Sam and Emma host Mark Joseph Stern, staff writer at Slate, to preview the incoming SCOTUS opinions of the week. First, Sam and Emma preview primary Tuesday, the ever-mounting success of Starbucks unions, and remind us that much like Liz Cheney, Bill Barr is NOT our friend. Then, they’re joined by Mark as they dive into this “storm before the even bigger storm” moment in the Supreme Court, first covering why the Supreme Court’s summer decision dumps all come down to the end of June so they can get out on vacation, and speculating on the order of the drops when there are so many massive decisions currently pending. Next, they get into the actual issues at hand, looking to the many layers of Dobbs v Jackson, including the continued obscurity around the leak and leaker’s identity, what small “cleanups” we’ll see in comparison to Alito’s leaked draft, and the futures of Griswald and Sodomy laws. They also dive into Andrus v Texas, looking at how the Supreme Court allowed lower-level courts to overturn the Sixth Amendment guarantee to effective assistance of counsel, practically removing habeas review and other judicial practices while still keeping their institutional image intact, and explore this deferral of the Court as an affirmation to the lower courts’ that they will allow the overturning of their own precedent if it aligns with their conservative ideology. Sam then gets right into the administrative state as he, Emma, and Mark Joseph Stern look to West Virginia v EPA, discussing the role of Brett Kavanaugh’s baby, the major questions doctrine, in bolstering the Court’s ability to undermine the delegatory capacities of Congress and the executive branch by requiring explicit and specific congressional guidelines. After a conversation on the “activist” nature of this conservative court, they wrap up the interview by discussing the future of concealed carry with New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, and the use of coercive religious practices in public schools with Kennedy v. Bremerton.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma cover the updates on yesterday’s 1/6 hearing, exploring the accusation of Trump’s campaign lawyer as “an agent of the deep state” for rejecting the validity of the Dominion fraud, McClain from Iowa, Bradley’s Dad from LA, AND Peter from St. Paul all dive deep into handling conversations with conservative parents and the importance of finding commonalities, as the right becomes more and more the Republican Party of (some of our) fathers. Brock from Wichita talks gun control, and Fox News displays their militant support for trans people by… telling the story of a conservative family’s acceptance of their son, which of course makes Matt Walsh angry when there’s an excellent documentary talking about women’s bodies right there! Plus, your calls and IMs!