In 2026, everyone who follows politics has an opinion about Maine politics. Here’s the thing: a lot of people in Maine think they’re wrong. So, Sarah talked to a former national political reporter who moved his family to Maine to help stand up a local paper. Former NBC News reporter Alex Seitz-Wald, now deputy editor of the Midcoast Villager, joins to discuss his transition to local journalism, the unique culture of Maine politics, and how Graham Platner’s exit from the U.S. Senate race landed with Maine voters. They also size up the new Democratic candidate, Troy Jackson, and discuss why Susan Collins has had such staying power, and how–or whether–her luck might finallt run out in 2026.
Show notes:

• The front page on the most recent issue of the Midcoast Villager
• Sarah’s ‘Focus Group’ pod
• NYT profile of the Midcoast Villager
• Tim’s playlist

Trump keeps promising more bombs and bigger explosions in Iran, but the regime knows he’s just trying to disguise his retreat. And the Iranians are not going to back down until the whole world can see that they beat Trump. Meanwhile, in the middle of a war that is ostensibly about stopping Iran from getting a nuke, POTUS just cut a deal with the Saudis for their own nuclear program. Plus: The failure of Republican senators to stand up to Trump may be out of fear of his voters, and are the American people or our political system more to blame for what ails the country?

David Frum joins guest host Jonathan V. Last.
Show notes:

• JVL's Triad on Trump being at war with himself
• JVL's Triad, "Very Low-IQ Trump Too Stoopid to Win War"
• David's pod episode with Jeffrey Goldberg
• The latest episode of "The David Frum Show"
• Nixon certifying JFK's election victory
  
  

Ronald Reagan said it best: One of the greatest sources of America's greatness are the people drawn to the country from every corner of the globe, who become American and keep the country young, vital, and modern. But Trump and Stephen Miller are sticking to their absolutist deportation plan without regard to history or its political cost. Meanwhile, we are learning in real time that our trillion-dollar weapons systems are (sometimes) no match for Iran's drones—and that the regime can't resist the opportunity to humiliate another U.S. president. Plus, Laura Ingraham spoke truth, Bibi has turned Americans against Israel, Testosterone Pete is making the Pentagon look weak, and the joy of MAGA tears over The Odyssey.

Joe Scarborough joins guest host Sam Stein.

Show notes:

• "Morning Joe" on MS NOW
• Rahm Emanauel's speech on the U.S.-Israel relationship
• Head to https://forkfulmeals.com/THEBULWARK for 50% off your first order today

• Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BULWARK at https://www.oneskin.co/BULWARK #oneskinpod

Trump tried to steal the limelight and the valor of Spain at the World Cup, even as more troops died overseas; Stephen Miller regularly encourages ICE to be violent while Pete Hegseth pushes soldiers to be macho bullies. The leaders in this country are men with no center and no core. Now with the arrest of the Tate brothers in Miami, Trump gets a chance to extend his record of standing by sex pests and assaulters. Plus: Iran and the U.S. are dangerously escalating the war, ICE is going even more rogue, Maine Dems have a replacement for Platner, and generic ballot polling suggests voters aren't necessarily gravitating to Democrats—and the noisy DSA may have a lot to do with that.

Bill Kristol joins special guest host Sarah Longwell.

Show notes:

• Monday's "Morning Shots"
• Sam and Mark Hertling on the Iran strikes on an air base in Jordan
• Umberto Eco's "Ur-Fascism" piece
• Upgrade your wallet today! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code THEBULWARK at https://www.Ridge.com/THEBULWARK #Ridgepod

The one presidential election Trump lost was when he was in power and in charge of election integrity. Still, Trump is asking his supporters to believe the most preposterous lie yet: The elections run by Democrats in '16 and '24 were legitimate, but the election he oversaw wasn't. And he seems determined to take matters to the breaking point ahead of the midterms. Plus: Never forget that Jack Smith charged Trump with fraud for knowingly lying about his loss to Biden, the real TDS is continuing to claim the 2020 election was stolen, Lindsey Graham damaged our democracy, and why has Merrick Garland stayed silent through all the purges at the DOJ and FBI?

MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod

Show notes:

• Nicolle's show, "Deadline: White House"
• Nicolle's pod, "The Best People"
• Tim's playlist
• Upgrade your wallet today! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code THEBULWARK at https://www.Ridge.com/THEBULWARK #Ridgepod
  

The men serving Trump are so used to getting away with punking people, including too many members of the media, that they sometimes walk into a trap they don't see coming, and the truth slips out. Like Todd Blanche—Trump's personal attorney masquerading as acting AG—having to own the fact that he collaborated with Ghislaine Maxwell to protect Trump. Or Jay Clayton, the DNI nominee, showing that he has zero self-worth and that he's ready to do anything to help POTUS try to steal the election in the fall. Plus, the administration has too much of an obsession with d*icks—and trying to rewrite African-American history as well. And parents with young kids be warned: Vance has an issue with eating corn dogs and has an odd reaction to Biden licking an ice cream cone. 

