The Bulwark Podcast

Episode: "Sam Stein: We Got Ourselves a Mad King"
Date: December 4, 2025
Host: Tim Miller
Guest: Sam Stein

Episode Overview

This episode features Tim Miller and Sam Stein dissecting the latest, often unsettling, developments in American politics. With their trademark irreverence, they address topics ranging from local effects of immigration crackdowns in New Orleans, the Trumpian approach to pardons ("mad king" syndrome), war crimes in the Caribbean, the economy, the potential pitfalls for 2028 Democratic hopefuls, and the cultural-political meaning behind public figures like Phil Mickelson and Tucker Carlson. The tone veers from sharply critical to darkly comic, aiming to inform, outrage, and entertain the "reality-based community."

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Immigration Crackdown in New Orleans

[02:32-07:26]

• Tim describes the chilling atmosphere and economic fallout as masked, armed men detain Hispanic workers indiscriminately in New Orleans suburbs:
  • Many Hispanic workers, documented and undocumented, are staying home for fear of being targeted, leading to severe labor shortages.
  • Personal anecdote: Tim’s contractor friend reports nobody will work for fear of raids; a standoff occurs with one worker refusing to come down from a roof.
    • “Basically every Hispanic person, legal or not, has completely stopped working in New Orleans.” — Tim Miller [03:09]
  • Sam emphasizes ripple effects: children pulled from schools, healthcare appointments missed, caregiving industry threatened.
• Both hosts highlight the economic cost to Republican business owners and the looming impact on healthcare and construction.
  • “If you’re worried about housing affordability, you don’t have people to construct the homes—that is going to have an impact on affordability.” — Tim Miller [06:37]

2. Phil Mickelson’s Tweet & The Authoritarian Drift

[07:26-11:14]

• The hosts discuss golfer Phil Mickelson’s now-infamous tweet advocating draconian, foreign-style punishments for illegal immigration, drawing parallels to caning and even execution.
  • Tim is appalled at calls to copy regimes like North Korea or Russia.
    • “You want us to copy the most repressive regimes in the world. You want us to do fucking caning. Phil Mickelson, what’s the punishment, I wonder, for insider trading and illegal gambling? Should we do Singapore?” — Tim Miller [09:03]
  • Sam reads the post as possible AI-generation but concludes, “if this is an honest reflection of how he thinks, like, he’s a disturbed dude.”
• Moral disgust: Both blast the giddiness for cruelty towards "the least fortunate people in the world—a lot of whom came here because they were fleeing the repressive regimes you’re now thirsting over.” — Sam Stein [10:37]

3. Trump’s "Mad King" Pardoning Spree

[15:36-26:48]

• Detailed walkthrough of Trump’s latest wave of controversial pardons—including Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, wealthy stadium developers convicted of corruption, George Santos, J6ers, and Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.
  • The hosts express exasperation at the arbitrariness and potential for political corruption—pardoning figures with connections, wealth, or political utility, regardless of wrongdoing, even those that hurt his own party’s interests.
    • “We got a mad king on our hands, folks. Like, this guy’s out of control. He’s handing pardons to drug dealers and drug lords and like, you know, George Santos and shit like that. J6ers. That… fits into the mad king umbrella. Right? So this guy’s just lost his marbles.” — Sam Stein [18:08]
  • They note the House GOP was blindsided by Trump lopsidedly pardoning Democrats, and Hakeem Jeffries’ tepid response.
• The larger constitutional worry: the unchecked scope of presidential pardon power.
  • “A functioning society cannot have one man just undoing all of the Justice Department’s work because he wakes up and feels like it.” — Sam Stein [24:43]

4. War Crimes in the Caribbean & Lack of Accountability

[28:26-34:14]

• Breaking news: Admiral Alvin Holsey, former head of SOUTHCOM, was pressured to resign after resisting illegal strike orders, allegedly with Pete Hegseth pressuring him to "move out fast and don’t ask questions."
  • “You’re either on the team or you’re not. When you get an order, you move out fast and don’t ask questions.” — recounting Hegseth’s pressure [28:36]
• Sam laments the media and Congressional passivity amid ongoing "acts of war" (over 80 dead in Caribbean strikes), calling the lack of oversight "staggering.”
  • Comparison to drone war scandals under Obama:
    • “We spent weeks railing on the Obama administration over these drone strikes... They hated us for it. But we were doggedly in pursuit of the justification.” — Sam Stein [32:53]
  • A historical echo: Democrats/progressives were far more critical of similar executive overreach in prior years.

