The Focus Group Podcast

The battle lines of the next Republican primary are being drawn in Florida's Republican primary for governor.

After Sen. Lindsey Graham’s passing in July, South Carolina is holding a special Republican primary to replace him as the nominee for U.S. Senate.

At the end of one of the most expensive Democratic primaries for Senate in American history, Abdul El-Sayed appears to be pulling away.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro is on track for a pretty big win in November. And he can't do that without winning over a lot of former Trump voters, including the ones in our focus group.

American politics and politicians are decidedly lower-character than they used to be. So, how did we get here?

Over the last three years, Democratic voters’ opinion of Israel has taken a nosedive. Sarah and Tommy Vietor talk about why.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Summer’s here, and Sarah’s taking a break from primary election coverage to take stock of the national political landscape.

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?

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.

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.

This week's show has a rare note of agreement with our MAGA focus group participants.

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...

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.

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...

Everyone agrees that America is too divided. So, how do we rebuild a country where Americans can live with each other a little easier?

Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV are probably the two most prominent Americans in the world right now, and they're fighting.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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?