What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Can Trump Actually Do All That?

On the day he was inaugurated, Donald Trump set about signing executive orders on birthright citizenship, the TikTok ban, and withdrawing from various international bodies, treaties and accords. Has he shown up to test out the awesome powers of the executive branch—or was he just showing off for his fans?


Guest: Deborah Pearlstein, Director, Program in Law and Public Policy and Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in Law and Public Affairs at Princeton.



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

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Preview: Deciphering The Lawlessness of Trump’s Executive Orders

Some very clear themes are already emerging from President Donald Trump’s executive orders; cruel, chaotic, and fear-stoking - yes, but also - they’re rife with shoddy drafting (is that you, ChatGPT?), sloppy lawyering, and some are wildly unconstitutional. In an extra episode of Amicus for plus members, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern begin the work of parsing a few of the many, many executive orders raining down on America in the hours since Trump assumed office for the second time. 

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock weekly bonus episodes of Amicus—you’ll also 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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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Did Democracy Die in Darkness?

Last October, Amazon CEO and billionaire owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos swooped in to halt the publication of a Kamala Harris endorsement from the editorial board. Yesterday, he appeared in the front row at Trump’s second inauguration. The paper’s hemorrhaging subscribers—and laying off dozens of staff members—but it seems like the internal unrest has just begun.

Guest: Maxwell Tani, journalist covering media for Semafor.

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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Hello Trumpworld

As Donald Trump and his coterie return to the White House, everyone seems confident they know what levers to pull to get Trump to do what they want. The only issue, then, is what other members of Trumpworld want. 


Guest: Ben Mathis-Lilly, senior writer at Slate


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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | As Fires Approached LA, Angelenos Turned to Watch Duty

Looking for up-to-the-minute updates on where the fires are, LA residents have been turning to the app Watch Duty, rather than getting updates directly from the local or state government, or even local media.


Guests:

David Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Watch Duty

Alyssa Jeong Perry, LA-based producer for Slate.


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The New Constitutional (dis)Order

Donald Trump becomes president again on Monday, and as Joe Biden leaves the White House, we’re on the brink of a massive change in how the law is interpreted. Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing was one of a host of clues this week that we are in for a wild legal and constitutional ride. On this episode of Amicus, host Dahlia Lithwick is joined by constitutional scholar Professor Pamela Karlan to pick through what we learned this week about what the law is and what it is about to become –– from Jack Smith’s report, to the new (presumptive) Attorney General of the United States’ apparent ignorance of birthright citizenship and therefore the 14th amendment. 



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Slate Books - Gabfest Reads | Finding Connection in the Aftermath of History’s Horrors

Emily Bazelon talks with author Yael van der Wouden about her debut novel, The Safekeep. They discuss why Yael chose a queer love story, how Yael’s own Dutch and Jewish heritage influenced her writing, the history of dispossession after World War II, and more. 


Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)


Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta-Morphosis

Misinformation, disinformation, politics—Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is not going to shield users from those anymore. What’s behind the abrupt change in direction?


Guest: Sheera Frenkel, New York Times tech reporter


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - What the Ceasefire Is and Isn’t

After being “close to a deal” for so long, Israel and Gaza have officially reached a second ceasefire agreement. Is this the end of the war? And what does it say about Gaza’s future?


Guest: Graeme Wood, staff writer at The Atlantic and lecturer in political science at Yale.


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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Does Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 Report Matter?

How did an investigation into an effort to violently overturn a US presidential election end up coming out as a whimper, well after it could have carried any weight or legal repercussions? 


Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief at Balls and Strikes


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

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