Demystifying the Indian Supreme Court

Over the summer, thousands of young Indians took to the streets to demand sweeping reforms of the higher education sector. This unexpected wave of Gen Z mobilization was catalyzed by the emergence of the Cockroach Janata Party, a satirical meme that blossomed into a national move ... Show More

Most conventional accounts of the origins of liberalism in India typically begin and end with the British. Indian thinkers are often depicted as encountering liberal ideas through colonial institutions, adapting them to local conditions, and eventually turning them against the Br ... Show More

The making of India’s Constitution is usually told as the story of the few hundred prominent lawyers, politicians, and intellectuals who comprised the Constituent Assembly—the body tasked with drafting this historic document between 1946 and 1949. But a new book by the scholars R ... Show More

Late spring/early summer is always a busy time for the Supreme Court, but this year, it’s not just the controversial decisions that are making news. The justices themselves have been in headlines — for all the wrong reasons. Kara and an expert panel discuss the ethical lapses, re ... Show More

Since the Supreme Court’s "shadow docket" decision to allow the Texas abortion ban to go into effect, a growing chorus of politicians and legal experts have questioned the court’s legitimacy. Vox's Ian Millhiser says the justices aren’t taking the criticism well. Today’s show was ... Show More

Dara Lind is joined by Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) to discuss the major decisions handed down by the Supreme Court this term. They talk about the Court’s emphasis on historical narrative, its move away from settled legal doctrine, and the politicization o ... Show More

<p>Leah, Kate, and Melissa talk to <a href="https://twitter.com/steve_vladeck" target="_blank">Steve Vladeck</a> about his new book, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-shadow-docket-how-the-supreme-court-uses-stealth-rulings-to-amass-power-and-undermine-the-republic-stephe ... Show More

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of cases that threaten to topple four decades of precedent about federal agencies' authority to interpret statutes. Leah, Melissa, and Kate recap the arguments and outline the Koch-funded basis for the Supreme Court's la ... Show More

Today I talked to Aaron Tang about his new book Supreme Hubris: How Overconfidence Is Destroying the Court--And How We Can Fix It (Yale UP, 2023). The Supreme Court, once the most respected institution in American government, is now routinely criticized for rendering decisions ba ... Show More

In a hearing today, the Senate Judiciary Committee took on the Supreme Court’s lack of ethics standards. ProPublica’s Joshua Kaplan explains how his reporting on Justice Clarence Thomas’s history of accepting gifts from a conservative megadonor led to increased scrutiny of the co ... Show More

<p>Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap the last Supreme Court term, as the justices speed off on their summer vacations (in a luxury yacht? on a private jet? in an RV in Walmart parking lot? Who's to say!). They highlight recurring themes throughout the justices' opinions, relive some ... Show More

Original Air Date: December 8, 2022 The Supreme Court is back in session and taking on a number of hot button issues this session. To break down the latest episode, David sits down with Dahlia Lithwick of Slate. How likely is the Supreme Court to side with those pushing the Indep ... Show More