The Lawfare Podcast

Kate Klonick, scholar of law and technology; Scott R. Anderson, litigation and national security lawyer; Eric Columbus, DOJ and courtroom analyst; Roger Parloff, seasoned legal journalist. They unpack Judge Boasberg quashing subpoenas aimed at Powell. They discuss Anthropic’s suit against the Defense Department, Kari Lake’s unlawful appointment fallout, appointment disputes for U.S. attorneys, and other high-profile litigation developments.

Elliot Jones, Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute who studies AI evaluation and governance. He discusses why AI evaluations, audits, and benchmarks matter now. He explains the technical and governance hurdles in testing foundation models. He covers who should run assessments, regulatory approaches in the EU/UK/US, and risks like audit-washing and limited test coverage.

Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and historian of U.S. foreign policy, discusses Saddam Hussein using newly available tapes and archives. He explores Saddam’s mix of paranoia and showmanship, family power dynamics, U.S.–Iraq covert ties during the Iran‑Iraq war, failures of coup efforts, and how mutual misunderstandings shaped the march to invasion.

Charles Lister, senior fellow and head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute, offers on-the-ground expertise. He walks through Syria’s rapid political shift and the new transitional government. He discusses the Syrian Democratic Forces’ status, negotiations to integrate forces, Turkey’s changing role, the U.S. policy pivot, and risks like detainees, displacement, and looming flashpoints.

Troy Edwards, former prosecutor with national security litigation experience. Molly Roberts, senior editor and legal reporter on national security. Kate Klonick, law professor focused on tech, AI, and governance. They debate the DOD designation of Anthropic and its lawsuits. They parse Iran-linked number-station warnings and overseas threat risks. They unpack recent federal probes tied to 2020 election claims.

Matt Olsen, former Assistant Attorney General for National Security and current WilmerHale partner, brings decades of counterterrorism experience. He discusses Iran's persistent terrorism and assassination efforts on U.S. soil. He warns about weakened DOJ and FBI capacity. He explains why Section 702 intelligence is crucial and the risks if it lapses.

Pavlo Litovkin, a senior Ukrainian drone instructor who builds and trains mobile interceptor teams. Fabian Hoffman, a missile analyst and author focused on Shahed drones and air-defense tradeoffs. They discuss Shahed drone characteristics and radar visibility. They compare area versus point defense, interceptor-drone innovation and costs. They outline detection networks and lessons from Ukraine for allies.

Jacob Ware, author and researcher of nihilistic violent extremism, and Seamus Hughes, a counterterrorism researcher and Lawfare editor, unpack the FBI’s new NVE label. They explore the rise of online groups like 764, why schools are targeted, youth radicalization and mental health, prosecution challenges, grooming on platforms such as Telegram and Roblox, and prevention versus enforcement.

Troy Edwards, former government attorney with on-the-ground criminal procedure insight; Molly Roberts, legal analyst on professional responsibility and media litigation; Roger Parloff, veteran legal journalist on high-profile prosecutions; Alan Rozenshtein, scholar of national security and administrative law. They discuss TikTok divestiture litigation, Anthropic supply-chain designation, Fulton County ballot seizures, Minnesota contempt fights, DOJ appellate reversals, and immigration and detention rulings.

A brisk legal deep dive into the strike that killed Qassem Soleimani and its regional fallout. Conversations cover Iran's strategic gains from U.S. withdrawal and American interests in Iraq. Detailed debate on domestic authority for force, imminence standards, and limits of AUMFs. International law, proportionality, historical analogies, and likely regional escalation are explored.