Afleveringen
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If you're wondering how (and whether) America is worth celebrating on this particular July 4th, this show will be a bit of a pep talk for you. Heather Cox Richardson joins Sarah to discuss voters' complicated relationship with patriotism this year, and the lessons of history for rebuilding from the Trump years.
Through July 6: Join The Bulwark for $86 a year—14 percent off.
Follow Heather Cox Richardson's 250 to 250 project, which marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by telling the stories of the people, places, and events that have moved the United States toward a more perfect Union.
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Colorado isn't much of a swing state anymore, but we're covering its primaries anyway. Both of its senators and one longtime member of Congress are facing bigger headwinds than you might expect. Our focus groups of Colorado Democrats will tell you why. Kyle Clark, host of Next with Kyle Clark, joins Sarah to discuss Colorado's upcoming primaries. Plus: Kyle's crazy run-in with the Republican frontrunner for governor, whether Rep. Lauren Boebert has gotten less crazy, and how Democrats feel about Gov. Jared Polis's pardon of Tina Peters.
Show notes:
Kyle's interview with Rep. Lauren Boebert -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Barrels of ink have been spilled about James Talarico, Ken Paxton, Graham Platner, and Susan Collins. For the first time, we're listening to how swing voters in Texas and Maine are assessing these two races. We hear from 2024 Trump voters in Texas who disapprove of the president, and Mainers who voted for Joe Biden for President in 2020 and for Susan Collins down-ballot. CNN political reporter Patrick Svitek joins to break these groups down, and to preview some upcoming congressional primaries.
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Gen Z swung hard for Trump in 2024. Now his approval with them is under 30%. What happened, and what does this generation’s mix of political views (especially on the war in the Middle East) mean for 2026? Bulwark contributor Rachel Janfaza is back on the pod to discuss. Plus: Sarah has some opinions about Gen Z’s new social habits, and we get into how AI is quietly destroying the entry-level job market — including, yes, applications to scoop ice cream.
show links:
Rachel Janfaza: Are lines the new third space?
Rachel Janfaza: I Applied to 70 Jobs: Meet the Class of 2026 -
Summer’s here, and Sarah’s taking a break from primary election coverage to take stock of the national political landscape. We haven’t talked to swing voters in a little while about the overall state of the country, and it’s becoming clear that the war in Iran is overshadowing, well, everything. Plus: The post-redistricting U.S. House math for Democrats, and a local issue bubbling up all over the country that has some lessons about why Americans are so disillusioned.
Sarah all kicks this around with one her favorite nerds: Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report.
Note: The discussion of Maine’s Senate race took place BEFORE the June 4 New York Times reporting on Graham Platner.
Subscribe to the Cook Political Report!
By Amy Walter: Taking Stock of the House Math
CPR’s PollTracker (Trump Approval Rating Aggregator)
CPR’s “Find a Race” sorter
CPR’s Recent Poll: Battleground District Project -
Everyone loves to complain about how California is governed...even some of the Democrats in our focus groups. So, how is the Democratic primary to replace Gavin Newsom shaping up? Plus, a proto-Trump is running for Los Angeles mayor, and Republicans are noticing beyond California. Puck News's Peter Hamby returns to the show to download on how California politics is shaping the rest of America in 2026.
By Peter Hamby:
California Love
Is Xavier Becerra the Best California Can Do?Get 50% off of a new Bulwark+ subscription for the next year, that’s everything we offer on our website, by going to thebulwark.com/sanity – this is a limited time offer
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Sarah is sick and tired of the arguments about whether Democrats should move to the left or the center, because Democratic voters’ answers to this question overlap a lot more than the online turf wars suggest. Adam Jentleson, founder of the Searchlight Institute and author of the forthcoming book Supermajority returns to the show to dig into why voters don’t think in partisan boxes, how some surprising Democratic figures are breaking ideological molds, and what a genuinely big-tent coalition actually looks like in practice.
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Georgia's primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate have LOTS of things for political nerds (like you, dear listener) to chew on. But the Republican and Democratic voters we talked to felt pretty sick of politics.
Some of what we learned:
How Republicans feel about their chances against Jon Ossoff in the fall (not good)Why a Trump-like billionaire is overshadowing Trump's endorsed candidate for governorWhether Democratic voters will tolerate a former Republican Lieutenant Governor running as a DemocratThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein joins the show.
By Greg Bluestein:
Politically Georgia PodcastFlipped: How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power -
This week's show has a rare note of agreement with our MAGA focus group participants. In Louisiana, Bill Cassidy is running for re-election to the Senate, and trying to pass himself as a MAGA true believer, even though after January 6 he voted to bar Donald Trump from office forever. Our Republican focus groups know he's full of it, and so does Tim Miller who joins the show this week.
