Episodes

  • Derek Thompson and Elizabeth Weil: The Trend Toward Solitude

    Derek Thompson and Elizabeth Weil: The Trend Toward Solitude
    Jan 9 2025
    Americans have been spending more time alone—and less time doing face-to-face socializing—than we have for at least 60 years. And our alone time is impacting the economy, our politics, and our personalities, particularly among young people. Meanwhile, the fires in Los Angeles are a heartbreaking reminder that the California landscape was meant to burn—and it will keep happening whether we like it or not. Plus, the mystery around the sister of Sam Altman.

    Derek Thompson and Liz Weil join Tim Miller.

    show notes

    • Derek's piece, "The Anti-Social Century"

    • Derek's forthcoming book with Ezra Klein, "Abundance"

    • Arlie Russell Hochschild's book, "Strangers in Their Own Land," referenced by Derek

    • Hochschild's "Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right"

    • "Palaces for the People" book Derek mentioned

    • Liz's ProPublica piece on megafires

    • Liz's piece, "This Isn't the California I Married"

    • Liz's reporting on Sam Altman's sister, Annie

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Liam Donovan and Brendan Boyle: The Great Grift

    Liam Donovan and Brendan Boyle: The Great Grift
    Jan 8 2025
    Trump talked a lot more about Hannibal Lecter during the campaign than one of his actual top priorities: extending his 2017 tax cuts. With those $4.5 trillion in cuts set to expire by the end of the year, that's the first major item of business for congressional Republicans. But how they get paid for will affect people's lives. Tim takes a deep dive into the reconciliation process that would allow Republicans to make deep cuts to programs without having to work with Democrats. Plus, the billionaire plutocrats staffing the new administration and the potential for corruption.

    Rep. Brendan Boyle and Liam Donovan join Tim Miller.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Charlie Warzel: Zuck Sucks-Up to Trump

    Charlie Warzel: Zuck Sucks-Up to Trump
    Jan 7 2025
    Mark Zuckerberg is doing all he can to get an audience with the big man at Mar-a-Lago, including praising Trump's (faux) free speech bona fides and restructuring Meta to eliminate fact-checking. Maybe it's because Zuck wants to show his middle finger to the mean tech reporters—or maybe it's because Trump threatened to imprison Zuck. Plus, the conspiracies around Jan 6 v 9/11, and the potential threat to our financial system from crypto.

    Charlie Warzel joins Tim Miller.
    show notes:

    Charlie's piece on internet brain rot
    Charlie's piece on crypto and the potential nightmare in Trump 2.0
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    59 mins
  • Bill Kristol: The Preposterous and Ridiculous Lies About the FBI

    Bill Kristol: The Preposterous and Ridiculous Lies About the FBI
    Jan 6 2025
    Kash Patel's Jan 6 lie requires FBI officials to have been able to see into the future: to *know* that Trump would lose in 2020 and then try to get Congress to reverse the election results. And they also would have to have known they could get thousands of people to attack the Capitol—just to make MAGA look bad. Are GOP senators really going to clear this conspiracy theorist extraordinaire to run the bureau? Plus, the martyrology around Jan 6 and the mass exodus of journalists from The Washington Post. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

    show notes:

    Tom Jocelyn and Norm Eisen on Kash
    Sgt. Gonell's reflection on Jan 6
    Michael Kruse on Al Gore and Mike Pence
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    51 mins
  • Jonathan Martin: A Resilient City

    Jonathan Martin: A Resilient City
    Jan 3 2025
    New Orleans is the most special city in America, but it's a place that also breaks your heart. Local leaders will have to reassure the world that the French Quarter is safe. Plus, Mike Johnson is bound up in a Gordian Knot, and Democrats are petrified of the wrath of leading progressive interest groups in DC— it's like the Dem Party's version of Trump's Twitter ire.

    Jonathan Martin joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
    show notes
    Glen David Andrews leading a second line to reopen Bourbon Street on Thursday
    Jonathan's interview with Sen. Brian Schatz
    Tim's playlist
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    44 mins
  • David Frum: Sociopaths and Political Tribalism

    David Frum: Sociopaths and Political Tribalism
    Jan 2 2025
    Apart from the death and carnage on New Years Day in New Orleans, Americans revealed another darkness once again: an eagerness to pin violence on someone who doesn't share their political world view. Meanwhile, Republicans rushed to attack the FBI as a way to justify confirming Kash Patel. Plus, Trump has tossed populism aside as he preps to be openly oligarchical, and the real threats TV journalists face.

    David Frum joins Tim Miller.

    show notes

    • Chart shared by Marc Andreessen that Tim referenced

    • The poem Churchill quoted during WWII that David mentioned

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    51 mins
  • Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: We Are Sticking With the Mission

    Sarah Longwell and Jonathan V. Last: We Are Sticking With the Mission
    Dec 31 2024
    While some media outlets may be moving to accommodate Trump out of fear he'll target them, The Bulwark will not be recalibrating. We'll keep providing the (sometimes funny) content you expect, we'll try not to chase Trump's bait (Canada, Greenland, Panama), and we'll disaggregate the real from the trolling. Plus, when one of the worst people in the world makes a good point, and how much is Trump stuck with Elon?

    Sarah and JVL join Tim for the last show of 2024. Happy New Year!

    show notes

    • The NBC News president’s comment on their Nebraska bread story that JVL referenced

    • NBC segment on the Omaha bakery
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Bill Kristol: Exploit the Rifts

    Bill Kristol: Exploit the Rifts
    Dec 30 2024
    MAGA v DOGE, the Christmas gift that keeps on giving, is an early sign of the coming infighting that could diminish Trump's power—we're definitely not seeing signs of an iron fist amid all that golfing and DJ-ing at Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, the world he'll be dealing with is far less stable than it was in 2017. Plus, a Carter appreciation, love for Chalamet's Dylan portrayal, and anticipation of a wild January.

    Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
    show notes

    • Tim's Bannon interview

    • Tim's dispatch from AmericaFest & Kari Lake Part Deux

    • Bill's conversation with Eric Edelman

    • The Post on retribution advocate Ivan Raiklin (gifted)

    • Sonny's review of Chalamet's "A Complete Unknown"
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    48 mins