Episodios

  • James Bennet: Trump Is Still Hacking the Media

    James Bennet: Trump Is Still Hacking the Media
    Sep 9 2025
    More than 10 years in, journalists still have not figured out how to cover Trump. He understands the media environment better than a lot of reporters, and knows his outrageous acts and statements command attention—and that people will not be able to finish processing one outrage before the next one comes down the pike. But now he's laying down the terms of how he expects to be covered, and media orgs are complying by hiring or giving airtime to MAGA avatars. In the process, journalists are failing to hold the powerful to account. Plus, Dems actually went on offense and got their hands on the Epstein birthday book, and Israel is aggressively embracing the age of impunity.

    The Economist's James Bennet joins Tim Miller.

    show notes

    • James, in The Economist, on his departure from the NYT over the Tom Cotton op-ed (gifted)
    • James on the rules for defending democracy under Trump (gifted)
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
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    1 h y 9 m
  • Bill Kristol: Escalating the Authoritarian Project

    Bill Kristol: Escalating the Authoritarian Project
    Sep 8 2025
    In seven months, Trump has accumulated an astonishing amount of unchecked power. No one inside his administration is challenging his will, and Trump is assuming war powers with barely any explanation—while blacklisting Tom Hanks from West Point. At the same time, in the business world, only one MAGA-friendly hedge fund billionaire has raised mild concerns about the Fed, but top-shelf tech leaders can't thank Trump enough just for existing. But, the resistance is showing up in Chicago and the Dems have a chance to throw their weight around with a potential government shutdown. Plus, Vance is an amazingly succinct liar and the White House Rose Garden has had a Panera patio makeover.

    Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

    show notes

    • Today's "Morning Shots"
    • Gov. Pritzker responding to Trump's Chi-pocalypse meme
    • Backgrounder on The Bobbsey Twins
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
    • Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BULWARK at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod
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    54 m
  • David French: Maybe the Tariffs Are the Problem

    David French: Maybe the Tariffs Are the Problem
    Sep 5 2025
    Last month, Trump fired the "woke" job numbers person after she released weak employment data. Now, we have even worse jobs numbers—and burgeoning signs of a tariffs-triggered manufacturing recession. Meanwhile, the administration may be working on a de facto military policy that would fulfill one of Trump's biggest longtime wishes: summarily executing drug dealers. Plus, a trans gun ban would be grotesquely unconstitutional, the blood-and-soil types at NatCon are missing what the Founding Fathers intended, Tucker can't quit his Putin obsession, and why Gen X enthusiastically embraced helicopter parenting.

    David French joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

    show notes

    • Bulwark's live reaction to RFK hearing, with Sam, Jon Cohn, and Will Saletan
    • David on Gen X helicopter parenting Gen Z (gifted)
    • More from James Madison in 1785
    • Post-recording news: Pentagon is deploying F-35s for a counter-narcotics mission
    • Tim's playlist
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
    • To get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to NakedWines.com/THEBULWARK and use code THEBULWARK for both the code AND PASSWORD.
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    1 h y 6 m
  • Mark Hertling: Performative and Deadly

    Mark Hertling: Performative and Deadly
    Sep 4 2025
    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 instead of pushing the charade that Guard troops can legally do police work. Plus, Russia is running out of ammunition, Ashli Babbitt was no hero, and a dissection of Trump's fatuous 'seven wars' lie.

    Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling joins Tim Miller. joins Tim Miller.
    show notes

    • Hertling's piece, "Bombs Won't Win the War on Drugs"
    • "Honoring Ashli Babbitt Dishonors the Military"
    • Hertling on the 'perils of yes-men'
    • Rand Paul on the speedboat bombing
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
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    55 m
  • Lina Khan: The Impunity of the Elites

    Lina Khan: The Impunity of the Elites
    Sep 3 2025
    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 field against the tech giants. Plus, a response to Jason Calacanis, how Dems can shake off their elite vibes, and resisting the temptation to run for office.

    Former FTC chair Lina Khan joins Tim Miller.
    show notes

    • Tim's interview last month with Jason Calacanis
    • This week's TNL
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
    • For a limited time only, get 60% off your first order PLUS free shipping when you head to Smalls.com/THEBULWARK.
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    45 m
  • Stuart Stevens: Say They're Not Patriots

    Stuart Stevens: Say They're Not Patriots
    Sep 2 2025
    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 longer a normal political party with whom Dems can hammer out a compromise.

    Stuart Stevens joins Tim Miller—and pulls no punches.

    show notes
    • Lincoln Square on Substack
    • Stuart's piece on trying steroids
    • "The Conspiracy to End America"
    • Stuart's book, "It Was All a Lie"
    • Stuart's "The Last Season"

    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-events. Toronto is SOLD OUT

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    52 m
  • Jonathan V. Last: Burning Things Down

    Jonathan V. Last: Burning Things Down
    Sep 1 2025
    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 do about it? He's only the president. And in China, a new axis of authoritarians is creating a post-American world order, thanks to voters putting Trump back in office. Plus, his faux golf outings and declarations of perfect health are very Soviet, and Giuliani wants people to think 'America's Mayor' is back—this time as Batman.

    JVL joins Tim Miller.
    show notes

    • "The Triad," JVL's newsletter
    • "The Secret Podcast," with Sarah and JVL
    • Jon Cohn on the crisis at the CDC in his 'Breakdown' newsletter
    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
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    43 m
  • Tom Nichols: America's Problem Child

    Tom Nichols: America's Problem Child
    Aug 29 2025
    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. Plus, Joni Ernst's Senate tenure has been a sham, Vance tries Mickey Mouse Stalinism on for size, and what's going on with the bruising on Trump's right hand? The public has the right to know about the health of a president. Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

    Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
    show notes

    • Tom's newsletter installment, "President Homelander"
    • JVL's Thursday 'Triad'
    • Tom calling Trump 'unmanly' and Vance an 'ass****'
    • The film, "The Death of Stalin"
    • Felicia Schwartz's piece on Steve Witkoff
    • Tim's playlist

    • Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bulwark-events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
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    54 m