Michael Steele joins Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Michael's "The Weeknight" on MS NOW
• Longer clip of Ossoff's exchange with Jay Clayton
• Tim's episode with Clint Smith from the July 4th weekend
• "This Is Your Land," the book Tim referenced
  
  
• Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to www.joindeleteme.com/BULWARK and use promo code BULWARK at checkout. 
• Go to Dupe.com for their 100% Free Research for Me comparison shopping tool. Finally feel good about what you’re buying with Dupe.com.

While ICE is still murdering people in the streets, more than 60,000 people are currently being held in ICE detention centers across the country. The largest facility is at Fort Bliss in El Paso—which was an actual Japanese internment site in WWII. Detainees there are being deprived of needed medication; some have been held incommunicado; others have reported that the tent camp was not designed for humans to live there. When the conditions are not dire enough to make detainees self-deport, guards terrorize them into submission. Plus: Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants are particularly caught in the crosshairs of the escalating deportation campaign. And Tim holds forth on Trump's goons murdering our neighbors, ICE's reckless Kavanaugh stops, the straight-up Constitutional violations the administration is encouraging, and the illegal and marauding settler groups in the West Bank.

The New Yorker's Jon Blitzer joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Jon's piece, "Locked Away"
• Nick Miroff's Atlantic piece on the Maine shooting 
• The NYT on Marco running Venezuela (gift link)
• The episode of "This American Life" Jon referenced, "What Is Your Emergency?"
• Jon's book, "Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here"
• The HBO Max show, "Proud," Tim referenced

Democrats tend to defend the institutions that Trump is tearing apart, but Pete Buttigieg says the party should be focusing on the bigger, deeper structural problems the country is facing and the need for political reform. The kind of radical institutional changes he’d like to see include: expanding SCOTUS and the House of Representatives, statehood for Washington, D.C., and directly electing the president by popular vote. Plus, Pete gets candid about the “most f*cked-up thing” that’s ever happened to his family, the big opportunity for Dems in Iowa in November, and Pete’s stumping for candidates in places where Fox News reigns.

Pete Buttigieg joined Tim Miller in Des Moines.

Show notes:

• List provided by Pete Buttigieg of candidates he has endorsed in the 2026 election cycle can be found in show notes in the below link:
  • https://www.thebulwark.com/p/pete-buttigieg-time-for-radical-change

The Trump administration is going full speed ahead on its authoritarian project to intimidate the media and the business world—and to gun people down in the streets. And in Israel, Netanyahu is allowing settler militias to run amok in the West Bank, killing Palestinians and destroying their villages and property. Rep. Khanna joins Tim to describe his own personal encounter with the private armed groups near Hebron. Plus, the mixed legacy of Lindsey Graham, Trump is trying to pretend he didn't sign a deal giving Iran management of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Dems have a real chance to weaken Todd Blanche and the whole administration.

Bill Kristol and Rep. Ro Khanna join Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Monday's "Morning Shots"
• Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" with Sarah
• NOBL gives you real travel peace of mind — security, design, and convenience all in one. Head to NOBLTravel.com for 46% off your entire order! #NOBL #ad
  

The Trump administration desperately wants the public to just tune out the shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents in Houston. But this roaming army of masked, armed men chasing people down and killing them is tied directly into the administration's criminality across the board. Trump may pardon Stephen Miller, but he should be on trial in state court in 2029. Meanwhile, McConnell's choice to not convict on impeachment means Donald Trump is his legacy. Plus: Republicans showed with the housing bill that they could find a backbone, Platner is not who he said he was, Dems should talk about race more, some way too early Magnolia Bowl talk, Vance/Trump 2028, and which potential Democratic nominees would Stuart work for in a heartbeat?

 Stuart Stevens joins Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Stuart's book, "It Was All a Lie"
• Stuart's "The Conspiracy to End America"
• Tim’s playlist
  
  

Trump had to take two Air Force ones to the NATO summit in Turkey: his new bling Qatari hand-me-down that he wanted to show off and the old baby blue one which he had to use to fly safely home—given the war in neighboring Iran. And at the FBI, Kash Patel’s thievery of taxpayer resources has gotten so out of hand, even Chuck Grassley wants answers. Plus: Ukraine has created panic in Russia (which has Trump rethinking which side he wants to root for), Dems should be highlighting the massive military waste in Iran, and Ben invites the public to test-run his new giant database of government records. Oh, and baby elephants are the best.

Ben Wittes joins Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Lawfare on the military's potential deployment at the polls 
• Ben’s email: [email protected]
• Ben's Substack, "Dog Shirt Daily" 
• Get 20% off when you go to trustandwill.com/BULWARK