The Pentagon Purge, Technology's Terrors, and the Unfreedom of the Seas

What You Missed This Week From The Bulwark

Apr 11, 2026

Happy Saturday! Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a Bulwark+ member: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.

First of all, thanks to all of you last week for your kind comments and notes about Shane DiGiovanna. Your kind comments, emails, and donations to his charity mean a lot. As longtime readers know, I wear quite a few hats here at The Bulwark. Among my favorite things, aside from writing profiles, is being in the “meatspace” with our people.

A few times a year, we actually get together… at live shows in person, or online for livestreams and at Founders town halls. We’ve got one coming up Monday night. Will we be celebrating the end of Orbánism, among other things? I hope.

These Founders Town Halls are a small thank-you to the folks who pay a little (or a lot) extra to help us make The Bulwark available to anyone, regardless of ability to pay. It’s not top-secret stuff… more a preview of what’s coming, plus a chance for people to ask granular questions and nerd out about how this all works.

At its core, the program is pretty simple: people who can afford to pay a bit more get a few small thank-yous like access to the Founders Lounge chat and invites to Bulwark Live pre-show mixers and these semi-annual Town Halls. Their extra support helps to fuel our growth and cover the cost of the free memberships I give out every day to folks who write in.

Through emails and at live events, I meet a lot of readers who’ve needed that free access, sometimes for a short stretch, sometimes indefinitely. We’re happy to provide it. But what stands out is that many of those same people, the moment it’s within reach, want to pay.

It’s a point of pride, and it says a lot about the kind of community we’ve built. If you’re reading this and need a free membership, just reply to this email. Please.

And if you’ve been thinking about doing more to support the mission, I hope you’ll consider joining before our Town Hall on Monday. We archive them, so if you can’t make it live, or decide to join later, you can always watch it later.

If you’re interested in upgrading but have a tax bill in the mail, hit reply on this email to let us know you’d like to upgrade to a $300 Founders or $1200 Navigators membership on monthly basis. We’ll set this up for you and charge the card on file.

Upgrade to Founders

Details will be emailed to Founders before Monday.

[Founders and Navigators: Remember to leave us a question or comment here so we know what’s on your mind and to help inform our program for Monday night.]

ICYMI:

🚨OVERTIME🚨

The Deleted Scenes… Our friend and colleague Addison Del Mastro’s Deleted Scenes is celebrating its fifth anniversary. It is one of my favorite sites, probably because Addison and I share a few interests, among them: what did that place used to be? In the latest edition, Addison explores a longtime cheesesteak place in my old Alexandria neighborhood and uncovers a neat untold story of fast food history. If this sort of thing also piques your interests do consider subscribing!

Joakim Noah Faces Cleveland… The retired Chicago Bull spent some time in the Forest City to see if, now that he wasn’t competing with the Cavs, if he could view it in a different light. Worth the quick watch.

Congrats to… Chris Wilbur, Steve Snyder, and Max Motherway for finishing first, second, and third in the Overtime NCAA Bracket: each had Michigan winning it all. Also, a nod to Jonathan Cohn’s Wolverines (who beat my Billikens) and Sam Stein’s UConn Huskies in a dominant run.

It’s Masters weekend. Will you be watching?

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