The Bulwark Daily - The Bulwark

Latest Episodes:

Susan Rice: A Cancer in the Body Politic Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

This country has been dealing with an increase in political violence for nearly a decade, and leaders from across the spectrum need to do everything they can to get us off this terrible path. Declaring 'free speech for me and not for thee,' or getting random people fired for not saying nice things about Charlie Kirk isn't helping to tamp things down. Meanwhile, it looks like Trump is sacrificing U.S. national security interests with his corrupt TikTok and UAE deals, and Russia remains one of the only countries in the world Trump hasn't tariffed. Plus, Democrats must not roll over and play dead on the spending bill like they did in the spring.
Amb. Susan Rice joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Bulwark Live in DC (10/8) and NYC (10/11) with Sarah, Tim and JVL are on sale now at TheBulwark.com/events.
NEW show added to Toronto schedule: Bulwark Live Q&A Matinee show on Saturday, September 27 —tickets are on sale now, here.

Joe Manchin: The Man in the Middle Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

The former senator and former Dem has some not-very-nice things to say about Schumer and Obama—as well as progressives—who he blames for hounding Biden to move left and diminishing his will to fight. And while he's proud he helped protect the filibuster while he was in the Senate, Republicans just invoked the nuclear option to get Trump's nominees approved. Plus, what's with all the Confederate flags in West Virginia? And why aren't West Virginians more angry that conditions in the state have not improved since flipping red under Trump?
Sen. Joe Manchin joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Sen. Manchin's new book, "Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense"
Tim's 2021 piece, "An Ode to Saint Joe Manchin"
Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Tix for a second Toronto show go on sale for members Tuesday at noon and for everyone else on Wednesday!
Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to: https://www.wildalaskan.com/BULWARK.

Bill Kristol: What Does 'They' Mean? Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

The administration is threatening to take away money and power—and maybe even freedom—from some vague Trump opponents because of the Kirk assassination. It doesn't seem to matter that elected Democrats have roundly condemned his murder. And it doesn't matter that Trump himself largely ignored the recent political assassination of Minnesota Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband. But anyone who is pro-assassination is a foe of The Bulwark. Full stop. A free country by definition must protect the right to self-expression. Plus, the giant nationalist march in London over the weekend, the latest stalling tactic on Russia sanctions, and the right of trans people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Today's "Morning Shots"
Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" with Jay Nordlinger
Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Tix for a second Toronto show go on sale this week!
Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com/thebulwark today.

David Frum: Leveraging Violence as a Tool of Power Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Trump and the people around him want to use the Kirk assassination to suppress their political opposition. And Trump is clearly laying the groundwork for cracking down on people he doesn't like—peaceful protesters, Dem fundraisers—while also offering rhetorical comfort to potential vigilantes on the right. Meanwhile, we are witnessing the danger of having an incompetent person atop the FBI, who alternates his time between posting for clicks and purging the bureau of highly qualified personnel for political cred. Plus, Vance is running for the 2028 nomination every day, the raid on the Georgia Hyundai plant shows the incoherence and stupidity of Trump's economic vision, and as Putin tests the resilience of NATO, the White House is playing politics in Poland.
David Frum joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
show notes

Frum's "Trump Is No Nationalist" piece
Bill's tribute to Georgia police officer David Rose
Bob Kagan's "The Beginning of the End of Nato" Tim referenced
The poem, "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
Tim's playlist
Frum's podcast
Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Tix on sale next week for extra Toronto show!

Erin Ryan: The Murder of Charlie Kirk Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

This country has too many guns and too many crazy people. And the social media oligarchs are fanning the flames of violence by constantly trying to piss people off. The Kirk assassination highlights just how dangerous a moment we are living in. America is not free if people are too afraid to speak their minds. Plus, parenting and the surprising gap in what Gen Z women and men think are the highest priorities in life.

Crooked Media's Erin Ryan joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Tim's latest FYPod episode
JVL on Charlie Kirk
Andrew on the reaction to the assassination
Nancy Mace after the shooting
The Wired story on surrogacy
Go to https://www.american-giant.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code BULWARK. Thanks to American Giant for sponsoring the show!

Stephanie Ruhle and Tom Saenz: Why Aren't People Freaking Out? Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

If Zohran Mamdani, as NYC mayor-elect, held a dinner with finance bros and threatened them with a huge wealth tax if they didn't sweet-talk him and say how much they agreed with his political vision, the Wall Street community would freak out. Yet, this version of a shakedown is *really* happening at the White House all the time and in response, the country's most powerful and wealthy business leaders can only trip over each other as they jostle for the chance to cut up Trump's well-done steak. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is tripping over its own rulings to green-light ICE's racial profiling in Southern California.
Stephanie Ruhle and MALDEF's Thomas Saenz join Tim Miller.
show notes

Maggie Haberman pursuing the White House's 'hoax' theory on Epstein
Job Garcia's video of his arrest—includes non-visuals when his phone was in his back pocket
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Bulwark Live in DC and NYC at TheBulwark.com/events. Toronto is SOLD OUT
Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BULWARK and use promo code BULWARK at checkout.

James Bennet: Trump Is Still Hacking the Media Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

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

Bill Kristol: Escalating the Authoritarian Project Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

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

David French: Maybe the Tariffs Are the Problem Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

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.

Mark Hertling: Performative and Deadly Sep 04, 2025

Show notes

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