In authoritarian states, the public has no agency and no real access to justice. Renée DiResta, a scholar who researches online information campaigns, struggled to counter false accusations leveled against her after a series of courts accepted them without investigation. As courts become more political, people could begin to assume justice is impossible.
Th ... Show More
Oct 2
Weaponizing the Justice Department
President Donald Trump is using the Department of Justice to try to punish his political enemies. How much can the president bend the DOJ, an institution built on norms and ethics, to his will before it breaks? In this episode, we talk to the Atlantic staff writer Quinta Jurecic, ... Show More
40m 32s
Jul 2023
The Case Against Democracy - Curtis Yarvin
Curtis Yarvin, also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is an American blogger. He is known, along with philosopher Nick Land, for founding the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic philosophical movement known as the Dark Enlightenment or neoreactionary movement (NRx). He argu ... Show More
1h 13m
Aug 12
Trump’s ‘Law and Order’ Crackdown on D.C., and Silicon Valley Embraces the Pentagon
<p>Plus, a quiet crisis for America’s jurors. </p><p><strong>On Today’s Episode:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/trump-washington-dc-police.html" target="_blank"><strong>Trump Takes Control of D.C. Police, Citing ‘Bloodthirsty Criminals.’ Bu ... Show More
10m 9s
Oct 2024
Jon Michaels and David Noll, "Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy" (Atria/One Signal, 2024)
Law professors Jon Michaels and David Noll use their expertise to expose how state-supported forms of vigilantism are being deployed by MAGA Republicans and Christian nationalists to roll back civil, political, and privacy rights and subvert American democracy. Beyond identifying ... Show More
1h 19m
Sep 4
The Landmark Google Antitrust Ruling
<p>For decades, the government has struggled with how to police monopolies in the tech industry.</p><p>This week, a landmark ruling in a case against Google became the most aggressive attempt in the modern era to level the playing field.</p><p>David McCabe, who covers tech policy ... Show More
25m 21s
Jun 2025
Trump's showdown with the courts with Yale Law School's Emily Bazelon
<p>President Trump has never been shy about his revolutionary ambitions. In his second term, he’s moved aggressively to consolidate power within the executive branch—signing more than 150 executive orders in just over 150 days, sidelining Congress, and pressuring the institutions ... Show More
29m 8s