Claim OwnershipThe Focus Group Podcast
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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/
https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast/focus-group/
140 Episodes
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Rachel Janfaza sits in for Sarah on this week’s Focus Group to take a look at Gen Z’s personal finances, from their long-term outlooks to their day-to-day habits…especially their investments in crypto and how they’re engaging with sports betting and prediction markets. Ed Elson, co-host of Prof G Markets, joins Rachel.Pre-order Sarah’s book, How to Eat an Elephant, coming in September!Show notes:Rachel in The Up and Up: How Gen Z spends, saves, and investsRachel in The Up and Up: The Kalshi electionEd’s interview with Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour
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The Texas Senate primary on March 3 between James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett is a toxic cesspool on Twitter. But Texas Democrats are practically giddy over how much they like both candidates. Atlantic staff writer Elaine Godfrey, who's profiled both candidates, joins the show to chat about the race and discuss why she was kicked out of a Jasmine Crockett campaign event.By Elaine Godfrey:Why I Got Thrown Out of a Jasmine Crockett RallyAudio of Elaine being kicked out: ‘Elaine From Atlantic … She Needs to Leave’Texas's PeteA Democrat for the Trump Era
Sen. John Cornyn has been a consistent ally of President Trump. Even Trump likes him just fine...but that may not be enough to save him in Texas, because he may have just been too mild-mannered for too long. He's running against a scandal-plagued (but combative) Attorney General, and a less scandal-plagued (but also less known) newcomer. Texas Monthly writer Eric Benson joins Sarah to break down the Republican brawl in the Lone Star State.Get 60% off your first box with Tempo Meals at https://TempoMeals.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.Show notes:Eric Benson's John Cornyn profile: The Last Ride of Big Bad John
More and more Trump voters are souring on his administration. But why? Inflation, immigration, and Epstein are all in the mix, but there's a giant mosaic of disappointments. We needed a second qualitative researcher to make sense of it all. Democratic pollster Margie Omero joins the show to discuss what she's heard in her own focus groups, listen to Trump voters who are down on his job performance, and check in with the Democratic base.Get free shipping and 365 day returns from Quince at https://Quince.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.Margie's focus groups:Trump’s Problems With Latinos Go Deeper Than the Economy14 Wellness Voters Talk Parenting, MAHA and Social Media
Why are Gen Z men drifting right while Gen Z women move left? And why do right-wing zoomers think the gender gap is so wide? Sarah Longwell talks with the newest Bulwark contributor Rachel Janfaza, founder of The Up and Up, to analyze new focus groups of Gen Z Trump voters. They also get into these voters' Trump fatigue on foreign policy, why a future JD Vance presidential run isn't appealing, and whether these voters could ever date someone across the political divide.The Bulwark is heading to Minneapolis, and then to Texas. Get your tickets at https://TheBulwark.com/Events.Show notes:Rachel in Vox: The quiet reason why Trump is losing Gen ZFrom November 2025: Rachel Janfaza on The Focus Group Podcast
We saw an ICE officer kill an American citizen for the second time in less than three weeks. This time, it was harder for some of the voters we talked to to make an excuse for it. Bulwark immigration correspondent Adrian Carrasquillo returns to the show to discuss his reporting and listen to voters' raw reactions to what they're seeing in the news.Show notes:The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICEBy Adrian Carrasquillo:Why a Scared 5-Year-Old Boy Shook Our National ConsciencePortraits of the Minneapolis ResistanceLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at https://RocketMoney.com/THEFOCUSGROUP
Some strange, under-the-radar things are happening on the right. Marco Rubio is experiencing a strange rehabilitation with the Republican base, and some young men are excited about taxing OnlyFans. Meanwhile, JD Vance is still on the struggle bus with swing voters, especially women. Will Sommer, The Bulwark’s right-wing fever swamp correspondent, joins Sarah to break down the growing rift between the MAGA establishment and the America First wing—and what it means for 2028.By Will Sommer:MAGA Influencers Cheered Trump’s Venezuela War. Their Audience Said ‘WTF?!’Meet the First Groyper Politician
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)
The United States just captured Venezuela's dictator, and we needed to get some quick voter reactions. Is this REALLY what the newest members of Trump's coalition voted for? We're also sensing growing discontent from them with the state of the country, and with the Trump administration governing more for its friends than for them. Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Chait joins the show to break down voter sentiment nearly a year into Trump's term.Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at https://RocketMoney.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.
