The Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Politics
  • Updated twice weekly

The creators of the most watched and talked-about ad content in the political/cultural sphere, THE LINCOLN PROJECT, and co-founder/host Rick Wilson, have a reputation for saying the things others are afraid to say. Headed up by LP's notorious creative team, THE LINCOLN PROJECT podcast features a range of special guests, from leading political minds to the hottest pop-culture icons. Broadening the subject matter beyond politics and making the conversation more relatable to everyone, The Lincoln Project podcast’s mission is to reignite the political flame in every American and break down the biggest topics of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

  1. 12 hr ago

    How Democrats Actually Win It All Back by 2028

    Everybody's got a hot take on how American democracy is dying. Almost nobody has an actual plan to save it. This week, Rick Wilson sits down with Ben Wikler — the former Wisconsin Democratic Party chair who turned a purple-state battleground into a national model, and author of This Is the Plan: How to End America's Meltdown and Save Democracy — to skip the hand-wringing and get straight to the blueprint. Because the authoritarian playbook Trump is running isn't magic. It's a system. And systems can be beaten by people who understand how they actually work. Rick and Ben get into the real fight: the systemic threats hollowing out the guardrails, why Supreme Court reform has to be on the table, and the unglamorous grassroots work — local elections, state parties, showing up between the presidential years — that actually moves power. They map the road to a federal trifecta in 2028 and what it would take to finally rip out the rot that's rigged the whole system. It's not a doomscroll and it's not a fairy tale. It's a strategy — and a reminder that the people who built this mess are counting on you believing it can't be fixed. This is the conversation that proves them wrong.•••••Ben Wikler is the former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and author of This Is the Plan: How to End America's Meltdown and Save Democracy. Find his work at https://www.benwikler.com/, and follow him @benwikler. Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson, Bluesky @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #BenWikler #ThisIsThePlan #SaveDemocracy #RickWilson #LincolnProject #SupremeCourt #Grassroots #2028 #Democracy #Politics #PoliticalPodcast #Podcast

  2. 12 hr ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    Introducing What End-of-Life Dreams Can Teach Us About Living, with Hospice Doctor Christopher Kerr from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast Oprah is joined by neurologist and hospice physician Dr. Chris Kerr to explore the mysterious phenomenon of end-of-life visitations. Through decades of research and his life-affirming book Death Is But a Dream Dr. Kerr’s work has sparked a profound paradigm shift reframing so-called “deathbed dreams” as very real end-of-life experiences. Dr. Kerr and his team have conducted more than 1,500 interviews with fully lucid patients nearing life’s end. Again and again patients describe vivid encounters with deceased loved ones that feel not dream-like, but strikingly real. Those who appear are often the people they loved most deeply—the ones who mattered most in their lives. In this episode you'll also hear from a woman whose mother experienced an “end-of-life awakening”—a phenomenon known as terminal lucidity, in which a dying person temporarily regains mental clarity and awareness, often using those precious final moments to say goodbye to loved ones. DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

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  3. 21 Jul

    Somebody's Losing Their Seat + He Doesn't Know It Yet

    While Washington burns, there are people out there actually doing the unglamorous work of winning elections — and this week Rick Wilson brings you two of them.  First up: Josh Turek, running for Senate in Iowa, where tariffs have gutted family farms, rural hospitals keep going dark, and corporate consolidation has squeezed working families until there's nothing left. Turek's pitch is what he calls a "prairie populist" agenda — lower costs, real support for family farms, healthcare people can actually reach, and a hard shove back against the corporate money that's been running the table. It's the kind of message that used to win the Midwest, and might again. Then Rick heads to Colorado for Manny Rutinel, currently in the state House and gunning for CO-8 — one of the most competitive districts in the entire country and the most Latino district in the state. The incumbent, Gabe Evans, has voted with Trump an estimated 97% of the time, which is less a voting record than a signature stamp. Rutinel's betting that a working-class background and a genuine grassroots operation beat a rubber stamp with a war chest. Two races, two very different maps, one shared question: can Democrats stop talking past the people they need and start winning them back? These are the fights that decide whether the next Congress is a check on the chaos or a co-signer.•••••Josh Turek is a candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa: https://turek4iowa.com Manny Rutinel is a Colorado State Representative and candidate for Congress in CO-8: https://mannyforcolorado.com Rick Wilson is @THERICKWILSON on socials and on Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.  More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #JoshTurek #MannyRutinel #Iowa #Colorado #CO8 #Midterms2026 #RickWilson #LincolnProject #Democrats #Politics #PoliticalPodcast #Podcast

  4. 17 Jul

    Trump Could Not Stand Up. Blanche Could Not Shut Up.

