The Next Level

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.
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Tim, Sarah, and JVL are all together in-studio. It turns out things are so bad for the GOP, even JVL is hopeful. They discuss Marjorie Taylor Greene calling BS on the GOP's 'caravan' tactic, whether Pete Hegseth could be the administration's fall guy for the Iran war, and a new Marist poll showing Democrats with an almost-too-good-to-be-true lead on the generic congressional ballot.
Later: Did Scott Jennings REALLY talk to Mitch McConnell for 30 minutes? Can Democrats get to 56 Senate seats? The gang has thoughts on how Democrats should handle oversight investigations in 2027. Plus: Bo French is racist AND wants mass executions, and finally: the gang discusses some interesting rumors about Candace Owens.
Read JVL’s Triad.

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Live from benefit supporting the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, and JVL dig into the quieter tactics behind Trump’s deportation crackdown, what Sarah’s Ohio focus groups are saying about Vivek Ramaswamy, Sherrod Brown, John Husted, and Amy Acton, and just how big the 2026 Senate map could get. Plus, as conservative media struggles to defend Trump, the trio holds a contest to see who can do a better Scott Jennings impression.
You can help, too: https://thebulwark.com/springfield

Full episodes of The Secret Podcast are available exclusively to paid members of the Bulwark on Apple Podcasts, Substack and YouTube.
JVL is already in Ohio. Sarah is about to run to the airport. It’s a wheels-off kind of show. This week:
- The government seems to have lied to a court again.
- JD Vance was the leaker who threatened national security.
- Mary Peltola gets caught in context collapse.
- Trump had compromat on Susan Collins.
- JVL feels guilty about cutting a promo.
And then there’s the big one: The story of the Massachusetts lesbian bar that wasn’t woke enough. It’s a solid B-/B episode!
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Donate here to our Benefit for Springfield—funds go to the Haitian Support Center: http://thebulwark.com/springfield
Want that Woke Bill Kristol tee? Get it at The Bulwark Store: https://store.thebulwark.com/collections/insider-collection/products/short-sleeve-t-shirt
Sarah’s THANK YOU note to the Bulwark family: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/you-guys-are-the-best
How to Eat an Elephant debuted at #2 on the NYT best seller list. We knocked Ted Effing Cruz out of the top spot! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Let’s keep the momentum going: 
Get Sarah's book on Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-eat-an-elephant-one-voter-at-a-time-sarah-longwell/6a0996cb43d2ef5b?ean=9781250464170&bkshp-astro=t
...or get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Eat-Elephant-Voter-Time/dp/125046417X

Sarah's back from the book tour! The gang discusses Sarah's Focus Group Newsletter, George W. Bush's fundraiser for Republican Senate candidates (we thought he was staying out of politics?) Then they get into Trump's ban on CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO from the White House press pool, and whether we still care. Sarah also has some words about Zohran Mamdani sharing a podium with Donald Trump.
Then, the gang talks about a Wall Street Journal columnist who has "TDS" (maybe not the TDS you're thinking of). Also: The FBI was investigating Susan Collins for bribery, Tim is mad at Jared Golden, and JVL wants to discuss the Department of Defense's "Gender-Affirming Care."
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Show links:
Sarah's Focus Group Newsletter about Vivek Ramaswamy
Amy Acton’s ad
Gerard Baker has TDS
Propublica's investigation into Susan Collins and her Super PAC's donors