Sarah started doing focus groups in 2018 and 2019 hoping to save the Republican Party from Trump—by finding a primary challenger who wouldn’t embarrass themselves. Instead, she discovered voters who were fine with Trump, and she picked up a years-long addiction that turned into this show. We listen to audio from Sarah’s earliest focus groups with reluctant Ohio Trump voters, and not-so-reluctant New Hampshire Trump voters. Then, Sarah and producer Conor Kilgore take some listener questions and look ahead to 2026 races.Get free shipping and 365 day returns with Quince at https://Quince.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.
A year in review from The Focus Group Podcast: the revealing moments, toughest conversations, and warnings that hit a little harder with hindsight—from swing voters to Democrats to cracks inside MAGA.
Get 15% off OneSkin with the code THEFOCUSGROUP at https://www.oneskin.co/THEFOCUSGROUP #oneskinpod
Original episodes:
Nothing is True, Everything is Possible (with Anne Applebaum):
https://audioboom.com/posts/8711563-nothing-is-true-everything-is-possible-with-anne-applebaum
Do the Next Right Thing, Change the World (with Heather Cox Richardson):
https://audioboom.com/posts/8741588-do-the-next-right-thing-change-the-world-with-heather-cox-richardson
The GOP's Life After Trump (with Robert Draper):
https://audioboom.com/posts/8806639-the-gop-s-life-after-trump-with-robert-draper
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement and its adherents have done some of the most harm of anyone in Donald Trump's second term. The voters who are motivated by 'MAHA' are also some of the most interesting. The Bulwark's resident healthcare expert, Jonathan Cohn joins the show to break down the policy consequences of RFK's healthcare regime, and what motivates the everyday 'MAHA' voter.By Jonathan Cohn:This Is What It Looks Like When RFK Jr. Wins
The American military used to be one of the more trusted institutions in America. In 2025, it's a major political football. But how much do voters know about the military and its proper use? Bulwark military expert, Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.) joins the show.This holiday, give your loved ones the only gift that keeps on giving — health. Go to Superpower.com/gift to get a free $49 gift box with your gifted membership.Show notes: Get free shipping and 365 day returns with Quince at https://Quince.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.
Swing voters are pretty fed up with politics in general. They’re often “swingy” because they can’t really stand either party. And in our most recent focus group, they all let political leaders HAVE IT. We also check in with Maine Democratic primary voters on their U.S. Senate race, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest proxy wars in the Democratic Party in 2026 and is telling us a lot about what Democrats are more willing to tolerate from candidates, as long as they fight. New York Times-turned-Vox host Astead Herndon makes his return to the show.Get $30 off your first box with Wildgrain at https://Wildgrain.com/FOCUSGROUPBy Astead Herndon:Inside the Improbable, Audacious and (So Far) Unstoppable Rise of Zohran MamdaniHow Zohran Mamdani won over Donald Trump — for now
Donald Trump got elected in 2024 because voters felt prices were too high. But, as our guest says, that's not really a great thing for a politician to promise. So, as we head into the holiday season of Trump's first year back in office, how are his voters feeling about the state of the economy? New Bulwark economics editor Catherine Rampell joins the show to discuss the state of the economy and what politicians can and cannot do to fix it. We also hear from voters about how their holiday spending habits have changed since last year.
By Catherine Rampell:
Trump Is Falling Into the Same Trap That Ensnared Biden
Trump’s One Weird Trick for Eliminating Bad News: Delete It
Donald Trump had to make an about-face on the Epstein Files because some Trump voters were getting…mildly annoyed. Will Sommer joins Sarah to hear them out. Then, Sen. Elissa Slotkin joins the show to discuss her PSA with her colleagues to the military and intelligence community, reminding them they can refuse illegal orders. They also discuss the recent government shutdown fight, and what Sen. Slotkin learned from winning several tough races in Michigan.
NOTE: This episode discusses Sen. Slotkin and her colleagues’ message to the military and intelligence community that President Trump called “seditious behavior, punishable by death.” This conversation was taped before that Trump post.
Take our quick listener survey and help us make The Bulwark even better. https://bit.ly/bulwarkaudio
There's always a possibility that Donald Trump will try to run for a third term. But plenty of Republicans don't even want that...for now. We asked some of Trump's base how they're feeling about a third term for him (their answers may surprise you!) and talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene's about-face, and the rise of antisemitism on the right. Robert Draper of The New York Times Magazine joins Sarah to walk through some of the key forces bubbling up on the right.
show notes
Get free shipping and 365 day returns this holiday season with Quince at https://Quince.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.
By Robert Draper:
Weapons of Mass Delusion
Nick Fuentes: A White Nationalist Problem for the Right
We've heard a lot about how young men have shifted to the right...but this week's election showed young women moving to the left as well. Gen Z expert Rachel Janfaza, founder of The Up and Up, joins Sarah to discuss why young women have shifted to the left, why their male peers have shifted to the right, and why their life priorities are so different. They also discuss Gen Z's relationship with technology like AI, why Gen Z is a lonely generation, and the differences between Gen Z-ers who came of age before the pandemic, and after.
show notes:
Get your first three months with Mint Mobile for $15/month at https://MintMobile.com/THEFOCUSGROUP.