Tim and Sarah also discuss Republican voters' recent Strange New Respect for Marco Rubio, JD Vance's falling stock, and whether Republicans have an appetite for a future Donald Trump, Jr. candidacy.
Tickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events
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In this bite-sized bonus Focus Group episode, Sarah Longwell breaks down the political earthquake in Maine after Janet Mills dropped out of the Senate race. Why are Democratic voters rejecting establishment candidates, forgiving scandals that once would’ve been disqualifying, and demanding fighters over polished politicians?
Tickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events
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Usually, an assassination attempt outside a dinner with the president would be a HUGE news event. Instead, the voters in our focus groups weren't talking much about it, and when we brought it up, we heard a LOT of conspiracy theories. We also talked to some Republican voters about whether '86' is really a violent threat, as this week's indictment against James Comey alleges. Atlantic staff writer David Frum joins Sarah for a wide-ranging conversation on the week's events, voters' reactions, and keeping American democracy strong for the long haul.
By David’s wife, Danielle Crittenden: Dispatches from Grief: A Mother’s Journey Through the Unthinkable
By David Frum:
The David Frum Show
MAGA’s Strange Quiet After the ShootingGet tickets to The Bulwark's May live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles!
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Enjoy a bonus episode of The Focus Group Podcast—Rachel Janfaza talks with Rotimi Adeoye about why moderate Gen Z focus group participants feel locked out of the economy. They discuss Rotimi’s “House by 30” idea, why vague promises aren’t cutting it, and how both parties—especially after Trump’s failed affordability pledges—are losing trust with young voters who feel like they did everything right and still can’t get ahead.
Read Rotimi Adeoye in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/opinion/democrats-homeownership-affordability.html
Tickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events
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Everyone agrees that America is too divided. But ALMOST everyone is also contributing to that division in one way or another. So, how do we rebuild a country where Americans can live with each other a little easier? Sarah and our guest both have some ideas. Professional disagreer Jessica Tarlov of the Raging Moderates podcast and Fox News’s The Five, joins Sarah to discuss America’s political divisions and how voters across the political spectrum are feeling about them.
Pre-order Jessica’s upcoming book, I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends.
Get tickets to The Bulwark's May live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles! -
Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV are probably the two most prominent Americans in the world right now, and they're fighting. So we asked American Catholics (including those who voted for Trump) what they thought of their feud, and about Trump's Truth Social Post depicting himself as Jesus. JVL returns to the show with some choice words for some of his fellow Catholics, and discusses the role the Catholic Church has played in American politics more broadly.
Get tickets to The Bulwark's May live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles!
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On this bonus episode of The Focus Group, Rachel and guest Sami Sage of Betches Media wonder whether millennials are truly still ‘cringe.’ They also discuss the Gen Z gender gap, and how some politically moderate young women are navigating that political divide in their personal lives.
By Sami Sage:
In Paperback on April 28: Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Democracy-in-Retrograde/Sami-Sage/9781668053492)
Check out 'The Context', from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation: https://kettering.org/thecontext/
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode has been updated to remove comments made by or about a focus group participant who we believe misrepresented his political viewpoints to gain access to the group. We are reviewing our participant screening processes accordingly.
If there's a blue wave in the 2026 elections, it'll be either because new people start voting for Democrats, or the current Republican base gets sad and stays home. So we convened a focus group of 2020 and 2024 Trump voters who are unhappy with his administration to give you a sample of the kind of despair that could keep Republicans home in November. Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, returns to the show to break down the midterm landscape.
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The Iran War has been going on for a month, and it’s deeply, DEEPLY unpopular. Plus, we get reactions from swing voters on the characters inside the Trump administration who they like (like Marco Rubio), or REALLY dislike (listen to find out). Atlantic staff writer Ashley Parker returns to the show.
By Ashley Parker:
The Wrath of Stephen MillerPre-order Sarah’s book, How to Eat an Elephant, coming in September!
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Artificial intelligence is such a big change to human civilization that our political class is struggling to keep up. The voters in our focus groups are struggling, too. The Washington Post's Megan McArdle joins the show to discuss how everyday Americans are using (and misusing!) AI, its impact on the political process and information environment, and how public policy can adapt to this brave new world.
Megan McArdle's Washington Post Podcast, Reasonably Optimistic
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A lot of the young people we’ve been talking to recently in our focus groups are relatively apolitical, and many of them don’t vote. But what DO these young people care about? And what could mobilize them in the future? Rachel Janfaza discusses with Anderson Clayton, the youngest state party chair in the U.S. and chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
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The Democratic primary for US Senate in Illinois is a bit quiet, according to our guest. But underneath the surface, one candidate has a VERY interesting way of getting attention...and voters are starting to notice. David Axelrod, former adviser to President Obama, joins the show to discuss this Chicago-style Senate race.
Pre-order Sarah’s book, How to Eat an Elephant, coming in September!
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