Judicial Activism

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma host Steve Vladeck, Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, to discuss his recent book The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Ukraine’s offensive, the WGA writers’ strike, Twitter’s dropping […]
Happy Monday! Sam and Emma host Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the University of California, Berkeley Law School, to discuss his recent book Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the multiple mass killings in Texas this weekend, debt limit talks, Title 42, Trump’s civil rape case, Biden’s floundering polling […]
Sam hosts Aaron Kleinman, director of research for the States Project at Future Now, to discuss the upcoming Wisconsin State Supreme Court election in April. Then they’re joined by Peter Shamshiri, or Law Boy on Twitter, co-host of the 5-4 Podcast, to discuss the recent oral arguments before the Supreme Court. First, Sam runs through updates on the DOJ bringing a case against the Memphis PD, Biden’s […]
Sam hosts Meron Rapoport, editor of Local Call, to discuss his recent reporting on the conflict in Israel & Palestine for +972 Magazine. Then, they’re joined by ProPublica reporters J. David McSwane & Ryan Gabrielson to discuss their recent piece “A Christian Health Nonprofit Saddled Thousands With Debt as It Built a Family Empire Including a Pot Farm, a Bank and an Airline”. First Sam […]
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 […]
Sam and Emma host Blake Emerson, assistant professor at the UCLA School of Law, to discuss some of the recent rulings coming out of the 5th Circuit. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Leah Litman, assistant professor at Michigan Law School and contributor to Slate, to discuss the recent SCOTUS ruling for Sen. Ted Cruz against […]
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and proprietor of the AP newsletter on Substack, to round up the week in news. Alex, Emma, and Sam begin with Hannity reassuring his audience that nothing will change with the Roe v. Wade decision, because, of course, the radical left is just hysterical, and […]
Emma hosts Sara Matthiesen, Professor of History at George Washington University, to discuss her recent book Reproduction Reconceived: Family Making and the Limits of Choice After Roe V. Wade, and how reproductive rights and the concept of choice have been manipulated and under attack in the age of Roe. Professor Matthiesen and Emma begin by exploring the […]
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Pascal Robert, co-host of the This Is Revolution podcast, to wrap up the week in news. Pascal first takes on the meaning of yesterday’s successful nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, first walking through her qualifications, as the first justice with public defense experience since Thurgood Marshall, and […]
Sam and Emma host Wilfred Codrington, Assistant Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, to discuss President Biden’s recent nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. They begin by situating her nomination within the expectations of a SCOTUS Justice’s pedigree, as Judge Jackson’s dual Harvard degrees, three federal clerkships (including for Justice Breyer), and […]