S6 Ep20: Playing Stupid Games, Winning Stupid Prizes (with Bill Kristol)
The Focus Group Podcast
The Bulwark
4.8 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 17 January 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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.
Get $30 off your first box and free croissants for life when you visit https://Wildgrain.com/FOCUSGROUP.
Previous shows discussing the Epstein Files:
With Will Sommer (November 2025)
With Ashley Parker (September 2025)
With Will Sommer (July 2025)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job. |
| 0:03.5 | You need the right person with the right background who can move your business forward. |
| 0:07.4 | If you want candidates who match what you're looking for, trust Indeed sponsored jobs. |
| 0:12.3 | And listeners of the show will get a 100-pound sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash broadcast. Just go to |
| 0:22.3 | Indeed.com slash broadcast right now and support this show by saying you heard about Indeed on |
| 0:27.6 | this podcast. Indeed.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, do it the right way |
| 0:34.4 | with Indeed. |
| 0:45.3 | Hello everyone and welcome to the Focus Group podcast. |
| 0:48.0 | I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the bulwark. |
| 0:52.1 | And this week, as we come up on the first anniversary of Trump's inauguration, |
| 0:55.5 | we're covering a series of Trump-centric stories from recent weeks because we didn't get to all of them last week. Think of it as part two of a one-year-in |
| 1:02.4 | special. In just the last few weeks, an ICE officer killed a U.S. citizen in broad daylight. The |
| 1:08.9 | Epstein Files' rollout has been a total mess, and now there's a |
| 1:13.2 | criminal investigation into the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, which looks a lot more like lawfare |
| 1:20.2 | against anyone who crosses this administration or just doesn't do what Donald Trump wants. |
| 1:25.2 | I think what we're going to find today is that it's really hard for any of these |
| 1:29.8 | stories, which should all be really big deals, and back on Earth 1 would be dominating |
| 1:37.5 | news cycles, but it's hard for them to make a dent, which I guess is like a hat tip to |
| 1:43.0 | Steve Bannon, because the zone has been flooded |
| 1:46.9 | with the stuff he wanted it flooded with. My guest today is Bill Crystal, editor at large |
| 1:53.3 | at the bulwark. Bill, thanks for being here. Great to be with you, Sarah. I think I might just go back |
| 1:58.5 | to Earth one. Oh, yeah. Is that possible? I'm, I don't know. Why not? You know, everything else these days seem |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Bulwark, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Bulwark and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.