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The Bulwark

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.

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The Bulwark Podcast

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)
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James Bennet: Trump Is Still Hacking the Media

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
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Bill Kristol: Escalating the Authoritarian Project

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
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David French: Maybe the Tariffs Are the Problem

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
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Mark Hertling: Performative and Deadly

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
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Lina Khan: The Impunity of the Elites

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"

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Stuart Stevens: Say They're Not Patriots

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
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Jonathan V. Last: Burning Things Down

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'
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Tom calling Trump 'unmanly' • and 
Vance an 'ass****' • 

The film, "The Death of Stalin"
Felicia Schwartz's piece on Steve Witkoff
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Tim's playlist

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Tom Nichols: America's Problem Child

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 arresting day laborers at Home Depot. Meanwhile, Trump's threat to the Fed's independence could pose a real risk to the stability of the U.S. Plus, more on the shifting attitudes about Israel among Dems, the latest attack on Kyiv is another reminder of how much Putin is mocking Trump, and remembering Katrina 20 years later.

Sam Stein and the NYT's Talmon Smith join Tim Miller.

show notes

Thursday's "Morning Shots"
Tim, Sam, and Will Sommer on a MAGA brawl, the “Bulwark Take” Tim mentioned
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Sam Stein and Talmon Smith: Brain Drain

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 with allies in the West have made China's propaganda job a whole lot easier. Plus, the tragedy in Gaza, the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship, the one powerful way to squeeze Putin's war machine, and re-examining Biden's original plan to run for re-election. Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Sullivan's piece on Gaza for the Israeli news site, Ynet
Article about Sullivan's comments at The Atlantic Festival in Sept. 2023
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Jake Sullivan: Trump Is Making China Great Again

A coalition of Christian lawyers, activists, and politicians methodically and secretly took down Roe, and in the process, outsmarted Democrats who believed they had permanently won on the issue of abortion. And the end of Roe v Wade is just the beginning of an effort to roll back the sexual revolution. Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias join guest host A.B. Stoddard today.

show notes:

Elizabeth's and Lisa's book, "The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America"

Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer: The Inside Story of the Fall of Roe

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