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Type of site | News and opinion website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Defending Democracy Together Institute |
| Editor | Jonathan V. Last |
| URL | thebulwark |
| Launched | December 2018; 6 years ago (2018-12) |
| Current status | Online |
The Bulwark is an Americancenter-right news and opinion website launched in 2018 bySarah Longwell, with the support ofBill Kristol andCharlie Sykes.[1][2][3][4] It initially launched as anews aggregator but in 2019 was revamped using key staffers from the recently closedThe Weekly Standard.[5] The Bulwark is owned by Center Enterprises, Inc., which operates under the trade name Bulwark Media.
The Bulwark has been described as amoderate and right of center publication; it has frequently published pieces critical of presidentDonald Trump and his allies.[6][7][1]
Following the end of publication ofThe Weekly Standard in December 2018,[8]editor-in-chief Charlie Sykes said that "the murder of theStandard made it urgently necessary to create a home for rational, principled, fact-based center-right voices who were not cowed byTrumpism."[9] The site was created in December 2018 as a news aggregator as a project of the Defending Democracy Together Institute, a501(c)(3) conservative advocacy group led in part byThe Weekly Standard co-founderBill Kristol.[10] Several former editors and writers ofThe Weekly Standard soon joined the staff and within weeks of launch began publishing original news and opinion pieces.[5] The website has frequently published pieces critical ofDonald Trump and of pro-Trump elites in politics and the media.[1]
Originally, as anon-profit project,The Bulwark did not run advertising, and was supported by donations.[7] By January 2019, approximately $1 million had already been raised for the site, which was said to be adequate to keep the site running for one year.[5] In 2021,The Bulwark launched Bulwark+, a program that provides paid subscribers with "exclusive podcasts, newsletters, and live-streams" for about $100 a year; within a few months, the website reported roughly 16,000 subscribers.[7] Bulwark+ is published on the Substack platform. In February 2025,The Bulwark claimed to have 76,000 paid subscribers to its newsletter, and was adding hundreds of new subscribers every few days.[11] More recently[when?], The Bulwark has added video content to their repertoire with a dedicated YouTube page that as of May 2025 has 1.26 million subscribers, and has started reading ads on their podcasts (which are put out in audio form on all podcast platforms and many in video form on YouTube and Substack), however Bulwark+ members are able to avoid these ads as a perk of their paid subscription.
In 2021,Washingtonian magazine observed that content onThe Bulwark is primarily geared toward readers seeking "serious coverage of events through a center-right filter" but that its editors have sought to attract centristDemocratic readers who may be "uncomfortable with the excesses of the progressive left".[7]
In 2024, Sarah Longwell, Bill Kristol, andTim Miller sent the Democratic campaign the names of prominent Republicans who they thought could be persuaded to endorse the Democratic candidate for President. Miller, a former Republican strategist, described his role as "outside cajoler," as he encouraged the Harris campaign to ratchet up its efforts to pitch prominent Republicans on publicly supporting the vice president.[12] In October of that year,Will Saletan wrote that Trump was running an "openly fascist campaign".[13]
Sarah Longwell is the publisher ofThe Bulwark, and also co-hosts several podcasts for the publication.Jonathan V. Last is the editor. The staff and writers also include editorsWilliam Kristol, Adam Keiper, Jim Swift, Martyn Wendell Jones, Benjamin Parker, Sonny Bunch,Mona Charen,Sam Stein,Tim Miller,Will Saletan,Cathy Young, Joe Perticone, Adrian Carrasquillo, and Andrew Egger.[14][15] Other notable contributors include Lauren Egan, Jonathan Cohn, and Will Sommer.
The Bulwark produces and distributes severalpodcasts, which cover news, political analysis, culture, and foreign affairs.[16] They also publish weekly private podcasts exclusively for Bulwark+ members.[17]
The Bulwark Podcast is a news, opinion and interview show hosted byTim Miller. The podcast is released every weekday and published in audio and video form.[18] Until February 2024, the podcast was hosted byCharlie Sykes.[19] The show launched on December 21, 2018.[20]The Bulwark's PublisherSarah Longwell said that each of the podcast's January 2021 episodes were downloaded about 100,000 times.[7]
Co-hosted bySarah Longwell,Tim Miller, andJonathan V. Last,The Next Level is a weekly podcast that covers the news of the week, with a focus on politics and elections.[21]
Co-hosted by attorneyGeorge Conway andSarah Longwell,George Conway Explains It All covers legal and political news, with a particular emphasis onDonald Trump's legal issues.[22][23]
The Mona Charen Show, hosted byMona Charen, is a weekly interview-style podcast that covers politics and cultural issues.[24] Charen previously hosted the panel-style podcastBeg to Differ.[25]
The Focus Group is a weekly podcast hosted bySarah Longwell. Longwell invites a guest to review audio clips of focus groups to learn what voters think about candidates, issues, and events.[26][27]
Co-hosted by former diplomatEric S. Edelman and political scientistEliot A. Cohen,Shield of the Republic is a weekly podcast on national security and foreign policy.[28]
Hosted by formerMaryland Lt. GovernorMichael Steele,The Michael Steele Podcast is a weekly "barbershop-style" discussion of political and cultural events.[29]
A weekly podcast hosted by journalist, speechwriter, and congressional candidateJohn Avlon.[30]
Hosted by Sonny Bunch,The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood includes interviews with interesting people who work in the entertainment industry.[31]
Co-hosted by Sonny Bunch, Alyssa Rosenberg, and Peter Suderman,Across the Movie Aisle is a discussion of movies between writers with different political perspectives.[32]
Co-hosted byTim Miller andCameron Kasky,FYPod is a podcast on how younger Americans, especiallyGen Z, are shaping politics as a distinctive bloc. The show was launched in February 2025, and guests have ranged from conservativeinfluencer and journalistNatalie Winters to progressive congressional candidateKat Abughazaleh.[33]
The Bulwark, the anti–Donald Trump conservative news site
the Bulwark, an anti-Trump conservative website
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