Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America. Get more Amicus with Slate Plus. Join to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis—plus ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. 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.

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  1. 18h ago

    Pardon-Proof Accountability

    In the wake of this week’s sweeping midterm rebuke of Donald Trump, Protect Democracy co-founder Ian Bassin joins Dahlia Lithwick to discuss how voters pushed back against authoritarianism—and how the country can turn that victory into lasting change. Bassin argues that congressional investigators must do more than expose corruption: They should preserve the evidence a future attorney general would need to recoup taxpayers’ money. As he explains, Trump’s pardons can’t shield ill-gotten gains. Later, the conversation turns to the Supreme Court’s response to election interference, the case for term limits for justices, and why repairing the Justice Department cannot mean turning a blind eye to abuses of power. Drawing on other countries’ struggles with authoritarianism, Dahlia and Ian consider whether this moment will usher in a revival of “small-d” democracy—and why the answer still depends on what the people do next. 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. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. 6d ago ·  Bonus · Slate Plus Only

    Bonus: House Oversight vs. House Overkill

    Madiba K. Dennie joins Dahlia to talk about three overlooked events in the legal world this week. If you need a break from election news but want to stay shocked, join us! First, Madiba explains the legal strategy and theory behind a SCOTUS case being heard this week that could require states to fund religious groups that openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ parents now … and different people later. It’s the latest in a long line of Colorado cases using religious liberty as a sword rather than a shield. Next, Madiba and Dahlia dissect the House Judiciary Committee’s very different approaches to serious matters. Democrats released a 50-page investigation this week into Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein and how the White House and DOJ are working together to cover it up. What did the Republicans on the same committee get up to? They went after a judge who called out a bogus Trump lawsuit and penalized the lawyers who brought the case. (Surprise! Todd Blanche shows up in both instances.) If you want to hear more about the Trump-Epstein report, check out the latest episode of What Next with Mary Harris, who interviewed the committee’s ranking member, Jamie Raskin, about the report: https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next/2026/10/will-the-new-epstein-release-force-the-doj-to-investigate This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock weekly bonus episodes of Amicus—you’ll also 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.

    Bonus: House Oversight vs. House Overkill
  3. Oct 31

    DOJ’s Groundwork for Midterm Mayhem

    The Trump administration has sued to potentially block certification of a Senate race in Alaska, threatened California election officials with jail time, and challenged the voter rolls in 30 states. They've lost almost all of those cases. So with a few days to go before the midterms, should we still be worried? Dahlia is joined by Ari Berman, Mother Jones national voting rights correspondent and author of Minority Rule and Give Us the Ballot, to walk through the legal state of play heading into Election Day. They cover the Alaska Senate race lawsuit, the California ballot-segregation case, the threat of election-day ballot seizures and poll intimidation, and the Supreme Court's likely role if disputed elections land on its doorstep. They also discuss a source of hope: Black voters across the South are surging to the polls, driven by the Roberts Court’s attack on voting rights in its recent Callais decision, turning a ruling designed to suppress their votes into the most powerful mobilizing force of the cycle. Plus, Amicus Plus members get a bonus episode with Madiba Dennie on this week’s Epstein file revelations, new GOP threats to judges who rule against Trump, and a major religious liberty case headed to SCOTUS. 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. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Oct 24

    Impeach Trump Y/N?

    Let’s say Democrats gain control of the House and Senate in a couple of weeks, with a majority of Americans demanding accountability, and an airtight list of high crimes and misdemeanors as long as your arm. Should Democrats impeach Trump on Day One? Frank Bowman is an expert in both the law and politics of the impeachment process who has analyzed the first two efforts to impeach and remove President Trump during his first term. But in the wake of an extensive study of our current moment, Professor Bowman tells Dahlia Lithwick that the president’s crimes are definitely impeachable—but acute polarization and tribalism may be insurmountable obstacles to Congress actually using the Framers’ last-ditch check against an autocratic president. Read Frank Bowman’s series for Slate Try, Try Again? https://slate.com/tag/try-try-again His forthcoming book, Great and Dangerous Offences: The Case for (and Against) Impeaching Trump a Third Time, is available for preorder now. 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. 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. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Oct 21 ·  Bonus

    By the People | The People v. SCOTUS

    Stacey Abrams, Ilyse Hogue, and Daphna Renan join Dahlia Lithwick in conversation for a live By The People finale. This is part five of our series on popular constitutionalism, the idea that the Constitution belongs to the people—and not just to nine justices. Our listeners showed up with stories: a 62-year-old heading to law school, an 8th-grade teacher emailing her senators, an artist drawing the court, and a woman literally knitting the Constitution. They also came with questions for our guests: What about court expansion? What about term limits? Is it just too late? Abrams argues we're not cooked, but “things are just really hot.” Renan walks us through the tools Congress has used throughout U.S. history to rein in judicial supremacy. And, Hogue shares the story she’s hearing at town halls across the country: Americans of all stripes still believe in the Constitution's promise—they just don't know how to claim it. Later: Our panelists offer clear and concrete steps for reclaiming the constitution. Stacey Abrams’ 10 Steps Campaign can be found here: https://10stepscampaign.org/Read about Ilyse Hogue’s work on her Substack: https://theallamerican.substack.com/Check out Daphna Renan and Niko Bowie’s new book, Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the PeopleWant 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. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    By the People | The People v. SCOTUS

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A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America. Get more Amicus with Slate Plus. Join to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis—plus ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. 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.

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