The Secret Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

It’s a very meta episode. Sarah and JVL spend a little bit of time on Iran and then have a conversation about the many people on the internet who were mad at them on the internet this week.

The Secret Podcast with JVL and Sarah is exclusively for members of Bulwark+. To watch or listen to future episodes and join the Secret community in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

JVL and Sarah Longwell talk Matt Yglesias’s recent piece about the real stakes for Democrats in the Senate, how to build a winning coalition for 2026, and whether vibes actually beat policy.

The Secret Podcast with JVL and Sarah is exclusively for members of Bulwark+. To watch or listen to future episodes and join the Secret community in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL go deep on the manhandling of Sen. Alex Padilla.

Did he “lunge” at Kristi Noem? No.

Is it plausible that the Secretary of Homeland Security did not know how Padilla was? No.

Is there some sacred—or even written—rule of conduct for press conferences that Padilla was “disrupting”? Hell no.

But the big question is: Should Democrats do more of this? Should they bring their own security staffs and provoke the Trump administration and dare them to take the authoritarian mask all the way off? None dare call it accelerationism . . .

That’s the discussion. We want you to talk about it in the comments and seriously. Take in all the angles.

The Secret Podcast with JVL and Sarah is exclusively for members of Bulwark+. To watch or listen to future episodes and join the Secret community in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

Sarah and JVL chat about Elon dumping Donald in the most deliciously public way. They get into who’s actually winning, whether it’s all just a stunt, and if Democrats should use the chaos to their advantage.

ICYMI JVL’s late-night Triad:

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to future episodes and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebulwark.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL preview Tuesday’s newsletter with a discussion about the folks in a small, rural Missouri town who are shocked—shocked!—to discover that the Trump administration is deporting someone from their community who they like.

Sarah thinks this is hopeful. JVL does . . . not.*

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL taped the Secret pod in front of 450 best friends in Nashville and things got . . . a little weird?

There’s the tariff dance, TACO talk, some Trump psychologizing, the Leopard Face-Eating Party, a Bad JVL sighting, and a special guest. It’s a giant, super-sized live show, just for you guys.

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL talk about Harvard, how the South African president rolled Trump, and whether or not it matters that every college kid in America is cheating by using ChatGPT.

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

Sarah and JVL have the mother of all shows: A full exegesis on the nature of people, the virtues of society, and the requirements for liberal democracy.

It’s a whole thing.

But then there’s more! JVL is on a quest to get Sarah onto Survivor. How would she play? They start wargaming her Survivor strategy now . . .

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thebulwark.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL talk about Trump’s $400 million Qatari plane. The stupidity of the Chinese “deal.” And the weird way in which price controls are only “socialism” when a black lady proposes them.

It’s a bonus Monday Secret pod!

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.thebulwark.com

Sarah and JVL talk about Judge Box O’Wine and Pope Leo XIV.

Warning: It’s a lot of pope and Catholic talk. Also: It’s complicated. The pope doesn’t map onto American politics and wasn’t chosen as a rebuke to Donald Trump.

But that doesn’t mean that Trump will be able to resist turning him into an antagonist and an anti-Trump symbol. JVL wrote about this in a late-night Triad, here:

It’s a great show and a long show. Talk about it in the comments.

The Secret Podcast is exclusively for members of Bulwark+ featuring JVL and Sarah Longwell. To watch or listen to this episode and join the conversation in the comments become a Bulwark+ member today.