Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Meet Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s New Roy Cohn

What do people inside the Department of Justice think about their once-colleague and possible-future-overlord, Kash Patel? On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by former US Attorney Joyce White Vance to discuss the frightening implications of Patel's potential nomination as FBI Director under the incoming Trump administration. They explore Patel's contentious history, including his time in the DOJ, his authorship of the Nunes memo, and his bottomless loyalty to Trump. They also discuss the broader consequences of Patel’s stated desire to use the Justice Department as a tool for political retribution, including threats to journalists and DOJ officials, and what his targeted individuals can do in the face of this new, chilling reality. 

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The Influencer Administration

From Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Donald Trump himself—the incoming administration looks like it will be populated with pitchmen and influencers. Will anyone take steps to divest from their businesses or avoid conflicts of interest—or will everyone just follow Trump’s lead from last time? 


Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post. 


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Even Trump Loyalists Are Scared Of Kash Patel

During his first administration, Donald Trump tried naming Kash Patel as deputy director of the FBI, but members of the administration pushed back. Now with the second administration filled with loyalists, Trump has named Patel as his pick for FBI director. What does Trump see in this guy?


Guest: Elaina Plott Calabro, staff writer at The Atlantic.


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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 - Martial Law (Briefly) in South Korea

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday, leading South Korea’s parliament to cross barricades to convene and vote it down.


Though this episode resolved quickly and peacefully for the moment, where is the country’s government heading?


Guest: Terence Roehrig, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College specializing in Korean and East Asian security issues.


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

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Slate Books - Outward: Masculinity and Muscles with Michael Andor Brodeur

This week, Bryan Lowder chats with Michael Andor Brodeur, author of Swole: The Making of Men and the Meaning of Muscle, to unpack the complex intersections of fitness, masculinity, and queer identity. From the sweaty intimacy of the gym to the charged symbolism of muscle, Brodeur examines how bodies become sites of desire, power, and transformation.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Did Biden Break the Presidential Pardon?

How problematic is it for Joe Biden to pardon his son Hunter after promising, again and again, that he wouldn’t?


Guest: Ankush Khardori, senior writer for POLITICO and a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice.


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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 - The House’s Gift to Trump

The House already voted to pass the “The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.” But with Donald Trump returning to the White House next year, some Democrats are viewing the power that the bill gives the executive branch—to label non-profit organizations as “funding terrorism” and strip them of their non-profit status—in a new light.


But is it too late? 


Guest: Emily Tamkin, global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews.


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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 | When Your Flight’s GPS Gets Spoofed

Anyone stuck in a knotted snarl of interstate clovers knows that GPS is both important and imperfect. But if GPS fails while you’re bringing a 737 in for a landing it could be catastrophic. 


Why is “GPS spoofing” on the rise—and how can airlines protect their flights against being caught up in conflict zones.


Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal.


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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 Right’s About-Turn on Parental Rights

When it comes to gender affirming care for teenagers, parents’ rights no longer matter. Doctors’ opinions no longer matter. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in United States. v Skrmetti, challenging Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for trans kids, and upending half a century of gender protection doctrine. 

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, who will also be the first openly trans lawyer to argue at SCOTUS when he argues, alongside the Biden administration, representing the parents and physician of trans adolescents seeking care, in what will be the biggest trans rights case the court has ever heard. Chase and Dahlia dig through the doctrine to reveal the conservative legal movement’s deep hypocrisy when it comes to trans rights as compared to the rights of parents and doctors when it comes to abortion.

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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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The Post-Election Social Media Wars

Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the number of users on Twitter—at its peak or even now—or even fellow upstart Threads. 


Is Bluesky set to take over the role Twitter used to play, or is it just one of many networks in a Balkanized social media landscape? 


Guest: Will Oremus, a technology writer for the Washington Post


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

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