    Two acts, one circus.  Part one: Trump shuffled out last night, grabbed the podium like it was the only thing keeping him upright, and delivered a low-energy, incoherent rerun of his greatest 2020 grievances. And here's the thing — it doesn't matter what he said or how badly he said it. The speech had exactly one job: to poison the well before the 2026 election, to get millions of Americans primed to distrust the results months before a single vote is cast. It wasn't a rant. It was a pre-game. Rick Wilson breaks down why the incoherence is the point, and why the "rigged" groundwork being laid right now should have every one of us paying attention. Part two: enter Todd Blanche, stumbling through an AG confirmation hearing that played like an audition for a job he'd already promised to somebody else. He dodged and dissembled on the Epstein files, made a spectacle of himself under basic questioning, and then — in a Freudian slip for the ages — referred to himself as "Trump's lawyer." Which, let's be honest, is the truest thing anyone said all day. Rick digs into what it means when the person up for the nation's top law enforcement job can't stop admitting who he actually works for. Grab a drink. You'll need it.•••••Rick Wilson is @TheRickWilson on socials and on Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.  More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #Trump #ToddBlanche #Epstein #Election2026 #ElectionIntegrity #RickWilson #LincolnProject #ElephantInTheRoom #Politics #PoliticalPodcast #CurrentEvents #Podcast

  5. 14 Jul

    Dominion Conspiracies, Jared Polis’ Capitulating, & My Pillow Guy’s Endorsement: The Tina Peters’ Commutation Starter Package

    Here's a sentence that should stop you cold: a Democratic governor just cut loose one of the most notorious election criminals in the country — because Donald Trump told him to. Tina Peters, the Colorado clerk convicted for helping breach her own county's voting system and handing the guts of it to Mike Lindell's crew, was doing nine years. Then Trump started posting "FREE TINA," and Governor Jared Polis obliged — slashing her sentence and springing her on parole, dressing it up as a "free speech" stand. His own party censured him. All six Colorado Democrats in Congress lit him up. And it still happened. This week Rick Wilson is joined by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold — the election-integrity watchdog who fought Peters from the start — to break down what this commutation really signals: that the pressure campaign works, that the people who attacked our elections are being rehabilitated in real time, and that it's a dress rehearsal for what's coming this fall. Rick and Jena get into how the machinery of election sabotage actually operates, why the midterms are the next target, and — most importantly — what we can do right now to lock the doors before November. The last election deniers got prosecuted. This time they're getting pardoned. Time to pay attention.•••••Jena Griswold is the Colorado Secretary of State. Check out her campaign for Colorado Attorney General at https://jenaforcolorado.com and follow her @JenaGriswold. Rick Wilson is @TheRickWilson and on Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.  More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #TinaPeters #JenaGriswold #JaredPolis #ElectionIntegrity #Trump #Colorado #RickWilson #LincolnProject #Midterms #Democracy #Politics #Podcast

