Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Long Live The King?

President Donald J Trump’s administration has been invoking a conservative legal theory as justification for his claim to possess king-like presidential powers. This new supercharged version of the “unitary executive theory” may just be extreme enough to stick in the craw of some conservative judges, but will it find a warm welcome when it inevitably lands at the Supreme Court, and should we brace for the overturning of 90 years of precedent in the form of Humphrey’s Executor? Dahlia Lithwick’s guest this week is Deepak Gupta, former senior counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and founding principal of Gupta Wessler LLP, who is now fighting for his former colleagues' jobs in court. Gupta is also representing Gwynne A Wilcox, the Chair of the National Labor Relations Board who was fired via late night email in a case that is likely headed to SCOTUS. 

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Slate Books - Supercommunicators | 1. How to Talk to Anyone

Why are some people able to talk with just about anyone—about almost anything? One answer may lie in the questions we ask—and how deeply we ask them. Stick with us here…


In this episode, host Charles Duhigg examines why deep questions are so powerful and how to ask them in everyday life.


He talks to Nick Epley, psychology professor at the University of Chicago and lifelong researcher of deep questions. And we catch up with Mandy Len Catron, 10 years after she wrote the viral New York Times article “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love.”


This Slate miniseries dives into the art and science of meaningful conversations, inspired by Duhigg’s bestselling book, Supercommunicators


Supercommunicators was produced by Derek John and Sophie Summergrad. 


Our technical director is Merritt Jacob. 


Joel Meyer is our supervising producer.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Elon’s Endgame

As someone whose companies receive billions of dollars from the government, it’s worth asking why Elon Musk is so zealous about cutting government spending. 

Guest: Max Chafkin, features editor and tech reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek and cohost of the Elon, Inc podcast.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Why This Trump Nominee Has Union Support

Trump's pick for labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is an outlier: She has experience in federal government, where she was one of three House Republicans to support the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” to expand employees’ rights to organize and collectively bargain and she was accompanied by the head of the Teamsters when she went to visit Mar A Lago after the election.


What did her hearing tell us about how she would approach being labor secretary—while working in an administration that’s firing huge chunks of its workforce? 


Guest: Tammy Kim, contributing writer at the New Yorker.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

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Slate Books - Culture Gabfest: Congratulations! You Finally Got Your Severance.

On this week’s show, Slate Business and Tech reporter Nitish Pahwa sits in for Julia. The panel discusses Severance season 2 from Apple TV+. They then talk about the Oscar-nominated film No Other Land – a Palestinian documentary following a young activist fighting his community's mass expulsion by Israeli occupation. They end by discussing Nitish’s recent reporting on Buzzfeed’s upcoming AI-infused social media platform, BF Island.

Endorsements:

Dana: The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott

Steve: The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner

Nitish: Work by the late author Tom Robbins, particularly Jitterbug Perfume, who recently died at 92 

Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - A Measles Outbreak and Wake-Up Call

When enough people opt out of routine vaccinations for their children, diseases that have been all but eliminated can come roaring back, as is the case with a growing measles outbreak in West Texas. 


Guest: Dr. Adam Ratner, pediatrician of infectious disease in New York City and author of Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Rob Gunther, and Ethan Oberman.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - How Eric Adams Got His Charges Dropped

The Justice Department ordered New York federal prosecutors to drop charges against Eric Adams, claiming his indictment was preventing him from aiding in Trump’s immigration crackdown. The move has prompted multiple high level Justice Department officials to resign, and raised concerns of a quid pro quo. 


Guest: Jay Willis, Editor-in-Chief of Balls & Strikes.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Rob Gunther, and Ethan Oberman.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - How To Rebuild Your Life After a Wildfire

As What Next celebrates President’s Day, please enjoy this episode from our colleagues at How To. What Next will be back in your feed tomorrow.


Jeff and his family lost their home last month in the L.A. wildfires. Since then, he’s been hyperfocused on insurance claims, an epic to-do list, and finding a “temporary” place to live for the next several years. But Jeff hasn’t experienced the emotional punch of the devastation yet. In fact… he just feels numb. On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin brings on Laurel Braitman, author of What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love. In a moving (and sometimes funny) conversation, Laurel tells Jeff how she’s still processing what she lost in a 2017 wildfire, and they talk about the heartbreak, grief—and glimmers of hope—that follow the sudden loss of your family’s home.


Artwork mentioned: It’s Going Down Like a House on Fire by Nyx Coker.


If you liked this episode check out: How To Survive a Disaster.


Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on AppleSpotify, or wherever you listen.


How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis.


Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Can You Pay Attention, Please?

The infinite scroll has no purpose other than keeping your attention. But that doesn’t mean it’s value-neutral.


Guest: Chris Hayes, MSNBC news anchor and author of “The Siren's Call: How Attention Became The World's Most Endangered Resource.”


Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Gangster Presidency

On Monday, President Trump’s personal lawyer and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered prosecutors to drop federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams had been courting President Trump for weeks, including with a pre-inauguration visit to Mar A Lago, but the shape of the deal struck between the accused Mayor and the incoming administration came into clear view with a flurry of Department of Justice resignations on Thursday. On this week’s episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick speaks to Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney, and host and executive producer of the podcast Talking Feds. Harry explains why the so-called “Thursday Night Massacre” is not the kind of scandal even this administration can shrug off while yelling something about the “deep state” and “weaponization”.

Next, Dahlia turns to the chaotic, destructive and dangerous “spontaneous disassembly” of much of the federal government currently taking place at the hands of Elon Musk with guest Sam Bagenstos, former general counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services until December 2024, also former general counsel for the Office of Management and Budget from January 2021 until June 2022. Now a professor at the University of Michigan, Sam explains what happens when the federal government stops working, and why persistently asking whether or not we’re in a constitutional crisis is simply the wrong question. 

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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