The Bulwark Podcast

George Packer: Afghanistan Was Biden's Saigon

February 2nd, 2022  |  42 mins 7 secs

Biden's empathy didn't extend to Afghan allies — like interpreters — who risked their lives for our troops. When the administration didn't plan for their exit, vets, soldiers, and others came together to save lives. The Atlantic's George Packer joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Dana Milbank: The Right's Snowflakes

February 1st, 2022  |  43 mins 30 secs

age, biden, black history month, book bans, civil rights, david bossie, desantis, economy, education, fox news, gag laws, glenn youngkin, kendi, memory laws, national cathedral school, public schools, reconstruction, slavery, socratic method, st. albans, trumpism, virginia, white fragility

As Black History Month gets underway, teachers around the country are afraid to teach about civil rights or reconstruction. Meanwhile, Glenn Youngkin's kids are learning all about CRT at their tony private schools. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Will Saletan: We Are Too Politically Segregated

January 31st, 2022  |  46 mins 37 secs

bennie thompson, black woman, echo chamber, fani willis, fulton county, georgi, integration, jan. 6, judge j. michelle childs, karl racine, letitia james, lindsey graham, pardons, prosecutors, rally, scotus, social media, south carolina, sununu, supreme court, susan collins, texas, tribalism, trump

Don't only talk to people you agree with politically. Break free from the echo chamber, and help cure our tribalism. Will Saletan officially joins The Bulwark — and Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

A.B. Stoddard: MAGA in Disarray

January 28th, 2022  |  41 mins 34 secs

anti-vax, bbb, biden, black woman, campaign promise, cawthorn, covid derangement syndrome, democratic leadership, j.d. vance, kingmaker, manchin, morgan ortagus, nancy pelosi, nikki haley, nominee, republicans, robby starbuck, sanders, schumer, scotus pick, stephen breyer, supreme court, trump, vaccines, warren

Trump's kingmaking keeps hitting bumps in the road, and the GOP is helping to spread Covid as an electoral strategy. Plus, why does Schumer's sloppy leadership get so little notice? A.B. Stoddard joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Matt Bennett: This Is a Paul Revere Moment

January 27th, 2022  |  41 mins 27 secs

arizona, bannon, big coup, big lie, cheney, constitution, cori bush, defund the police, democracy, election workers, jody hice, joe manchin, kinzinger, latinx, marc elias, moderates, morning in america, noncitizen voting, precinct workers, progressives, raffensperger, reagan, state legislators, supreme court, voters

The Democratic establishment needs to wake up. The time is now for democracy's allies to unify and stop the Big Lie from becoming the Big Coup. Third Way's Matt Bennett joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

David Priess: Beware of Russian Trolls

January 26th, 2022  |  48 mins 45 secs

alex berenson, biden, cia, covert action, disinformation, dod, election, electors, fox, gateway pundit, germany, intelligence, italy, j.d.vance, kiev, moscow, natural gas, nuclear power, propaganda, putin, qatar, rfk jr., russia, russian state tv, trump, ukraine, vaccines, vienna, voting machines, wisconsin, yale

Parts of Ukraine are physically closer to — and more culturally aligned with — Central and Western Europe than they are to Russia. Lawfare's David Priess joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Ruy Teixeira: What Would the Working Class Say?

January 25th, 2022  |  43 mins

' elections, 'back to normal, biden, covid, crime, cultural issues, defund the police, democracy, democratic party, economy, free college, highly educated, inflation, latinx, left, left-wing, midterms, nonwhite voters, policing, professional class, progressives, pronouns, republicans, student loans, voter turnout, working class

Increased turnout and more nonwhite voters don't give Democrats the edge. To win, they have to remember the mantra: What Would the Working Class Say? Ruy Teixeira joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Bill Kristol: The Dysfunction Is a Pre-Existing Condition

January 24th, 2022  |  43 mins 16 secs

anti-vax rally, bannon, barr, biden, border, democracy, desantis, draft findings, esper, gingrich, impeach, jan. 6, jeffrey clark, jr. anne frank, kash patel, midterms, partisanship, podcast, presidential, rfk, senate, the holocaust, trump, voting machines, weekly standard, youngkin

Newt Gingrich's recklessness with partisanship was a precursor of where we are today, and now Trump's followers, like Steve Bannon and Ron DeSantis, are trying to one-up Trump. Bill Kristol joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Mark Bowden & Matt Teague: 2020's Unsung Heroes

