Bully Pulpit

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Welcome to Bully Pulpit!

bullypulpit.substack.com

Welcome to Bully Pulpit!

Bob Garfield
Apr 8, 2022
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Welcome to Bully Pulpit!

bullypulpit.substack.com

As you have probably figured out, this is a medium for noticing what’s going on in politics, media, society and culture — and for mounting good-faith arguments, supported by evidence, for or against. If you’re looking merely for “he sucks” or “that’s bullshit,” you have stumbled upon the wrong place.  

Week to week, subject to subject, Bully Pulpit can be angry, funny, poignant, shocking or some combination of the above. (Plus more cursing than you might expect.) But I hope it is never just a spasm of id. Here, we think things through.

I’ve been at this sort of work for decades in radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, books, online, onstage and even in film. The joy of this particular platform is that I’m not confined by the orthodoxies, sensitivities or fears of anyone else. Nonetheless, I’m not endeavoring to form a cult around my worldview (although I do have some nice saffron robes picked out just in case); I’m trying to build a community of challenging thinkers with the curiosity and courage to engage.

Indeed, that community is coalescing. Many have even become paid subscribers who also receive my Monday text column. Weirdly, though audience enthusiasm is absurdly high for Bully Pulpit (check out our iTunes ratings and reviews), the Monday column outdraws the podcast!

So, whether at the low, low price of $50 — or the even lower, lower price of $0 — I welcome you to the Bully Pulpit universe. It’s sometimes a little irritable around here, but it is never dull.

— Bob Garfield

Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

While You’re Here…

Here are some of my favorite columns and episodes. Take a look, and feel free to sound off in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think.

Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios
On Thankfulness
As some of you know, this has been a difficult year for me. Getting fired from WNYC, whether or not you’d agree with me and my lawyers that it was actionably unjust, was catastrophic not just for my livelihood, but also for my reputation. Probably forever, including long after I am gone…
Read more
a year ago · 22 likes · 11 comments · Bob Garfield
Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios
Convoy of the Grotesque
Washington, DC — As I drove west on the Beltway Sunday afternoon, approaching Connecticut Avenue, traffic came to a standstill. Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Why? The spires of the Mormon Temple — the Oz of the Middle Atlantic — hadn’t yet peeked over the horizon, so it wasn’t the rubbernecking that sometimes happens on that stretch of roadway. The clue was the overpasses. They were lined with pedestrians leaning expectantly over the railing. These spectators were largely wearing red caps. American flags were displayed, emitting chauvinism like gamma rays. And on the median: police cars. What were they waiting for…
Read more
a year ago · 36 likes · 32 comments · Bob Garfield
Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios
Live From the War on Christmas
Listen now (8 min) | SPECIAL WAR BULLETIN 24 DEC 2021 Not since Edward R. Murrow has a reporter so bravely brought home the terrible soundscape of war…
Read more
a year ago · 6 likes · 2 comments · Bob Garfield
Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios
Trained Seals in a Legal Circus
Listen now (14 min) | Bob examines the claim that our heroes are being forced “to choose between their God and defending our freedoms.” The only thing wrong about the accusation is … everything…
Read more
a year ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · Bob Garfield
Bully Pulpit by Booksmart Studios
The Cosmic Lie — Part 2
Listen now (29 min) | In Part 1 of Bob’s conversation with New York Times global economics correspondent Peter Goodman, we learned how the world’s billionaire class rapes the world’s treasure as billions of souls can barely get by. This week, Goodman names names…
Read more
a year ago · 7 likes · Bob Garfield

We are Booksmart

Bully Pulpit is proud to be part of the Booksmart Studios family. Please check out our other shows.

Unprecedented by Booksmart Studios

Meet the accidental guardians of the First Amendment. Hosted by Matthew Schwartz and Mike Vuolo.

Lexicon Valley from Booksmart Studios

A podcast about language, with host John McWhorter.

Banished by Booksmart Studios

A reassessment of the ideas that conflict with modern sensibilities. Hosted by Amna Khalid.
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Welcome to Bully Pulpit!

bullypulpit.substack.com
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Dave Hyzy
Apr 22, 2022

Thank you for fighting back against the BS and bringing your unique view of the world to a podcast. I subscribe to dozens of pods, and Bully Pulpit has rocketed to the top of the pops! Keep up the great work! (20+ year Fan)

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