiful Bill through Congress. To do it, he needs to get it past congressional Republicans. So what do Republican voters think of congressional leaders, and whether this bill is as big and beautiful as it seems? New York Times congressional reporter Annie Karni joins Sarah.
By Annie Karni:
By Annie Karni:
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May 17, 2025 • 58 mins
JD Vance is one heartbeat away from the presidency, and he's a big part of the Republican Party's future. It turns out, his ideas are also part of the reason the second Trump term has been a lot more pure MAGA than the first. POLITICO's Ian Ward returns to the show to recap Vance's first few months in office, his political future, and go deep on some of the New Right's major intellectual influences.
By Ian Ward:
...By Ian Ward:
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May 10, 2025 • 56 mins
With Donald Trump's approval ratings falling, that means some of his voters aren't getting what they voted for. We talked to those voters, to find out what that does and doesn't mean about their relationship to this administration (spoiler: they DON'T wish they'd voted for Kamala Harris). Semafor's Dave Weigel joins the show to break down how those voters are feeling, and the battle lines for the upcoming legislative battles o...
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May 3, 2025 • 60 mins
Sarah didn't think she'd be looking to Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as examples of good Democratic communicators. But all of a sudden, they're some of the only people in the Democratic Party showing how to get the Trump opposition engaged. Faiz Shakir, Sanders' adviser and 2020 presidential campaign manager, joins the show to talk about Sanders' and Ocasio-Cortez's rallies around the country, why he thinks they'...
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April 26, 2025 • 49 mins
Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have been marked by a lot of aspiring autocratic behavior...like deporting a legal resident without due process, targeting his political enemies, to walking right up to the line of ignoring the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, it's not a given that voters will care...or even clock that what they're seeing is bad. Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum joins Sarah to discuss how voters are see...
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April 19, 2025 • 54 mins
Trump has plunged the markets into chaos over the last couple of weeks with his tariffing, and un-tariffing, and possible re-tariffing. The Biden-to-Trump voters we've talked to were a mixed bag on this. Scott Lincicome, author of The Dispatch's economics newsletter Capitolism and Vice President of general economics at the Cato Institute, joins Sarah to listen to how the trade war is trickling down to voters and where it all m...
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April 12, 2025 • 44 mins
We've heard from a lot of Democrats who want the party to be more moderate, and many who want the party to be more progressive. But they all agree that the party needs to fight harder in this moment. Lauren Egan, author of The Bulwark's newsletter, The Opposition, joins Sarah to listen to some Democrats talk about the threats they see from the Trump administration, and how they think elected Democrats should respond.
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April 5, 2025 • 58 mins
Donald Trump is facing some headwinds. His staff accidentally leaked war plans to a reporter, and the promised price cuts are nowhere to be found. We check in with Biden-Trump voters on Signal-gate, and talk to Trump's base about whether they want him running for a third term, how they feel about the economy (which may surprise you), and the state of the MAGA media ecosystem. The Bulwark's MAGA-knower Will Sommer joins Sarah t...
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