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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.

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! ---- 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 and JVL are together again and JVL is raging. The president of the United States accused the Democratic party plotting to assassinate him and . . . everyone just pretends it didn’t happen. Diesel prices are going to the moon. Trump wants to demolish the Kennedy Center. Joe Manchin came back from the grave to endorse Susan Collins. And there’s a 90 percent chance that AI doesn’t kill everyone alive. It’s a short show, but a great show. Also: Sarah talks about the book tour and what it’s like to feel the love you guys have shown her. Be careful; it gets a little dusty. Want that Woke Bill Kristol tee? Get it at The Bulwark Store: https://store.thebulwark.com

JVL and Bill Kristol look at the increasingly messy fight to succeed Trump, from JD Vance and Don Jr. to Tucker Carlson, as Trump keeps the possibility of a third term hanging over the party. Plus, the war with Iran is getting worse, Pete Hegseth’s damage to the military is becoming harder to ignore, and 25 years after 9/11, they consider the unsettling question of what terrorism can set in motion long after an attack is over. Sarah, Tim, Sam and JVL are coming to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Atlanta in October for Bulwark LIVE. We’re bringing lots of friends. Tickets are on sale now: https://thebulwark.com/events

Today Sarah and JVL try to figure out who’s worse: John Fetterman or Susan Collins. (Give us your answer in the comments.) Also, the Big Orange Arch is coming. And we chew over Doug Sosnik’s recommendations for the Democratic party. It’s a big show. Plus: it’s almost Book Week! Don’t let Teddy Cancun and High Life Clarence win. Order a copy of Sarah’s book now. (If you haven’t already, I mean.) How to Eat an Elephant drops on Tuesday and the Best Friends really want to get it to #1 on the NYT best seller list. To do that, we have to unseat... a biography of Clarence Thomas by Ted Effing Cruz. Buy it 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 Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Eat-Elephant-Voter-Time/dp/125046417X Show notes: See Bill Kristol and Doug Sosnik’s conversation: https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation/doug-sosnik-on-two-very-different-elections-2026-and-2028/

JVL is out this week, so Tim and Sarah discuss Mark Cuban’s comments that he could run for president as a Republican (and why Tim isn’t buying it), and Sarah’s conversation with the New York Times discussing her book, and what Democratic voters REALLY want right now. They also discuss the race Rob Sand is running for governor in Iowa. Behind the paywall: Kamala Harris’s 2028 strategy, Hasan Piker discourse, and a fun mailbag segment. Show notes: Read Sarah's conversation with the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/opinion/democrats-fighters-trump-republicans.html Come hang with the gang—Sarah, Tim, JVL, Sam and friends—during our Bulwark LIVE: Good Fight Tour this October. Tickets are on sale now at: https://thebulwark.com/Events Let's be together.

Sarah and JVL did a BIG show today. Sample awesome: Sen. Darlene Graham says that voters in South Carolina don’t care about Taiwan—they care about boys playing girls sports. Spoiler: There are exactly zero (0) boys in South Carolina playing girls sports. Top CIA analyst Julia Curlee served Trump, Biden, and then Trump again honorably. Then she was fired because some MAGA influencers discovered she was trans. What duty do civil servants owe the country which elected Trump for the second time? Is Jon Ossoff the one we’ve been waiting for? Sarah has him in her Big Four. And you’ll never guess who the other three are. People hate Data Centers. So where is the juice for Democrats? JVL can’t stop/won’t stop beating on tankies and greens. And the birth of a new feature: Pickleball talk! We want to hear from you about any/all of this. Let’s ride. --- Sarah, Tim, Sam and JVL are coming to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Atlanta in October for Bulwark LIVE. We’re bringing lots of friends. Tickets are on sale now: https://thebulwark.com/Events Our shows have a habit of selling out. Don’t wait to grab your seats.

