1033: Incentives Matter | Secret Podcast Preview

The Next Level

The Bulwark

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, next level, fam, it's JVL. I had to do a little bit of a weird secret show this week because
0:07.0	Sarah was out of town. And so I brought in my new friend, not best friend, not yet, but my new
0:14.2	friend, Catherine Rampel, who has just joined the Bullwork. And we had a pretty great talk, I think.
0:20.2	I think you're going to like it a lot.
0:22.0	So here is making her Secret Show debut, Catherine Rampel.
0:27.8	Enjoy the show.
0:28.9	Hello, everyone.
0:30.0	This is JVL.
0:30.9	My best friend, Sarah Longwell, is not here.
0:33.2	She is off doing important stuff.
0:36.1	But I have a new friend, Catherine Rampel, the latest bullworker, who is here with her Florida
0:41.4	woman T-shirt.
0:43.5	A butterfly ballot amazing.
0:47.1	Look at that.
0:48.2	Yeah.
0:48.3	Yeah, this is my most prized piece of political paraphernalia.
0:51.9	It is from the 2000 election.
0:55.3	I grew up in South Florida,
1:01.7	and there were lots of protests over this butterfly ballot when, like, all of the South Florida Jews voted for Pat Buchanan by accident. And it's, you know, if you can see, it's like enormous
1:08.2	on me. I wear this as a sleep shirt, but it says, re-vote.
1:12.2	Re-vote.
1:12.8	It's fantastic.
	...

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