Month: January 2017

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The Gist - The 12-Step Program of Highly Effective People

Nick Thune took the long way to stand-up comedy, performing Enrique Iglesias cover songs and making a stop in rehab before graduating from high school. On The Gist, he explains why he’s not scared of silence on stage and what made him ditch his guitar. His new special, Nick Thune: Good Guy, is streaming now on Seeso. 

In the Spiel, asking much of Steven Mnuchin and parrying with Rick Perry. 

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Bay Curious - Ode to the Foghorn: The Sound of the Sea

Take a trip around the San Francisco Bay and get to know our local foghorns -- where they are, how they work, who turns them on.


Reported by Laura Klivans. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Ryan Levi and Suzie Racho. Additional support from Julie Caine, Julia McEvoy, Ethan Lindsey and Howard Gelman. Holly Kernan is Vice President for News. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

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Bay Curious - For Whom The Foghorn Blows

If you live in the Bay Area, a foggy day can be a good excuse for some guilt-free time indoors. If you live near the water, days like that bring something else: foghorns.


Reported by Laura Klivans. Produced and edited by Olivia Allen-Price, Vinnee Tong, Suzie Racho, Paul Lancour and Julia McEvoy. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller.


Ask us a question at BayCurious.org.

Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.

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The Gist - Trial by Firing Line

You didn’t have to agree with William F. Buckley to marvel at his intellect, his swiftness, and his wit. Starting in 1966, Buckley got to show off his skills every week on Firing Line, his pioneering television show devoted to debate. Heather Hendershot watched nearly 1,500 episodes of the show, and though she still doesn’t agree with Buckley, she admires how he created a place for high-minded argument. Hendershot is the author of Open to Debate: How William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line. For the Spiel, is the circus shutting down or will confirmation hearings be going for a bit longer?

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The Gist - Can The Democrats Obstruct Everything for Four Years?

On every major piece of legislation in the Obama era, congressional Republicans have thrown up roadblocks and been reluctant to compromise. Can Democrats do the same in the age of Trump? Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and The Atlantic looks at the options facing the Congressional opposition and the future of everyone’s favorite obstructionist tool, the filibuster. 

In the Spiel, why we don’t judge presidents based on their inauguration’s Nielsen ratings. 

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Opening Arguments - OA35: The Emoluments Clause (w/Seth Barrett Tillman) Part 1

Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on whether the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution applies to incoming President Donald Trump. We begin, however, by addressing another Trump-related question:  Does a recent report claiming that 50+ Trump electors are ineligible provide the relief of preventing Trump from assuming the Presidency?  We delve into the report and answer the question in a way that may surprise you. Our main interview segment is with Lecturer Seth Barrett Tillman of the Maynooth University Department of Law.  Tillman's thesis is that the Emoluments Clause does not apply to President Trump because the Presidency is not an "office... under the United States" for purposes of Constitutional analysis. Next, we answer a listener question from William Stemmler about officeholders in the line of Presidential Succession who are themselves ineligible to become President.  Could Donald Trump nominate George W. Bush to be Secretary of State?  Find out! Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #6 about pre-nuptial agreements.  Remember that TTTBE issues a new question every Friday, followed by the answer on next Tuesday's show.  Don't forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s)! Show Notes & Links
  1. Here's the Raw Story report on disqualified Trump electors, and the full text of the report can be downloaded from Alternet.
  2. Prof. Tillman can be found on Twitter at @SethBTillman, and here is his professional page.
  3. In November of 2016, Prof. Tillman wrote a brief piece for the New York Times summarizing his thesis about the Emoluments Clause.
  4. This 2009 Memorandum from the President's Office of Legal Counsel assumes -- without argument or citation -- that the Emoluments Clause applies to the President.
  5. In December of 2016, Norm Eisen, Richard Painter, and Laurence Tribe wrote a paper for the Brookings Institution arguing that the Emoluments Clause does apply to the President.
  6. Zephyr Teachout's law review article, The Anti-Corruption Principle sets forth her argument that the Constitution, including the Emoluments Clause, enshrines a fundamental principle to protect against corruption of our highest offices, including the Presidency.
  7. Tillman's Opening Statement, Citizens United and the Scope of Professor Teachout’s Anti-Corruption Principle is here.
  8. Teachout's specific response to Tillman on the Emoluments Clause is here.
  9. Tillman's reply to Teachout can be found here.
  10. Teachout's final reply to Tillman can be found here.
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