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The Focus Group Podcast

The Focus Group Podcast

By: The Bulwark
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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 Ep43: Peter Hamby: California Is The Progressive Id

    S6 Ep43: Peter Hamby: California Is The Progressive Id
    May 30 2026

    Everyone loves to complain about how California is governed...even some of the Democrats in our focus groups. So, how is the Democratic primary to replace Gavin Newsom shaping up? Plus, a proto-Trump is running for Los Angeles mayor, and Republicans are noticing beyond California. Puck News's Peter Hamby returns to the show to download on how California politics is shaping the rest of America in 2026.

    By Peter Hamby:
    California Love
    Is Xavier Becerra the Best California Can Do?

    Get 50% off of a new Bulwark+ subscription for the next year, that’s everything we offer on our website, by going to thebulwark.com/sanity – this is a limited time offer
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • S6 Ep42: Adam Jentleson: More Heterodoxy, Please

    S6 Ep42: Adam Jentleson: More Heterodoxy, Please
    May 23 2026
    Sarah is sick and tired of the arguments about whether Democrats should move to the left or the center, because Democratic voters’ answers to this question overlap a lot more than the online turf wars suggest. Adam Jentleson, founder of the Searchlight Institute and author of the forthcoming book Supermajority returns to the show to dig into why voters don’t think in partisan boxes, how some surprising Democratic figures are breaking ideological molds, and what a genuinely big-tent coalition actually looks like in practice.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • S6 Ep41: Greg Bluestein: Georgia's Root Canal Primary

    S6 Ep41: Greg Bluestein: Georgia's Root Canal Primary
    May 16 2026

    Georgia's primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate have LOTS of things for political nerds (like you, dear listener) to chew on. But the Republican and Democratic voters we talked to felt pretty sick of politics.

    Some of what we learned:

    • How Republicans feel about their chances against Jon Ossoff in the fall (not good)
    • Why a Trump-like billionaire is overshadowing Trump's endorsed candidate for governor
    • Whether Democratic voters will tolerate a former Republican Lieutenant Governor running as a Democrat

    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein joins the show.

    By Greg Bluestein:

    • Politically Georgia Podcast
    • Flipped: How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
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