JOB ALERT: Sarah is looking for a qualitative researcher to join her team! Apply here.
By Rachel Janfaza in The Up and Up:
More on the two gen zs
Young women are the story (And here's how to piss them off...)
Nearly half of high schoolers have had a relationship with AI or know someone who has
Twice as many young people say religion is gaining influence in American life
Trad Husbands > Trad Wives
No election in 2025 has been more impacted by the Trump presidency than the elections in Virginia. This state doesn't vote for MAGA candidates anymore, but their nominee for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, isn't really campaigning like that. So one of Sarah's favorite Democrats, Abigail Spanberger, looks poised for a solid win on Election Day. Meanwhile in the Attorney General race, the Republican incumbent, Jason Miyares could pull off an unexpected comeback, so we talked to voters who are splitting their tickets between Spanberger and Miyares. Former Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist and University of Virginia Center for Politics scholar Jeff Schapiro joins the show to put this year's election in the context of Virginia's broad political evolution.
Show notes:
Jeff Schapiro in Crystal Ball: The Virginia Elections: Plenty of Late Drama, Although Not at the Top of the Ticket
The New Jersey governor's race is a little too close for comfort, after New Jersey had one of the largest swings toward Donald Trump of any state in the country, and the Democratic candidate, Mikie Sherrill is on track for a sub-optimal performance on Election Day against a sometimes-MAGA Republican, Jack Ciattarelli. Sarah doesn't let JVL on The Focus Group very often, but made an exception because he's one of The Bulwark's resident New Jerseyans. You don't want to miss this one.
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My prediction/guess: the Epstein files will be released. With EVERY sentence in which Trump‘s (Pedo/Rapist-in-Chief‘s) name is mentioned - will be deleted or redacted….
Why not ask your group participants why they don't not go to sources like your guest rather than rely on partisans and media spin? Are they too dumb to think of that, too stupid to absorb the knowledge? It sounds as though a lot of them are too brainwashed to know Trump is a liar and has run many businesses into the ground or maybe too dumb to care. I think you insult them by not challenging them and not asking why they believe what they believe. I guess you're scared they'd not join the groups.
Anne noted: Not one person said we have the right to legal representation. Those whose security clearance or protection was ended by Trump had ethical problems. WHAT were they, according to your geniuses ? You know that the accusations are nonsense, but feel no compunction about letting them go. You dig up clips. Your panelists never think to look for the truth, huh? Why? You strike me as a self indulgent, and privileged dilettante. I wonder what your focus group fools think of you?
Anne takes your groups seriously. I do not. These are stupid* people. You choose not to challenge them or offer them the truth and ask them to consider it. Why? My guess is because they would not take part if they knew you would challenge them. 15 years ago, what were YOU saying about Obama's birth? Why not ask them who the Bill of Rights applies to, and if they believe POTUS can violate it at will? *BTW stupid just means lacking in knowledge or common sense, and it can be cured. Can they?
Oy. Jennifer. You reminded me, from the start, why it is so tough to listen to you... right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right? What did I learn? Nothing new. The same rationalizations for opting out by some, choosing apathy by others. If you could not identify the utter unsuitability of Trump to lead this country, even after seeing him at it for 4 years, you got what you created space for: the MuskTrump presidency. A government bought by and for the ultra wealthy. Thanks.
I must agree with Swisher. Not much knowledge is displayed in these groups, although she tempers her critiques, perhaps to be polite, as the tape rolls on.
This episode was so hard to listen to. These fellas clearly "did their research" in the MAGA echo chamber in addition to being too naive about life.
Sara, in your episode with Sam Stein you remarked that talking about transgenders (and gays?) to small kids is inappropriate. You are completely wrong: from knowing some transgenders and gays (one of my sons is gay) and talking to them I LEARNED that most already know that they are different than their friends, or that they are not really of the gender by which they are addressed already at a very young age - by as young as three years old!!!
I know this isn't the way focus groups work, but I just wanted to jump into the podcast to press these people to articulate just exactly how they would enumerate "Trump policies" and "Republican principles". All I heard was "this is your brain on Fox", aped talking point after aped talking point.
I'm curious - is there any kind of sociological study that shows the overlap between GOP voters and irrational/conspiratorial thought? just seems that when a Democrat loses an election, Democratic voters are not anywhere near as predestined to default to this argument of a rigged election.