January 21st, 2022  |  38 mins 27 secs

aaron van langevelde, american democracy, antrim county, arizona, big lie, black hawk down, brad raffensperger, casey affleck, dakota johnson, election workers, fani willis, film, fond du lac county, fulton county, georgia, giuliani, grand jury, jason segal, john adams, kanye west, local election officials, michigan, nevada, new mexico, our friend, pennsylvania, private jets, rohn bishop, ruby freeman, sheryl guy, the finish, tim alberta, trump campaign, wisconsin

The Trump campaign banked on local Republican officials to help steal the election. But ordinary Americans from all walks of life stood up to the lies. Authors Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague join Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Tim Miller: About That Press Conference

January 20th, 2022  |  54 mins 20 secs

2021, arizona, bad faith, biden, clinton, diaper, education, fdr, george hw bush, george w. bush, hoover, inauguration day, incursion, jan. 20, johnson, kennedy, kids, liz cheney, mar-a-lago, masks, mollie hemingway, nixon, obama, presidency, republicans, right-wing twitter, russia, schools, ukraine, vaccines, vote counting, voting, youngkin

Charlie Sykes and Tim Miller take the measure of Biden's press conference and his first year in the office — and come down on different sides. The Bulwark coalition in all its glory, on today's podcast.

Will Saletan: The Coalition of the Sane

January 19th, 2022  |  45 mins 7 secs

authoritarian, biden, bully pulpit, defund the police, election 2020, fox news, georgia, hawley, ideological, jan. 6, law & order, manchin, maya angelou, nato, propaganda, republicans, russia, sinema, trump, tucker carlson, ukraine, vaccines, violence, virus, voting rights

America needs a coalition that crosses party and ideological lines — to counter the authoritarian menace inside the Republican Party, and GOP leaders who lie about the election and the virus. Will Saletan tells Charlie Sykes why he's joining the fight at The Bulwark.

Matthew Yglesias: The Center Is There, We Just Can't Hear It

January 18th, 2022  |  46 mins 8 secs

biden, bipartisanship, cable, centrist coalition, centrists, collins, democrats, maine, manchin, moderates, murkowski, new york times editorial page, north carolina, ohio, progressives, republicans, romney, schumer, twitter, voting rights

Why Biden can't have a Kumbaya moment, and tangible things can't get done. Matt Yglesias joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Josh Barro: Obsessing Over Democracy Won't Save It

January 17th, 2022  |  41 mins 41 secs

2024, autos, cars, colorado, consumer demand, covid, delta, desantis, economy, elizabeth warren, goods and services, inflation, jared polis, marriage, mask mandates, media, new york times, npr, omicron, pharmaceuticals, race-based preferential covid treatments, rapid tests, same-sex marriage, supply chain, tariffs, trump

For the Democrats to win, they need to focus on what normal people think about — which is NOT Jan. 6 and the potential end of democracy. They want Covid shut down and the economy opened. Josh Barro joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

David French: Biden’s Divisive Speech

January 14th, 2022  |  51 mins 3 secs

anti-anti-racism, anti-racism, ballot access, ballot counting, biden, cms, coup, covid, doj, georgia, great replacement theory, immigration, insurrection, jefferson davis, kamala harris, kavanaugh, large employers, oath keepers, osha, presidency, race, racial debates, scotus, sedition, seditious conspiracy, stewart rhodes, tucker carlson, vaccine mandates, voting rights

The crisis of democracy is in the counting, not the casting, of votes. The Dispatch's David French joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Adam Kinzinger: Jan 6 Primetime Hearings Will Be Must-See TV

January 13th, 2022  |  40 mins 16 secs

ar-15, biden, cheney, civil war, conceal carry, congressional investigations, doj, election, evan mcmullin, fbi, gingrich, grifters, gun owners, insurrection, jan 6 committee, jim jordan, kenosha, lock her up, media, mike rounds, nra, palin, rand paul, ray epps, tea party, ted cruz, thieves, trump, voting rights

The behind-the-scenes evidence presented during the upcoming primetime Jan 6 committee hearings will be "compelling" and "shocking," and will be directed to an audience who's going to go out and vote. Rep. Adam Kinzinger joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.

Tim Alberta: The Fringe Has Merged with the Mainstream

January 12th, 2022  |  40 mins 51 secs

2020, anti-vaxxers, biden, conspiracies, democracy, desantis, fauci, fringe, georgia, gop, oan, peter meijer, primary season, rand paul, trump, vaccines, voters, voting rights

With all the manic, hyperbolic nonsense about the election and vaccines, the fringe is no longer visible. The Atlantic's Tim Alberta joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast.