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The Focus Group Podcast

The Focus Group Podcast

By: The Bulwark
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About this listen

Unfiltered, uncompromising, unexpected—The Focus Group is a look into what the average voter thinks about politics, policy, and current events. Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, has conducted hundreds of hours of focus groups all across the country. She and a series of special guests will take you behind the glass to hear what real focus group participants have to say. https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast/focus-group/Bulwark Media Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • S6 Ep22: Put Excuses on ICE (with Adrian Carrasquillo)
    Jan 31 2026

    We saw an ICE officer kill an American citizen for the second time in less than three weeks. This time, it was harder for some of the voters we talked to to make an excuse for it. Bulwark immigration correspondent Adrian Carrasquillo returns to the show to discuss his reporting and listen to voters' raw reactions to what they're seeing in the news.

    Show notes:
    The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICE

    By Adrian Carrasquillo:
    Why a Scared 5-Year-Old Boy Shook Our National Conscience
    Portraits of the Minneapolis Resistance

    Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at https://RocketMoney.com/THEFOCUSGROUP

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    43 mins
  • S6 Ep21: The Heebie Jeebie GOP (with Will Sommer)
    Jan 24 2026

    Some strange, under-the-radar things are happening on the right. Marco Rubio is experiencing a strange rehabilitation with the Republican base, and some young men are excited about taxing OnlyFans. Meanwhile, JD Vance is still on the struggle bus with swing voters, especially women. Will Sommer, The Bulwark’s right-wing fever swamp correspondent, joins Sarah to break down the growing rift between the MAGA establishment and the America First wing—and what it means for 2028.

    By Will Sommer:
    MAGA Influencers Cheered Trump’s Venezuela War. Their Audience Said ‘WTF?!’
    Meet the First Groyper Politician

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    41 mins
  • S6 Ep20: Playing Stupid Games, Winning Stupid Prizes (with Bill Kristol)
    Jan 17 2026

    There's a lot of bad news right now—so much that none of it is breaking through that much to the voters we talked to. From the ICE killing of Renee Good to the Epstein files to the criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol joins Sarah for a reflective conversation on the tough times we live in and how voters are processing them.

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    Previous shows discussing the Epstein Files:
    With Will Sommer (November 2025)
    With Ashley Parker (September 2025)
    With Will Sommer (July 2025)

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    53 mins
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