Hey, y’all! JVL and I have taped the third installment of our Triad Mailbag. As always, thank you for your excellent queries and let us know if you’d like to see more of these.
Triad Mailbags will be posted in the Bulwark+ Takes feed for our audiophiles and a transcript can be found below for the readers among us.
In this episode we cover:
From Sue G.: Is there anything that can be done to stop Trump and the DOJ from setting up the $1.8 billion slush fund? (starting around 0:26)
From Kim Z.: Do you think AI will be one of the main topics of 2028? And do you think it makes sense to have a Bulwark content expert on AI? (starting around 3:31)
JVL to Jasmine: Are you interested discourse on AI? What your worries are about it? (starting around 6:16)
From Eric: If Democrats win the Senate, Republicans will likely claim fraud and use every lever they have to block seating Dems to keep control. How can Democrats stop this? (starting around 10:31)
From Becky G.: My friend’s MAGA husband is more upset about shoplifting at Target than a $1.8 billion slush fund to be handed out to convicted criminals. Is it possible to change the narrative of “blue collar crime, bad” versus “white collar crime, so what?” (starting around 12:15)
JVL to Jasmine: Let’s pretend that the Trump era ends and American politics goes back to “normal.” That’s not going to happen, but we’re pretending. In a “normal” time, what political issues would you find most interesting and want to engage with most deeply? (starting around 13:53)
From Don G.: What do you think about Sarah Longwell running for the Democratic Senate nomination in Pennsylvania for 2028? (starting around 19:04)
From Michelle: How do you handle talking to your kids, especially teenagers, about the “enshittification” of the U.S., the world, and politics in general? (starting around 20:14)
From Steve: JVL, you mentioned a while back that you thought ‘Wake Up, Dead Man’ was the greatest Catholic movie ever made. What other Catholic movies/fictional works would you recommend as being quality depictions or explorations of the faith, particularly for those of us who are not religious? (starting around 22:14)
From Kevin D.: JVL, I remember you going hard against the reforms MLB introduced to shorten the games. Seems like the reforms had the intended effect and viewership is way up. Have your views changed? (starting around 23:44)
JVL to Jasmine: What do you like to do outside of work? (starting around 25:13)
From APowell: Trump keeps on turning down these Iranian proposals to end the war without giving them any consideration. Do you think he is purposely delaying the end of the war at this point? If so, why? (starting around 26:25)
From Erin O.: Can you define “populism” on the right/left spectrum? (starting around 27:45)
The transcript, edited for clarity and concision, is below, but you can also read the PDF version here:
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