meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Focus Group Podcast

S6 Ep36: America's Divisions: Getting on Our Nerves (with Jessica Tarlov)

The Focus Group Podcast

The Bulwark

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.82.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Everyone agrees that America is too divided. But ALMOST everyone is also contributing to that division in one way or another. So, how do we rebuild a country where Americans can live with each other a little easier? Sarah and our guest both have some ideas. Professional disagreer Jessica Tarlov of the Raging Moderates podcast and Fox News’s The Five, joins Sarah to discuss America’s political divisions and how voters across the political spectrum are feeling about them.

Pre-order Jessica’s upcoming book, I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends.

Get tickets to The Bulwark's May live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Indeed Presents. Hires you can't afford to get wrong. Like a warehouse operations manager. Uh, where are the forklifts? I sold them. They were too expensive. I got a great deal on these scooters though. You expect us to move a two-term palette on a scooter. It'll be fun. Just think of the core strength you'll build. This is a job for sponsored jobs. This is what happens when you don't sponsor your job on Indeed. So the next time you need someone to get the job done right, get matched with quality candidates with an Indeed sponsored job. Visit Indeed.com slash Next hire and sponsor your job today. Hi, it's Zoe and Joe from Digit. And right now, our show is brought to you by Ancient and Brave. Zoe, can I ask you, are you somebody who sticks to a routine? Oh, I try, Joe. I really do. It's got to be easy. It's got to be kind of first thing in the morning or I just won't stick to it. 100%. I'm exactly the same, which is why I love Ancient and Braves while collagen. It's just one scoop in my morning drink and then that's it. I'm done. And no weird tastes. No. No, it's completely neutral. Sold already. And it's not just about skin and hair.

0:59.5

Collagen supports exercise recovery, energy and joints, which makes it a priority for me. It's clinically

1:04.6

backed, which I always look for. And what sets ancient and Brave apart isn't just their award-winning

1:10.3

products.

1:11.2

It's their commitment to sustainability.

1:13.5

They're B-Corp and proud members of 1% for the planet,

1:16.6

meaning that 1% of all their sales goes directly to environmental causes that protect our planet.

1:22.3

So every purchase gives back too.

1:23.9

That's a big tick.

1:25.0

To get 20% of your first three subscription orders, a free ritual scoop

1:28.9

and an additional five pounds off your first order, go to ancient and brave.org, slash, planet,

1:34.9

and use our code dig it five at checkouts. That's ancient and brave.org slash planet and code

1:41.3

dig it five. I mean, I took notes when I was watching the whole focus group.

1:45.7

Divided, angry, sad, broke were the adjectives that I wrote down.

1:55.3

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the focus group podcast. I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the

2:00.1

bulwark, and I apologize for my voice.

2:02.7

I've been down with the flu, and so I sound like this, but I'm still going to bring you a great

2:07.9

podcast, because I want to talk through a couple of things that I'm finding really interesting at the

2:13.4

moment. And first, I want to talk about our political divisions because there's a lot of chatter

2:18.3

about how to have better disagreements. I move in a nice world often of democracy folks,

2:24.4

and they really want us to learn how to disagree better. I want to get into how and whether and when

2:30.5

we should be doing that anymore. Is that still a thing we need to do? Really talk to people we

...

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.