The Next Level

Note: Sarah and JVL recorded this episode on Wednesday, November 26.

JVL and Sarah Longwell break down why pardoning January 6 felons might be the most dangerous move of his presidency yet. By promising protection to anyone who commits crimes on his behalf, Trump is building a loyalty pipeline straight out of a mob movie… and the Supreme Court is giving him the cover he needs.

Trump’s revenge crusade is collapsing in real time. Botched prosecutions, clown-car legal teams, foreign bot armies propping up MAGA influencers, and a GOP in full-blown identity crisis. JVL, Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller talk about Trump’s latest humiliations, the Marjorie Taylor Greene detonation, the Mamdani Oval Office shocker, and the wild bot-farm revelations shaking the right. Oh and Trump looks like he can't walk.

Just another week!

Trump crossed a line, again. JVL and Sarah Longwell discuss Trump’s latest tantrum: calling for Democratic senators to be put to death after they released a video reminding service members they don’t have to follow illegal orders. Yes, really.Then we get into the Epstein-email panic, why Trump suddenly pretended to support releasing documents he fought for years, and what’s really pressuring him behind the scenes, Dick Cheney’s funeral, and the singles vaccine. Don’t worry, Sarah WILL BE GETTING IT!

Trump’s awful month keeps getting worse: the botched Comey indictment, the Epstein files exploding, Trump snapping at reporters, and signs that the MAGA machine isn’t running like it used to. JVL, Sarah, and Tim talk about the panic inside Trumpworld, the fallout from his dictator cosplay with MBS, and why the movement suddenly looks shakier than it has in years.

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JVL and Catherine Rampell (filling in for Sarah) dig into the latest Epstein revelations and what they expose about the darker, unsteady corners of the GOP. The conversation traces how a party already splintering under internal contradictions keeps getting dragged into fresh scandals, bad actors, and self-inflicted wounds.

Sarah Longwell, JVL, and Tim Miller take on the explosive Epstein emails tying Trump to victims, the shutdown fight and ACA fallout, and the MAGA civil war erupting around Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes.

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JVL is half-delirious from the shingles vaccine and Sarah Longwell is dragging him through one of the wildest weeks in politics. From massive Democratic wins to Jeff Flake’s fantasy-land op-ed, Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar ego trip, and the jaw-dropping humanitarian fallout from dismantling USAID. They break down why Republicans are in full disarray, how Trump’s SNAP showdown is backfiring, and what new polling says about the road ahead.

In the first major set of elections of Donald Trump’s second term, voters deliver a rebuke to Trumpism. Democrats win gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, and Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral race in New York City after Trump endorses Andrew Cuomo. JVL, Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller react on Election Night to what these results mean in the fight against MAGA, assess the leverage Democrats may have gained in the government shutdown debate and take stock of the political landscape a year out from the 2026 midterms.

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JVL and Sarah talk about Socialism, Jersey, Virginia, MTG, and the Heritage Foundation’s panic that someone might think they don’t approve of white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

It’s a whole thing. You’ll love it.

JVL, Sarah, and Tim talk about the intra-MAGA war inside immigration enforcement, the bizarre fall of Tom Homan, Stephen Miller’s power games, RFK Jr.’s unhinged HHS drama, Trump teasing war in Venezuela, and the new Democratic memo that’s tearing the party apart.

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