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

Slate Podcasts
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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.

  1. Bonus: Samuel Alito Apparently Thinks Race Is A Laughing Matter

    5D AGO ·  BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: Samuel Alito Apparently Thinks Race Is A Laughing Matter

    With much of the attention focused on Wednesday’s catastrophic ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act, lots of people may have missed the other horrific news out of SCOTUS on the same day. Also on Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases challenging Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti and Syria. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Madiba Dennie to break down the sheer racism behind the Trump administration’s efforts to deport TPS recipients, and how some justices simply…pretended race couldn’t possibly be relevant to these cases. “I can’t see race” and “I won’t see race” are very different things! For more from Madiba, read her on TPS in Balls & Strikes: “The Supreme Court Did Not Want to Talk About Trump’s Long History of Gutter Racism.” 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.

    19 min

  2. 6D AGO

    Racism’s Over and Seashells Can Be Deadly

    Dahlia Lithwick reviews what has been an “exceptionally bad week” for American democracy. Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explains why the charges against former FBI director James Comey, rooted in the claim that he threatened to kill President Trump – via the medium of seashells on Instagram – are unlikely to stick, no matter how hard Trump’s Acting (and actively auditioning) Attorney General Todd Blanche tries. A deleted insta post from a beach in North Carolina is just not going to meet the Supreme Court’s true-threat standard as laid out in Counterman v Colorado.  But actually, landing a conviction is not the point, McQuade says –– Blanche has learned from Trump’s longstanding legal playbook that he can always win by losing. And that’s why she is also closely watching the DOJ’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center under a dubious fraud theory, warning that Blanche is both more skilled and more ruthless in using prosecutions for political ends, with few accountability mechanisms beyond potential disbarment. McQuade’s new book, The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government is available for pre-order now.  Next, Dahlia discusses this week’s devastating SCOTUS decision in Louisiana v Callais with Madiba Dennie who explains how Justice Alito and the 6-3 Republican supermajority set about hollowing out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, inviting states to redraw maps and entrench racial disenfranchisement, all under the cover of historically distorted “originalism.” 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.

    1h 3m
  3. Bonus: The Worst Voting Rights Decision Since Jim Crow

    APR 29 ·  BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: The Worst Voting Rights Decision Since Jim Crow

    On Wednesday, Justice Samuel Alito delivered the latest, probably lethal blow in the Supreme Court’s decades-long campaign against multi-racial democracy in America, with a 6-3 majority opinion gutting what remained of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v Callais. In this special extra episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization. Nelson argued Louisiana v. Callais before the United States Supreme Court in October of 2025. Together, they examine the history ignored by the right wing majority, and look ahead to the disastrous consequences this ruling unleashes on American democracy, from school boards all the way to the halls of congress. 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.

    19 min
  4. Bonus: GOP Losing at Constitutional Hardball

    APR 26 ·  BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: GOP Losing at Constitutional Hardball

    In this week’s Amicus bonus episode, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern are joined by Madiba Dennie, Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at Balls & Strikes, and author of The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take it Back. They break down the major voting rights news out of Virginia, where Republicans are bellyaching about a new congressional map that could give Democrats 10 out of the Commonwealth’s 11 seats in the House of Representatives. Seems like the architects of this kind of gerrymandering aren’t happy when it benefits their political foes! They discuss Madiba’s vital piece, “There Is Nothing ‘Qualified’ About Qualified Immunity,” on the Supreme Court’s latest decision protecting police from accountability. And in Texas, the 5th Circuit upheld a law requiring public schools to display the King James version of the Ten Commandments. One issue (aside from the clear constitutional violation): The bill lists…eleven commandments. 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.

    26 min

  5. APR 25

    MAGA Media Law 101

    As journalists, a-listers, and some of the most vociferous critics of journalism from  the Trump administration gather for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Dahlia Lithwick tackles the president and his allies’ tactics to chill the press and undermine the First Amendment.  In conversation with Guardian columnist and former New York Times public editor, Margaret Sullivan she explores the Trump administration’s use of meritless, high-dollar defamation suits, focusing on FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million lawsuit lodged against The Atlantic this week. Sullivan links democratic decline to media decline, citing oligarch ownership, consolidation, weakened local news, reduced public media, and corporate leaders’ capitulation via settlements and editorial interference. Margaret’s newsletter, American Crisis can be found here:  margaretsullivan.substack.com/ Next, Dahlia and co-host Mark Joseph Stern examine New York Times’ reporting on leaked Supreme Court memos showing the 2016 Clean Power Plan stay as a pivotal shadow docket moment that perfectly illustrates how activity on the shadow docket is driven by institutional grievance rather than legal urgency. They also dissect Trump’s renewed attacks on the justices despite their frequent support for his agenda. 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.

    1h 4m
  6. Bonus: Justices Flaming Justices

    APR 19 ·  BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: Justices Flaming Justices

    More infighting at the Supreme Court! But also some apologies? In the Amicus Plus bonus episode this week, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern break down the public battles between three of the nine justices. Last week was all about Sonia Sotomayor’s takedown of the “Kavanaugh Stop,” but this week she apologized for getting personal. Dahlia and Mark ask if that was a strategic move, and wonder if her apology could be a bad omen for cases still to come. Meanwhile, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joined the fray, with a robust rejection of Kavanaugh’s shadow docket apologia in a talk at Yale Law School. Then, in a televised speech in Texas, Justice Clarence Thomas took aim at progressivism, blaming it for Nazism, Stalinism, and basically everything bad that happened in the twentieth century. 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.

    29 min

  7. APR 18

    Trump Thwarted, Orban Toppled: The New Roadmap for Democrats

    Hungary’s autocratic creep was turned back at the ballot box last weekend, in a stark rebuke to the forces of illiberalism and to the American conservatives who invested so heavily in former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s mission. It’s good news. But it’s not the end of the story. It behoves pro-democracy forces in the United States to move past the example of democratic resilience in Hungary to real, systemic change to the machinery of American democracy. On this week’s Amicus podcast, Norm Eisen, former ambassador and current democracy warrior (as founder of www.democracydefendersfund.org), tells Dahlia Lithwick that America’s response to Trumpism starts with protecting the rule of law, safeguarding elections, and strangling corruption—the three pillars of a genuine democratic recovery. The key isn’t just fixing courts or passing reforms—it's about building a democratic coalition based on simple, clear issues. As Democrats dare to dream of what may be possible in a post-Trump America, it’s time to start making concrete, workable  plans. This week’s show highlights the roadmap out of autocracy, through coalitions, court reform, and corruption-busting.    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.

    54 min
  8. Bonus: I Love You, Sir

    APR 12 ·  BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: I Love You, Sir

    Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern are back in the smokeless cigar bar to chat about a bunch of legal news that couldn’t fit in the main show. On today’s Amicus plus bonus episode, the “Kavanaugh Stop” is back in the news. There’s a new class action lawsuit filed in New York, challenging these unlawful detentions, but that’s not all. In some new intra-SCOTUS drama, Dahlia and Mark break down the surprising moment in which one of Brett Kavanaugh’s fellow justices took a very big, very public swing at him. Plus, trying to wrap our minds around the humiliatingly desperate declaration of “love” — that’s right, “love” — from Donald Trump’s new Acting Attorney General. 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.

    26 min
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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.

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