5. Economy, AI, & Political Realignment

[35:51-40:14]

• ADP jobs data is bad—private sector employment fell—but the hosts remind that real numbers aren't out because of government dysfunction.
  • Growing economic uncertainty: skyrocketing healthcare premiums, immigration crunch, and AI jobs boom (and hype).
• The Democratic dilemma: Should the party embrace anti-AI, populist rhetoric?
  • Lauren Egan’s newsletter "The Opposition" is discussed; there’s a tension between the donor class (tech executives) and growing grassroots frustration.
  • “I feel like there’s a pundit class Democrat that’s really excited about going after AI...and a lot of traditional establishment Democrats that will be hesitant...Do we need their money?” — Tim Miller [37:52]
• Cultural side note: Posting culture, sports banter on Lane Kiffin and Dan Hurley as avatars for social-media-obsessed America.

6. 2028 Democratic Primary Hot Stove

[40:14-44:37]

• Miller speculates: Is the public tired of chaos? Maybe the next successful Dem is just normie, happy, handsome, boring.
  • “Is it possible that really politics is very simple and we usually elect the handsomer person and the Democrats really can just kind of go back to like, somebody that doesn't seem crazy?” — Tim Miller [41:01]
• Sam notes the American penchant for pendulum swings—Bush begat Obama, who begat Trump, and Biden, suggesting next may be a return to affability and normalcy.
• But doubts whether such a candidate can animate primary voters who want "fighters."

7. Tucker Carlson, Milo Yiannopoulos, and the Culture Wars

[46:38-56:36]

• Spotify’s top podcasts alarm Tim—Tucker Carlson’s show is #7.
• Segment highlights:
  • Tucker’s recent interview with Milo Yiannopoulos: an anti-gay two-hour tirade, praising Uganda's draconian laws and pining for the "status quo of 1985," when gay people were dying of AIDS and largely ignored by society.
    • “If you just back off a little bit, we could just return to the status quo of, say, 1985, where, yeah, they're gay people...But they're not pushing gay sex on my kids in school.” — Tucker Carlson, as quoted by Tim [50:27]
  • Both hosts are disgusted by the regressive sentiment and deep-seated projection.
    • “This is someone who wants to explore homosexuality. It seems like it. I don’t know. Does he? Has he talked about whether he’s had a gay experience before?” — Sam Stein [51:42]
  • Milo proposes “Mayor Pete is not really gay”—the hosts mock the conspiratorial absurdity and underlying bigotry.
    • “If we were to take this theory at face value that Pete is pretending to be gay...It's honestly quite the long con.” — Sam Stein [55:24]

8. Signature Banter & Memorable Quotes

• Banter highlight:
  • “I know I have this like hard candy shell, Sam...but deep down, I’m softy. Okay? I am softie.” — Tim Miller [07:38]
  • “Let's spend 20 more seconds on this word, synecdoche.” — Sam Stein [12:48]
  • “The people like the banter, though.” — Tim Miller [57:08]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On the economic cost of xenophobic policy:

  • “If you’re worried about housing affordability, you don’t have people to construct the homes—that is going to have an impact on affordability.” — Tim Miller [06:37]

• On Phil Mickelson’s tweet:

  • “You want us to copy the most repressive regimes in the world. You want us to do fucking caning. Phil Mickelson, what’s the punishment, I wonder, for insider trading and illegal gambling? Should we do Singapore? Should we do be handing? Maybe we should be hand—his left fucking hand if that's what he wants.” — Tim Miller [09:03]

• On Trump’s pardons:

  • “We got a mad king on our hands, folks.” — Sam Stein [18:08]
  • “A functioning society cannot have one man just undoing all of the Justice Department's work because he wakes up and feels like it.” — Sam Stein [24:43]

• On Tucker Carlson's anti-gay regressivism:

  • “If you just back off a little bit, we could just return to the status quo of, say, 1985... But they're not pushing gay sex on my kids in school.” — [50:27]
  • “Let's just go back to that status quo, you guys. We don't bother you, you don't bother us, you die. We don't give you health care services, and that'll be fine. And you have to tell me how many people you're fucking, by the way.” — Tim Miller [50:50]

Podcast Flow & Tone

• Style: Fast-paced, irreverent, deeply informed, punctuated by comic asides.
• Language: Frank, colloquial, often explicit.

Conclusion

“The Bulwark Podcast” continues its mission as a reality check on 2020s America—a reality characterized by erratic governance (“mad king” syndrome), broken institutions, resurgent bigotry, economic stress, and culture war fatigue. Miller and Stein provide both catharsis and clarity, combining substantive analysis with biting humor.

For further context or to hear the banter in all its glory, listeners are encouraged to catch the full episode.