The Bulwark Podcast

The POTUS speech to kickoff the "state fair" in honor of America's 250th year was all about how the country is great because of him. Meanwhile, Hegseth is continuing to purge the Pentagon of some of our best warfighters for political and cowardly reasons. Plus, Bill Cassidy caved to Trump yet again, another son-in-law is following in Jared's footsteps and angling to get in on the family's hustle, some love for George Washington, and the administration's levels of corruption are so epic it's like Watergate every day.
Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Tom on making the 250th "small"

Tom on the capitulation to Iran

Netflix's "The American Experiment"

The Mamdani sweep in NYC shows that the populist left is winning the arguments about Israel policy and going after billionaires, but it sure seems like there may be limits to their success outside the blue urban core. And Republicans are likely to make hay with at least one of Tuesday’s congressional primary winners—Darializa Avila Chevalier—who wants to end policing and won’t say whether murderers should go to jail. But the GOP colossally screwed up in North Carolina and Georgia, and Tim makes a bold prediction about how the party will respond. Plus, Trump is showing clear signs of aging, another one of his candidates lost on Tuesday, AOC's silence at this moment is noteworthy, and never underestimate the power of charisma in politics.
Peter Hamby joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Peter's podcast, "The Powers That Be"

Peter's columns at Puck

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The era of hell that we are living through may have been ordained in the 90s by angry Republican voters who felt screwed by the corporate elite—and political leaders who didn’t represent them. Trump watched Pat Buchanan and David Duke and saw how their protectionist, anti-immigrant, culture war messaging was resonating. More recently, Trump returned to his New York wheeler-dealer vibe by getting us in a war because he needed to look strong after SCOTUS struck down his stupid tariffs. Plus, more on Vance’s insincere religious discovery, Platner’s tattoo, the Dems’ nerd problem and its incompatibility with the base’s desire for a fighter, the jock/creep administration, and the Dan Goldman coffee shop incident.
John Ganz joins Tim Miller.
show notes

John's book, "When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s" 

John's Substack 

Tim's interview with Jon Ossoff 

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Trump is so embarrassed by his own personal vandalism of the Reflecting Pool that he's got the Justice Department investigating his latest conspiracy about bad guys that don't exist. Of course Fox News is happy to oblige by menacing journalists who dared to report on the damage POTUS did to the national monument. Meanwhile, Vance's Catholic conversion story is almost more fake than Trump's tough stance against the Iranian regime. Plus, Tulsi has been under the sway of a cult leader, Italy's Meloni is a pleasant surprise, Brexit was stupid and ruined the political careers of British prime ministers, and the World Cup is the perfect patriotic antidote to Trumpism.
Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Monday's "Morning Shots"

Tim's and JVL's live reading from Vance's new book

Clip from Douthat's interview with JD

George Packer's piece, "The Talented Mr. Vance"

Jon Swaine's reporting on Tulsi (gift)

Obama never thought Trump could win in 2016, perhaps because he underestimated how much the opposition loathed him. At the opening of his new presidential center on Thursday, he spoke of presidents acting with duty, honor, and kindness—even though the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is all about destroying things, being mean, hurting people, and starting dumb wars. Indeed, Trump's foreign policy may be more in the American tradition than Obama's. Plus, a debate over whether Kamala's response to Gaza cost her the White House along with her standing in the party. Also, some Knicks love and another installment in the perils and pitfalls of wokeness—this time with some Talarico comments from 2020.
Ta-Nehisi Coates joins Tim Miller for the Juneteenth holiday weekend pod.
show notes

Ta-Nehisi's latest piece in Vanity Fair

Tim's playlist