Month: March 2017

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Gorsuch Grins, Says Nothing

This week, the Senate held four days of hearings on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. What did we learn about Gorsuch from his 20-odd hours in the hot seat? Did the Democrats gain anything of value from the testimony? Did Gorsuch say anything of substance? And, in the end, will the hearings even matter? In this bonus episode, we reflect on the hearings with veteran political operative Ron Klain and Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern.

Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app.

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Podcast production by Tony Field.

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The Gist - Feet off the Couch, Please

Alyssa Mastromonaco served as White House deputy chief of staff under Barack Obama. Her job was expansive—covering everything from interviewing James Comey to making sure the White House driveway was re-paved[AM1] . Now, she’s written a memoir, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House.

In the Spiel, Republicans weren’t able to come up with a better plan than “Obamacare bad.” Failure was inevitable.

Today’s sponsors:

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS More Or Less: Baby Boxes ? are they really saving infant?s lives?

Ever since a BBC article highlighted the use of baby boxes in Finland they have become a bit of a phenomenon. They?re not new though Finland has been doing this for 75 years. The simple cardboard boxes are given to families for their new born babies to sleep in. Since their introduction cot death and has fallen and child health improved. Governments and individuals across the world have adopted them and companies have sprung up selling them. But think about for minute ? can a cardboard box on its own really have such a huge effect ? Elizabeth Cassin and Charlotte McDonald have been looking at the truth behind the story.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

Producer: Elizabeth Cassin

(Photo:One of Scotland's first baby boxes is seen at Clackmannanshire Community Health Centre. Credit: Getty Images)

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Motley Fool Money - Disney’s Big Cheese

Disney's CEO extends his stay. Sears gets slammed. Nike drops. And Twitter searches for premium revenue. Plus, Motley Fool Wealth Management financial planner Megan Brinsfield offers tax advice for investors. Thanks to Audible for supporting Motley Fool Money. Listen to Audible's new original series: Ponzi Supernova. Details at audible.com/ponzi. Audible and Amazon Prime members listen free.

 

 

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - The Mysterious Lake City Quiet Pills

Did a group of private assassins use a series of sleazy websites as fronts for their base of operations? Join Ben, Matt and Noel as they delve into the mysterious story of Lake City Quiet Pills.

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They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Opening Arguments - OA54: Gerrymandering

In today's episode, we look at the history and potential future of gerrymandered congressional districts. We begin, however, with a listener question that's come to us from multiple sources, including Patrons Greg Boettcher and Adrian Borschow, who want to know if there's any difference between a "jail" and a "prison."  We deliver the goods! In our main segment, we delve into three recent cases regarding the time-honored practice of gerrymandering a state into congressional districts so as to maximize the number of safe seats for any one political party.  How significant is this problem, and can the courts fix it?  Listen and find out! Next, our much-beloved segment "Closed Arguments" returns with a look at a British tabloid journalist, Katie Hopkins, who was recently forced to pay more than 300,000 pounds (that's still real money, right?) after mistakenly taunting another journalist on Twitter. Finally, we end with a brand new Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #16 that asks whether an administrative assistant has sufficient authority to bind her boss when making contracts. 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)! Recent Appearances: None.  Have us on your podcast, radio or TV show, or interview us! Show Notes & Links
  1. The first Supreme Court case to recognize a constitutional right to a non-gerrymandered district was Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986).
  2. Scalia (of course) attempted to overrule Davis v. Bandemer in his 2004 plurality opinion in Vieth v. Jubelirer, 541 US 267 (2004), but could only garner four votes.
  3. Since then, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed the basic principle of Davis v. Bandemer in LULAC v. Perry, 548 US 399 (2006), in which only two sitting Supreme Court justices have endorsed the Scalia position.
  4. This is a fairly awesome video from former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger making gerrymandering the centerpiece of what is likely to be a run for the Senate in 2018.
  5. This is the Whitford et al. v. Gill (Wisc.) decision on gerrymandering that contains a detailed section as to how to detect and remedy "packing" and "cracking."
  6. This is the full text link to the Perez v. Abbott (W.D. Texas) decision on Texas's gerrymandered congressional districts.
  7. Andrew recommends Princeton professor Sam Wang's work on gerrymandering.  The full text of his Stanford Law Review article is here.
Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ And email us at openarguments@gmail.com  
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The Gist - Slobs vs. Snobs

Why does it feel like our political debate was brought to us by the National Lampoon? Sonny Bunch applies his powers of cultural analysis to the changing face of political conservativism. Bunch is executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon, where he also writes film criticism. 

In the Spiel, Devin Nunes really messed this thing up, huh?

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