The Focus Group Podcast

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

S6 Ep13: Just Press The Deflation Button! (with Catherine Rampell)

November 29, 2025 • 52 mins
Donald Trump got elected in 2024 because voters felt prices were too high. But, as our guest says, that's not really a great thing for a politician to promise. So, as we head into the holiday season of Trump's first year back in office, how are his voters feeling about the state of the economy? New Bulwark economics editor Catherine Rampell joins the show to discuss the state of the economy and what politicians can and cannot ...
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S6 Ep12: Epstein Files & Illegal Orders (w/ Will Sommer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin)

November 22, 2025 • 49 mins
Donald Trump had to make an about-face on the Epstein Files because some Trump voters were getting…mildly annoyed. Will Sommer joins Sarah to hear them out. Then, Sen. Elissa Slotkin joins the show to discuss her PSA with her colleagues to the military and intelligence community, reminding them they can refuse illegal orders. They also discuss the recent government shutdown fight, and what Sen. Slotkin learned from winning sev...
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S6 Ep11: The GOP's Life After Trump (with Robert Draper)

November 15, 2025 • 55 mins
There's always a possibility that Donald Trump will try to run for a third term. But plenty of Republicans don't even want that...for now. We asked some of Trump's base how they're feeling about a third term for him (their answers may surprise you!) and talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene's about-face, and the rise of antisemitism on the right. Robert Draper of The New York Times Magazine joins Sarah to walk through some of the ...
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S6 Ep10: Gen Z: They're Zooming Apart (with Rachel Janfaza)

November 8, 2025 • 63 mins
We've heard a lot about how young men have shifted to the right...but this week's election showed young women moving to the left as well. Gen Z expert Rachel Janfaza, founder of The Up and Up, joins Sarah to discuss why young women have shifted to the left, why their male peers have shifted to the right, and why their life priorities are so different. They also discuss Gen Z's relationship with technology like AI, why Gen Z is...
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S6 Ep9: Virginia: National Politics is Local (with Jeff Schapiro)

November 1, 2025 • 59 mins
No election in 2025 has been more impacted by the Trump presidency than the elections in Virginia. This state doesn't vote for MAGA candidates anymore, but their nominee for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, isn't really campaigning like that. So one of Sarah's favorite Democrats, Abigail Spanberger, looks poised for a solid win on Election Day. Meanwhile in the Attorney General race, the Republican incumbent, Jason Miyares could...
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S6 Ep8: New Jersey: The 'No Narc' State (with Jonathan V. Last)

October 25, 2025 • 62 mins
The New Jersey governor's race is a little too close for comfort, after New Jersey had one of the largest swings toward Donald Trump of any state in the country, and the Democratic candidate, Mikie Sherrill is on track for a sub-optimal performance on Election Day against a sometimes-MAGA Republican, Jack Ciattarelli. Sarah doesn't let JVL on The Focus Group very often, but made an exception because he's one of The Bulwark's r...
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S6 Ep7: New Yorkers Brace for Mamdani (with Harry Siegel)

October 18, 2025 • 55 mins
Zohran Mamdani, the young, telegenic, democratic socialist state assemblyman, looks set to be New York City's next mayor. So how are New Yorkers feeling about turning the keys over to him? We asked some of his supporters and detractors. Harry Siegel, senior editor at The City, returns to the show to give his two cents on one of the wilder New York City races in recent memory.

show notes:

Get free shipping an...
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S6 Ep6: They're 'Opening the Door' (with Andrew Egger)

October 11, 2025 • 48 mins
For the last few weeks, the Trump administration has escalated its authoritarian impulses, from pressuring ABC to cancel a late night host, to deploying the Texas National Guard to Chicago. You might call it "authoritarian," but the voters are just getting mildly queasy. The Bulwark's Andrew Egger joins the show to talk about the news, the voters, and how we're even supposed to cover it these days.

By Andrew Egger:
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S6 Ep5: I'd Do Anything To Win (But I Won't Do That) (with Dan Pfeiffer)

October 4, 2025 • 58 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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S6 Ep4: The Right's 'Turning Point'? (with Will Sommer)

September 27, 2025 • 46 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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S6 Ep3: 'Secure Borders...At What Cost?' (with Adrian Carrasquillo)

September 20, 2025 • 53 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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S6 Ep2: You Can Ramp It Up or Ramp It Down (with Rachel Kleinfeld)

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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S6 Ep1: Swing Voters Say Trump is "Meh" (with Ashley Parker)

September 6, 2025 • 56 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,...
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S5 Ep26: What Are Focus Groups For Anyway?

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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S5 Ep25: 2024 Trump Voters on the "Epstein Files"

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.
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S5 Ep24: Do the Next Right Thing, Change the World (with Heather Cox Richardson)

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
...
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S5 Ep23: Cuomo vs. Mamdani (with Harry Siegel)

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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S5 Ep22: 'This Country is Effed' (with Jonathan Cohn)

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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S5 Ep21: New Jersey's (Very) Odd Year (with Amy Walter)

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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S5 Ep20: Democrats on Biden's Decline

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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