  6. 10 Jul

    Send in the Clown: Trump Does NATO

    Trump flew to Ankara for the NATO summit and turned it into an open-mic disaster. In two days he threatened to bomb Iran again, screamed at Europe for blocking his Greenland obsession, called Spain "a terrible partner," and trashed half the alliance for skipping his war — then spread his arms and declared it all a lovefest of "tremendous love." This week's Elephant in the Room, Rick Wilson breaks down the clown show. Here's what the spin can't hide: our allies aren't laughing with him — they're backing away. Rick gets into what it actually costs when a president treats the most powerful alliance on earth like his personal roast: the credibility bleeding out, the adversaries taking notes, the friends who've quietly stopped counting on us. Greenland grabs, Iran threats, insulted partners, and a standing ovation he gave himself. It'd be hilarious if it weren't our national security.•••••Rick Wilson is @TheRickWilson and Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and @ProjectLincoln. Go to https://shopify.com/lincolnproject to start your free trial today.  #Trump #NATO #Ankara #Greenland #Iran #RickWilson #LincolnProject #ElephantInTheRoom #ForeignPolicy #Politics #CurrentEvents #Podcast

  7. 7 Jul

    Erin Brockovich: Big Tech Is Draining Your Town Dry for AI

    Somewhere near you, Big Tech is quietly bolting together a windowless box the size of a stadium — and it's thirsty as hell. The AI gold rush has unleashed a wave of massive data centers that swallow staggering amounts of water and electricity, spike local utility bills, and buckle small-town grids that were never built to feed a machine that never sleeps. The trillion-dollar companies get the profits and the press releases. The town next door gets the drained reservoir, the power crunch, and the bill. If that racket sounds familiar, it should. This week, Rick Wilson sits down with the one and only Erin Brockovich — the legendary crusader who's spent her whole life dragging corporate giants into the light and making them pay — to break down the fight communities are waking up to across the country. They get into who's really footing the cost of the AI boom, why local families keep getting steamrolled by companies with unlimited lawyers, how ordinary people are actually beating these projects when they organize early and loud, and exactly what to do if a data center shows up on your doorstep. It's a David-and-Goliath story with a very 2026 twist — and Erin's entire career is proof that Goliath bleeds.•••••Erin Brockovich is a legendary environmental activist and consumer advocate. Find her work at Brockovichdatacenter.com, thebrockovichreport.com, and follow her at @ErinBrockovich. Rick Wilson is on X @TheRickWilson and on Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #ErinBrockovich #DataCenters #BigTech #AI #WaterCrisis #RickWilson #LincolnProject #Environment #Grassroots #Politics #Podcast

  8. 4 Jul

    America at 250: This Is Our Moment

    Let's be honest about the moment we're in: it's dark. The institutions are strained, the norms are cracking, and it's easy to look around and wonder if the whole American experiment is finally running out of road. But here's the thing the doomscrollers keep forgetting — we have been here before. We've faced worse, stared down bigger, and clawed our way out of holes that made this one look shallow. A civil war. A depression. World wars. Movements that had to bleed for the rights the Constitution only promised on paper. Every single time, the smart money bet against us. Every single time, they were wrong. This week's Elephant in the Room is Rick Wilson's case for exactly that: Americans don't fold in the dark — we do our best work there. Across 250 years of tragedies and triumphs, failures and moonshots, this country has been at its most inventive, most stubborn, and most extraordinary when the odds looked impossible. That's not a fairy tale; it's the pattern. The fear is real, the opposition is real, the darkness is real — and so is the thing Americans have always done when the lights get low. This isn't the end of the story. It's the part where we decide how it goes. This is our moment. Let's go earn it.•••••Rick Wilson is @TheRickWilson on socials and therickwilson.substack.com on Substack.  More from LP at www.lincolnproject.us and on X @ProjectLincoln. #America250 #ThisIsOurMoment #RickWilson #LincolnProject #ElephantInTheRoom #July4th #Democracy #History #Hope #Politics #Podcast

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Hosts & Guests

About

The creators of the most watched and talked-about ad content in the political/cultural sphere, THE LINCOLN PROJECT, and co-founder/host Rick Wilson, have a reputation for saying the things others are afraid to say. Headed up by LP's notorious creative team, THE LINCOLN PROJECT podcast features a range of special guests, from leading political minds to the hottest pop-culture icons. Broadening the subject matter beyond politics and making the conversation more relatable to everyone, The Lincoln Project podcast’s mission is to reignite the political flame in every American and break down the biggest topics of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Information

  • Creator
    The Lincoln Project
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    601
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2021
  • Show Website
    The Lincoln Project

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