The Next Level

Note: We're doing something a little different today. Paid members of the Bulwark get exclusive access to a extra, super, jumbo-sized TNL with a play-by-play breakdown of Katie Zacharia's disastrous press conference. It's a lot of fun, and you should definitely join to see it. You can join on Apple Podcast, Substack and YouTube.
Tim, Sarah, and JVL are back together for a super-sized, off-the-rails show. They wish Kimberly Guilfoyle well after she was forced out of the Trump administration, dig into the background of our new White House Press Secretary, discuss the DHS raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's home, discuss the right-wing meltdown over James Talarico's absence from the campaign trail, and gloat about the GOP pulling resources out of some key House races.
Then, they go behind they paywall, and it REALLY gets fun: They watch Katie Zacharia's entire White House press briefing (all 15 minutes), and give their minute-by-minute commentary. Then: Sarah and JVL ask Tim whether he's reconsidered his stance on a take that got MANY Bulwark listeners mad a few months ago.
Make today a good day, and get yourself some Soul gummies. Go to https://GetSoul.com and use the code THENEXTLEVEL for 30% off your order.
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The Secret Podcast is available exclusively to paid members of The Bulwark on Apple Podcasts, Substack and YouTube.
Elon Musk threatened to destroy Trump’s Republican allies. Now he’s spending hundreds of millions to keep them in power. Sarah Longwell and JVL discuss Musk’s humiliating surrender, the billionaires lining up behind Trump, the MAGA smear campaign against James Talarico, and why Trump’s desperate deal with Putin represents a stunning display of American weakness.
Plus, Sarah has some ideas about holding Trump’s wealthy enablers accountable, and JVL has some big news.

Full episodes of The Secret Podcast are available exclusively to paid members of The Bulwark. You can join on Apple Podcasts, YouTube and at https://thebulwark.com. If you want to join, you're in luck: We’re running a 30% off October Surprise sale, so it’s a great time to get the full Secret Podcast and all of our members-only reporting.
Sarah and JVL break down Jon Ossoff’s Terminator-style destruction of Mike Collins. Seriously: It was so brutal that someone should have stopped the debate.
Then it’s off to:

The Eric Deters interview that broke our brains.

Pete Hegseth tugging it at the prospect of a livestreamed execution.

The Pro-Life movement is practicing its strategic silence.

Potato discourse.

And The Golden Girls!

Definitely a top quartile show.
Want a Woke Bill Kristol tee? Get it at The Bulwark Store.

Will Sommer joins Sarah and JVL for a wild, wild show. They congratulate Kash Patel on his engagement, discuss JVL's Triad on the White House reporter-turned-press staffer from Real America's Voice. Then: Megyn Kelly's ghoulish rant against Cornell's Jane Doe, and whether we're happy to see John Roberts experiencing public shame. Finally: Two VERY weird campaign ads, one filled with weird innuendo, and the other featuring Angela Paxton announcing her vote for her cheating ex-husband. They wrap up by discussing a long New Yorker article about the Heritage Foundation's groypery turn.
show links:

Read JVL's Triad

Emma Green's New Yorker feature on the Heritage Foundation

Head to Brodo.com/THENEXTLEVEL for 20% off your first subscription order and use code THENEXTLEVEL for an additional $10 off.
Visit https://Wildgrain.com/THENEXTLEVEL to get $30 off your first box, plus free croissants for life.
A quick note: Bulwark+ Memberships are 30% off for our October sale, a discount so large that JVL and Sarah would like it known they personally object to it. Please take advantage of this terrible business decision while you can: https://thebulwark.com/surprise

Full episodes of The Secret Podcast are available exclusively to paid members of the Bulwark. Join on Substack, YouTube or Apple Podcast.
Sarah and JVL are back apart, as God intended. And there’s lots happening:
- The new jobs report is bad!
- Should Democrats try to impeach Pete Hegseth?
- Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
- And then there are the two interviews. JD Vance seems to be living in one world while mush-brain Donald Trump is living in another reality.
Plus: Trump’s DoJ wants to go after the real villains of Watergate: The prosecutors who investigated poor, innocent Richard Nixon.
Also: JVL needs help picking a so-bad-it’s-awesome family movie.
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You asked, we listened! Bulwark LIVE: Charlotte featuring Pete Buttigieg & The Gang—will be live streamed on Sunday, October 18 starting at 7pm EDT.
Paid Bulwark members will be able to tune in from home for this exclusive members-only live streamed event. At Bulwark LIVE we can promise you a night of politics with lots of laughs—and maybe a few tears too. We’ll keep you sane.
If you live in Carolinas or Georgia and want attend one of our Bulwark LIVE: Good Fight Tour stops from Oct 16-20 details and tickets are available at https://TheBulwark.com/Events.