The Bulwark

This week I’m joined by Godfrey Cheshire to discuss his new book, Cheshire on Film: Life & Writings. Cheshire is a longtime critic—in addition to writing for Variety and RogerEbert.com, among many other outlets, his stint at the New York Press with Matt Zoller Seitz and Armond White was a legendary run during the golden age of the alt-weeklies and was recently collected in The Press Gang—and his new book highlights a number of his seminal pieces, including interviews with David Lynch and Charlton Heston.But it also functions as a memoir of sorts, a reme...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comDonald Trump wants Ken Paxton in the Senate, but he really wishes Paxton would do something about those ugly outfits. Trump has repeatedly praised Paxton as a loyal ally while taking bizarrely personal shots at his clothes, his appearance, and his interviews.Joe Perticone and Sonny Bunch give their takes on Trump’s obsession with how people look, the president’s apparent role as America’s new fashion police, and the truly questionable Ken Paxton fit that started it all. We examin...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comWill Saletan takes on Trump’s Venezuela oil deal, as the president openly brags that Venezuelan oil has already paid for the war “many times over” and Republicans argue that U.S. oil companies deserve benefits for the next 100 years. Saletan follows the money—and shows how the administration is putting oil profits ahead of the free elections it once promised.Read Will’s article: Trump Is Keeping Venezuela’s Dictatorship in BusinessA quick note: This is the kind...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comThom Tillis was the pivotal vote to confirm a buffoon to run the Department of Defense, and now he’s shocked about Hegseth’s incompetency. JD wants everyone to know he’s a Catholic now, but he doesn’t seem to have absorbed even the basic teachings of Catholicism. And Susan Collins claims she has influence with her Senate colleagues over Trump’s agenda—even though on almost every occasion she has made sure that her vote won’t matter. Meanwhile, Trump did a co...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comSarah Longwell and George Conway discuss Trump’s attempt to overhaul mail-in voting before the midterms—and why Conway thinks the administration’s chaotic new USPS system is likely to lose when it gets back to the Supreme Court. They also cover SCOTUS letting Trump continue construction on his ballroom, the possibility that Democrats could stop the project in January, and the Epstein questions that still aren’t getting enough attention.The legal fights are moving fast, and The...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comTim Miller joins Nicolle Wallace to discuss why the Republican Party can see Trump dragging it toward a midterm disaster but still can’t bring itself to break away. They also discuss the horrifying death of a young Haitian immigrant targeted by Trump’s deportation crackdown and the administration’s escalating efforts to interfere with voting—moves Tim argues could spark a backlash of their own.Watch Deadline: White House on MS NOW: https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-houseRead more about Pr...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comMAGA pollster Rich Baris joins Tim Miller to explain why Republicans may be underestimating just how competitive the 2026 Senate map could become. Baris says that Michigan and Georgia are effectively locks for Democrats Abdul El-Sayed and Jon Ossoff. He also sees Democratic opportunities in states Republicans have long considered safe—including Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Texas, and Ohio.Tim and Rich also talk about why Republican messaging about “socialism” is missing the point. Voters are far more worried about the cost of living...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comSam Stein and former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos give their takes on Russia’s attempted attacks in Germany, the growing threat of Russian hybrid warfare across Europe, and why Germany’s muted response could invite even more aggression. They also dig into the extraordinary contradiction at the heart of U.S. policy: American intelligence is helping Ukraine fight Russia while the Trump administration cozies up to Putin and welcomes Russia back onto the world stage.Plus, Sam and Marc take a clos...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comThe Army is currently operating without any Senate-confirmed civilian or military leaders at the top. For Navy secretary, Trump is nominating an election-denying veteran who thinks witches and Wiccans are taking over cities. And when Hegseth is not busy purging the DOD’s leadership, he seems to be under the spell of a Rasputin-like character who failed a polygraph and may have taken the supposedly sober defense secretary out for a bender. Meanwhile, Don Jr. got another Pentagon contract, and the ad...

