

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
Slate Podcasts
A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America.Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 23, 2020 • 1h 1min
Immunity, Impunity, and Justice by the Numbers
A big show for the long weekend. First, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Leah Litman of the University of Michigan Law School to discuss oral arguments in the Trump financial records cases, and to get granular with the question of who gets interrupted most in oral arguments over the phone. (Guess what? It’s gendered.)Next, a big picture conversation about the rule of law and global justice before, during, and after COVID-19, with David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee. In the Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern takes us through arguments in the faithless electors case, the big religious freedom case that most people missed, and why you shouldn’t read too much into the Supreme Court’s latest order regarding the Mueller Report. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 9, 2020 • 1h 2min
Big Days for Justice
Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Susan Hennessey, national security analyst and executive editor of Lawfare to discuss the ramifications of the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case against Michael Flynn. Later in the show, Lithwick is joined by veteran Supreme Court watcher Linda Greenhouse to unpack the new format for Supreme Court arguments: a teleconference carried live on C-SPAN, with a close look at the birth control case you might have missed. In the Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern on how Flushgate could affect post-pandemic openness at the Supreme Court and which justice is crushing the conference calls. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 25, 2020 • 42min
States’ Rights
Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Colorado State Attorney General Phil Weiser to talk about how states’ rights fit into the picture of America that’s emerging in this pandemic. In the Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern joins Dahlia to talk about the big decisions that came down from the high court this week and what they mean for other, even bigger, decisions yet to come this term. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apr 11, 2020 • 51min
Why, Wisconsin?
Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Marc Elias, chair of Perkins Coie’s Political Law Group, he represents the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Together, they reconstruct how the Supreme Court stepped into Wisconsin’s April election, and what the path to that decision—and the fallout from it—can teach us ahead of November. In the Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern talks about Mitch McConnell’s continued campaign to stack the judiciary, the dissonance between conservative positions on election law and reproductive rights in the time of COVID, and the piece he wishes he and Dahlia had written together this week, but didn’t. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 28, 2020 • 59min
Protecting Democracy in a Pandemic
Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Ian Bassin, former associated White House counsel from 2009-11 and co-founder of Protect Democracy for a look at the pain points, tensions, and glimmers of hope in how this constitutional democracy is handling the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19. In the Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern on why Justice Elena Kagan is voting with the conservatives, the unanimous decision in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American Media and what it means for future civil-rights cases, and the crisis unfolding in the immigration courts. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 14, 2020 • 54min
The Law of Public Health
Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Professor Michele Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy at the University of California Irvine School of Law. Professor Goodwin unpacks the oral arguments in this term’s big reproductive health case, June Medical Services, and delves into the history of racism and civil-rights trampling in the name of public health. For plus members, Mark Joseph Stern joins Dahlia with what to expect from a SCOTUS closed to the public, the Obamacare case, and which record was met at the Supreme Court this week. Podcast production by Sara Burningham.Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 29, 2020 • 46min
Have Progressives Lost the Courts for Good?
Dahlia Lithwick asks the new president of the American Constitution Society, Russ Feingold, if it’s too late for progressives to respond to the conservative steamroller that is the Federalist Society. Slate Plus members have access to a bonus segment in which Slate’s Mark JosephStern breaks down the headlines, cases, cert grants, and conundrums from the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts. To start your free two-week trial go to slate.com/amicusplusPodcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 26, 2020 • 14min
Election Meltdown, Professor Brendan Nyhan
Brendan Nyhan is a political science professor at Dartmouth College who focuses on misinformation and so-called fake news. His views on how fake news affects election outcomes might surprise you. Try Slate Plus free: slate.com/amicusplusPodcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 22, 2020 • 1h 10min
Election Meltdown, Part 5
In the fifth and final part of this special series of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined live on stage in Washington by former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, MacArthur fellow Professor Danielle Citron of Boston University law school, director of the ACLU’s voting-rights initiative Dale Ho, and election law professor Rick Hasen of the University of California, Irvine. Together, they pick themselves up from the rug of despair with a pile of can-do fixes for the stress points threatening the integrity of U.S. elections. Rick Hasen’s new book Election Meltdown forms the basis for this special series of Amicus. Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 15, 2020 • 51min
Election Meltdown, Part 4
In the fourth part of this special five-part series of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by election law professor Rick Hasen and Professor Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy.Together, they try to sort through the rhetoric and the reality of “stolen” elections. Rick Hasen’s new book Election Meltdown forms the basis for this special series of Amicus. Join Slate for the Election Meltdown live show on Feb. 19 in Washington. Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


