logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2024
1h 9m

The “Don’t Call It a Comeback (Because I...

THE LAWFARE INSTITUTE
About this episode

This week, Alan, Quinta, and Scott were finally reunited to talk through the week’s big natsec stories, including:

  • “First is the Worst.” The historic first criminal trial of a former president has commenced in New York state courts. Both sides have sketched out their cases in opening arguments. What will the charges being brought against former President Trump relating to alleged hush money payments on his behalf mean for him and his 2024 presidential campaign?
  • “Fair Whither Friend.” After months of delay that have, by some accounts, pushed Ukraine dangerously close to defeat, the House has finally passed legislation that would provide them with essential foreign assistance, alongside other aid packages for Israel and Taiwan as well as a handful of related foreign affairs measures. What is good, bad, and ugly about the package that finally got through? And what do the dynamics of its passage mean for other U.S. foreign policy interests in the near term?
  • “The Clock is Tocking.” Among the side measures passed by the House and likely to be enacted into law is a bill targeting the popular social media platform TikTok — one that would ban that platform if its owners, ByteDance, do not divest due to concerns with the degree of control the Chinese government may have over it. But is this sort of regulation of a social media platform constitutional? And is banning one good policy?

For object lessons, Alan finally put down the damn remote and recommended an actual book, Charles Mann’s “The Wizard and the Prophet,” about the competing, prescient visions of the future put forward by early 20th-century scientists William Vogt and Norman Borlaug. Quinta picked it up and urged listeners to check out the new documentary “Stormy,” about Stormy Daniels and the impact her alleged involvement with former President Trump and its aftermath has had on her life. And Scott shouted out one of his favorite purveyors of the silver screen, Alamo Drafthouse, and their thoughtful “sensory friendly” showings that turn up the lights and down the noise for those with young children or sensory sensitivities — something that recently allowed him and his wife to see “Dune 2” in the theater with a newborn in tow.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
The “Game Changers” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with fellow Senior Editors Molly Reynolds and Alan Rozenshtein to talk through the week’s big national security news, including:“One Bill to rule them all, One Bill to find them, One Bill to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Republicans in C ... Show More
1h 15m
Jun 26
The “Pronghorn Shirt Daily” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin Wittes and Natalie Orpett, and University of Virginia School of Law professor Ashley Deeks, to talk through the week’s big national security news, including:“Bracing for Fallout.” In a surprise move, President Trump j ... Show More
1h 18m
Jun 18
The "Middle East War to End Middle East Wars" Edition
This week, Scott sat down with Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien and Foreign Policy Editors Daniel Byman and Dana Stuster to talk through the week’s big news in Israel and Iran, including:“The Nuclear Option.” Israel crossed the rubicon late last week and took direct military ... Show More
1h 14m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
Rational Security: The “Big Worm Energy” Edition
This week, Alan and Quinta were joined by Kevin Frazier to talk through some of the week’s biggest national security news, including:“KOSA Nostra.” An overwhelming majority of senators voted to pass the Kids Online Safety Act, also known as KOSA—a bipartisan piece of legislation ... Show More
1h 10m
Apr 9
How Will New Tariffs Impact Prices and Stock Market? | RFK Jr. Encourages Measles Vaccine and Addresses Cuts to Health Programs
President Trump imposes a 104% tariff on Chinese imports, prompting a fierce response from Beijing and raising concerns about rising costs for American consumers. Anna Coren reports from Hong Kong on the potential global fallout.President Trump's tariffs could drive up the cost o ... Show More
51m 12s
Sep 2024
Americanswers! Who's to blame for violence against Donald Trump?
The FBI has confirmed it is treating the incident involving a would-be attacker on Sunday as "an attempted assassination" against Donald Trump. We answer your questions on the fallout from another dramatic event in the campaign. Is political violence becoming normalised in the US ... Show More
27m 24s
Jul 4
A year of Keir
This week marks a year of Keir Starmer’s government. But if Labour was expecting to celebrate the anniversary – it didn't pan out that way. Despite claiming a narrow victory with the contentious welfare bill, the government appeared to have one of its roughest weeks on record. Ho ... Show More
37m 29s
Nov 2024
Labour’s beef with farmers
After winning swaths of rural seats in the general election, Labour’s relationship with the countryside has nosedived, amid a row over the government’s plan to impose inheritance tax on some farms. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by Political Fix regular Jim Pickard and political corr ... Show More
36m 20s
Apr 7
Americanswers! Which news stories are being overshadowed by Trump's tariffs?
The first US measles death in a decade, mass protests against Trump and El Salvador’s mega-jail…In today’s Q&A Anthony, Justin and Mariana sign the podcasting equivalent of an executive order, putting a one-episode exemption on tariffs to focus on the other stories that may have ... Show More
30m 24s
Aug 2024
Americanswers! More legal trouble for Trump... And why did RFK Jr drop out?
US prosecutors have issued revised charges against Donald Trump for the former president's alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 election after losing the contest. How do they differ from the charges he’s already facing?RFK Jr has officially dropped out of the race for the Wh ... Show More
19 m
Jan 2025
Supreme Court backs TikTok sale-or-ban law. What now?
The Supreme Court upheld a law on Friday that is set to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless the popular video app is sold. NPR's Bobby Allyn tells us more. Also, Marium Zahra, a student in El Paso, Texas, talks about how she uses TikTok and what a ban on the app would mean for her. The ... Show More
27m 48s
Apr 15
Trapped Abroad: The Man at the Center of a Constitutional Standoff
When President Trump met with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, at the White House, the fate of one man was hanging in the balance.Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, discusses the Maryland man who was mistakenly sent to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador, and ... Show More
23m 14s