Everyone has a take on the economy. Catherine Rampell has the receipts.After getting its start on Bulwark Takes, Receipts is becoming a show of its own—launching September 18 here on our site, Substack, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Ad-free and member-only editions will be exclusively available for Bulwark+ members on Substack and YouTube. On Receipts, Catherine follows the money, challenges conventional wisdom, and digs into the data behind the biggest economic and political stories of the moment. From tariffs and grocery prices to housing, corruption, and the policies shaping your financial future, sh...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comThe USS Abraham Lincoln finally returns to port after nearly 300 days at sea—and the visible wear and tear is a stark reminder of the strain being placed on the U.S. military.Ben Parker and Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) discuss the Navy’s mounting readiness challenges, the Pentagon’s purge of senior Army leaders, and the departure of Army Secretary Dan …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comA 20-year-old Haitian college student, Pierre Damas Bel, came to America to study, play soccer, serve in JROTC, and pursue a career in medicine. Instead, he was placed with an ankle monitor, bullied and humiliated by classmates, and made to feel like a criminal despite having committed no crime.Tim Miller and Sam Stein discuss Pierre’s tragic death, the human cost of Trump’s immigration crackdown, and the cruelty being inflicted on Haitian immigrants by Trump and JD Vance.Tim and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comSam Stein and Lauren Egan give their takes on the behind-the-scenes scramble for campaign staff, the Democrats already courting operatives in early primary states, and why South Carolina is suddenly such a crucial piece of the 2028 puzzle. They also debate just how massive the Democratic field could get and where the next presidential campaigns may set up shop.Read more here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/2028-democratic-presidential-primary-is-quietly-raging-staffersA quick note: Lauren’s reporting in The Op...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comTim, Sarah, and JVL discuss the U.S. Supreme Court letting Trump’s ballroom go ahead (for now), why JVL thinks John Roberts is the Susan Collins of the Supreme Court, and whether Sarah is warming up to tearing down the ballroom in 2029. Plus: Trump says Kristen Welker should be punished for pointing out that his endorsed candidates are losing more often, and JVL wonders whether Republicans will have to be an anti-Canada party now. Later: The gang discusses Bari Weiss’s ki...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comVaccine skepticism and distrust of pharmaceutical companies long predated RFK, Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign. But the distrust of mainstream medical authority has now grown so deep that the United States can no longer contain the spread of measles. The country’s measles-vaccination rates have dropped below the threshold for herd immunity. Obviously, Trump’s misleading vax ruminations from the Oval Office have not helped the matter. The New Yorker’s Ruby Cramer discusses her reporting on one family’s frightening medical experience...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comAndrew Egger has uncovered one of the strangest congressional candidate stories you’ll hear all year: a woman facing federal fraud charges in Illinois appears to have resurfaced as a different candidate in Florida and denied being the same person.Plus, Dan Driscoll’s stunning resignation exposes the deepening chaos at the Pentagon, Bill Kristol explains…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comTim Miller and a secret guest take on JD Vance’s disastrous trip to Michigan, from his awkward attempt to defend Trump’s deeply unpopular data-center push to an astonishing 9/11 gaffe and an ugly attack on Abdul El-Sayed’s Muslim faith. Tim breaks down the hypocrisy behind Vance’s “populist” persona—and eventually, he blows his lid.If you value having an outlet that can call out this kind of garbage without pulling punches, become a Bulwark member. Your s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comDonald Trump is posting AI-generated war footage, threatening Canada, spreading dangerous vaccine misinformation, and flooding Truth Social with bizarre content—and Andrew Egger and Catherine Rampell are trying to make sense of it all.From the fake footage showing U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island to Trump’s bizarre AI videos about Canada, the president’s latest posting binge raises a bigger question: Does Trump know what’s real anymore? And when the president’s information diet is increasingly filled with...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comTrump’s war is far from over, top military leaders are warning Hegseth that prolonged ops in the region are unsustainable, and Americans have been financing Pentagon propagandists who’ve been secretly collecting taxpayer money to try to convince us that things are going great in Iran. This is not the time for congressional Democrats to allow Republicans to easily pass a spending resolution that keeps the government open. At the same time, Trump keeps handing gifts to Democrats—like his sell-o...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.comSam Stein and Will Sommer went live to cover the Pentagon’s secret army of MAGA influencers, including the government employees allegedly working behind anonymous accounts to attack Pete Hegseth’s critics and target the left. Next, Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported. Watch the video to see Will break down the spectacular feud between Milo and Laura Loo…