Lots of stuff this week. (1) There are still balcony seats left for the Best Friends Show in NYC on September 8. Come sell out the 92nd Street Y with us! You can get tickets here: https://www.92ny.org/event/sarah-longwell-how-to-eat-an-elephant If we sell this show out, JVL will do something nuts. (2) Sarah, Tim, Sam and I are coming to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Atlanta in October. We’re bringing friends. Tickets go on sale August 21, but Bulwark+ members get access to an exclusive presale on August 18. Get your tickets at https://TheBulwark.com/Events on Tuesday using code BULWARKFRIEND. We’ll also remind members in Morning Shots on Tuesday morning. (3) Then there’s the news: - Trump is trying to put his name on the Kennedy Center again. Grandpa is so thirsty. - Karoline Leavitt is taking her talent for baldfaced lying to the private sector. Who will be the lucky news organization to buy the privilege of having her lie to its audience? And what lucky liar will inherit her spot behind the podium? - JVL loses his mind over the revelation that after DHS agents murdered Alex Pretti, the federal government launched far-reaching investigations against . . . liberal activist groups in Minnesota. This story will take your hate-fire to 11. - Sarah was always right about the Wisconsin Democratic primary. - Why don’t progressives say a little prayer of thanksgiving for winning a big race in Minnesota with Peggy Flanagan while not having to defend Francesca Hong? Take the W. Also: JVL has some nice things to say about Bernie while Sarah is totally getting there on AOC. (4) And then there’s the feelings talk. JVL has a lot of them. About Flash and mortality and his gratitude to all of you guys. (Also: (5) We have news about Rebecca taking us home.) This isn’t an Instant Classic level show, but it’s a good one. Top quintile for sure.

JVL and Tim did a GIANT show this week. Uncanny Callista Gingrich. Thom Tillis publishes his burn book. Tucker’s running for president. Burrito discourse. And more! Seriously: Instant classic. This one goes in the vault. Read JVL’s Triad newsletter: https://www.thebulwark.com/s/thetriad

Sarah and JVL have a It’s a super-sized, instant classic: The Trump administration is using ChatGPT for everything. Why are Cornyn and Tillis even bothering with their fake protest of Todd Blanche? The Dem Senate map is looking . . . possible? Trump has raised $800 million from “donors” since coming back to office. And JVL finally explains why he’s obsessed with 60 Minutes investigative reporter Ross Douthat. Plus: Emo JVL needs your advice in the comments!

Big show today: It’s the dawn of Streamer JVL? Plus: Some questions for Tom Homan about shooting January 6 insurrectionists; Haley Stevens and authenticity; and the Mitch McConnell conspiracy theory. Also, a conversation about raising good men. But the big topic is the Department of Defense suddenly removing the names of four dead soldiers from the Iran war casualty list because they were killed after Trump declared a ceasefire in April—because there are now apparently two distinct Iran wars. Even though neither of them is, for legal purposes, a “war.”

Sarah Longwell and Sam Stein (filling in for JVL) discuss Trump’s tedious (and still scary!) election speech, the documents that undercut his election claims, JD Vance’s cringe appearance on Joe Rogan, Trump voters’ brutal reactions to Vance, and Democrats’ missed opportunities at the Todd Blanche hearing. Finally: There are more tickets to see Sarah and JVL on September 8 in NYC! We are about to sell out the orchestra section—but we want to sell out the balcony, too. It’s a point of pride. Come hang with us. Tickets are here: https://www.92ny.org/event/sarah-longwell-how-to-eat-an-elephant

Sarah and JVL are back together, looking at Trump’s NATO disgrace, wondering if Mitch McConnell is really talking to people on the phone about detailed policy questions, and analyzing the factional fight in the Democratic party between the people trying to elect Democrats and the insurgents focused on displacing the establishment. Short version: What if Morris Katz is just the left’s Steve Bannon? Also, there’s some personal stuff at the end. Finally: There are more tickets to see Sarah and JVL on September 8 in NYC! We are about to sell out the orchestra section—but we want to sell out the balcony, too. It’s a point of pride. Come hang with us. Tickets are here: https://www.92ny.org/event/sarah-longwell-how-to-eat-an-elephant

It’s a special show this week where JVL gives Sarah a series of impossible choices. Will she choose institutionalism, or Secretary Mayor Pete? Will she endorse the political analysis of [REDACTED]? What will she do when Cletus says that he doesn’t like democracy and wants minority rule? Come find out! Also: There are more tickets to see Sarah and JVL on September 8 in NYC. We’ve moved to a bigger room at the 92nd Y and we need to sell it out. So come hang with us. Tickets are here: https://www.92ny.org/event/sarah-longwell-how-to-eat-an-elephant

The Iran war deal is falling apart (already). Israel is turning on Trump. And the two most insipid trad-Cath poasters in America are podcasting together again. Plus: JVL (finally) explains his disdain for the NYT’s DEI Trump apologist.