The Focus Group Podcast

Epizodai

• S6 Ep48: Heather Cox Richardson: America's 250 Great (and Awful) Years 04.07.2026 1val 7min

  If you're wondering how (and whether) America is worth celebrating on this particular July 4th, this show will be a bit of a pep talk for you.
• S6 Ep47: Kyle Clark: Colorado's Mad Libs 27.06.2026 55min

  Colorado isn't much of a swing state anymore, but we're covering its primaries anyway. Both of its senators and one longtime member of Congress are facing bigger headwinds than you might expect.
• S6 Ep46: Patrick Svitek: Texas & Maine Swing Voters Sound Off 20.06.2026 50min

  Barrels of ink have been spilled about James Talarico, Ken Paxton, Graham Platner, and Susan Collins. For the first time, we're listening to how swing voters in Texas and Maine are assessing these two races.
• S6 Ep45: Rachel Janfaza: You Kids, Get Off My Lawn! 13.06.2026 41min

  Gen Z swung hard for Trump in 2024. Now his approval with them is under 30%. What happened, and what does this generation’s mix of political views (especially on the war in the Middle East) mean for 2026?
• S6 Ep44: Amy Walter: Everyone Is on the Take 06.06.2026 41min

  Summer’s here, and Sarah’s taking a break from primary election coverage to take stock of the national political landscape.
• S6 Ep43: Peter Hamby: California Is The Progressive Id 30.05.2026 1val 7min

  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?
• S6 Ep42: Adam Jentleson: More Heterodoxy, Please 23.05.2026 1val 11min

  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.
• S6 Ep41: Greg Bluestein: Georgia's Root Canal Primary 16.05.2026 53min

  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.
• S6 Ep40: Tim Miller: Good Riddance, Bill Cassidy? 09.05.2026 53min

  This week's show has a rare note of agreement with our MAGA focus group participants.
• S6 Ep39: Chuck Schumer’s Candidate Got Humiliated in Maine 06.05.2026 12min

  In this bite-sized bonus Focus Group episode, Sarah Longwell breaks down the political earthquake in Maine after Janet Mills dropped out of the Senate race. Why are Democratic voters rejecting establishment candidates, forgiving scandals that once would’ve been disqualifying, and demanding fighters over polished politicians?Tickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events
• S6 Ep38: America's 'House of Cards' Mentality (with David Frum) 02.05.2026 48min

  Usually, an assassination attempt outside a dinner with the president would be a HUGE news event. Instead, the voters in our focus groups weren't talking much about it.
• S6 Ep37: Trump Promised Lower Prices. Everything Got Worse! (w/ Rotimi Adeoye) 30.04.2026 45min

  Enjoy a bonus episode of The Focus Group Podcast—Rachel Janfaza talks with Rotimi Adeoye about why moderate Gen Z focus group participants feel locked out of the economy. They discuss Rotimi’s “House by 30” idea, why vague promises aren’t cutting it, and how both parties—especially after Trump’s failed affordability pledges—are losing trust with young voters who feel like they did everything right and still can’t get ahead.Read Rotimi Adeoye in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/opinion/democrats-homeownership-affordability.htmlTickets for our Bulwark Live shows in San Diego and Los Angeles in May: https://thebulwark.com/events
• S6 Ep36: America's Divisions: Getting on Our Nerves (with Jessica Tarlov) 25.04.2026 1val 11min

  Everyone agrees that America is too divided. So, how do we rebuild a country where Americans can live with each other a little easier?
• S6 Ep35: Trump Voters Say 'Nope' to the Pope (with Jonathan V. Last) 18.04.2026 1val 12min

  Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV are probably the two most prominent Americans in the world right now, and they're fighting.
• S6 Ep34: Why Women Don’t Need Men Anymore—In Their Own Words (w/ Sami Sage) 17.04.2026 45min

  On this bonus episode of The Focus Group, Rachel and guest Sami Sage of Betches Media wonder whether millennials are truly still ‘cringe.’ They also discuss the Gen Z gender gap, and how some politically moderate young women are navigating that political divide in their personal lives.By Sami Sage:In Paperback on April 28: Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Democracy-in-Retrograde/Sami-Sage/9781668053492)Check out 'The Context', from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation: https://kettering.org/thecontext/
• S6 Ep33: The Sad, Mad GOP Base (with Amy Walter) 11.04.2026 51min

  We convened a focus group of 2020 and 2024 Trump voters who are unhappy with his administration to give you a sample of the kind of despair that could keep Republicans home in November.
• S6 Ep32: It's "Messing With Me Mentally" (with Ashley Parker) 04.04.2026 52min

  The Iran War has been going on for a month, and it’s deeply, DEEPLY unpopular. Plus, we get reactions from swing voters on the characters inside the Trump administration who they like (like Marco Rubio), or REALLY dislike (listen to find out).
• S6 Ep31: PSA: AI is NOT Your Boyfriend!! (with Megan McArdle) 28.03.2026 1val

  Artificial intelligence is such a big change to human civilization that our political class is struggling to keep up. The voters in our focus groups are struggling, too.
• S6 Ep30: ‘All of You Could Be Democrats’ (with Anderson Clayton) 21.03.2026 44min

  A lot of the young people we’ve been talking to are relatively apolitical, and many of them don’t vote. But what DO these young people care about?
• S6 Ep29: Illinois Senate Race: Daaaa Dems (with David Axelrod) 14.03.2026 51min

  The Democratic primary for US Senate in Illinois is a bit quiet, according to our guest. But underneath the surface, one candidate has a VERY interesting way of getting attention...and voters are starting to notice. David Axelrod, former adviser to President Obama, joins the show to discuss this Chicago-style Senate race.