The Ezra Klein Show - The Supreme Court Is Backing Trump’s Power Grab

Trump was losing in the courts. He’s not anymore.

In the early months of the administration, the courts were proving a powerful check on President Trump, blocking many of his boldest actions. But those were the lower courts. In the past few months, the Supreme Court has weighed in, and it has handed Trump win after win after win.

So what do these decisions enable the president to do? And why is the Supreme Court giving Trump what he wants?

To pull all this apart, I’m joined by Kate Shaw. She is a former Supreme Court law clerk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a host of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast.

Note: This episode was recorded on Aug. 21, before Trump announced his intention to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and before Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and began processing him for deportation to Uganda.

Mentioned:

Don't Believe Him” by Ezra Klein

This Is the Presidency John Roberts Has Built” by Peter M. Shane

Book Recommendations:

Lawless by Leah Litman

Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart

We the People by Jill Lepore

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Elias Isquith. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Mixing by Isaac Jones and Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Elias Isquith, Kristin Lin, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Aman Sahota and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Josh Chafetz.

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The Source - ‘To bind up the nation’s wounds’: How peace came to the Civil War

We think of the surrender of Robert E. Lee as the end of the Civil War, but the end really wasn’t clear at the time. The Galveston News reported Lee’s surrender as a positive development for the Confederacy and encouraged Texans to fight on. How did Lincoln’s peace take hold? How did a divided nation come together? Michael Vorenberg’s new book is Lincoln’s Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War.

The Bulwark Podcast - Jonathan V. Last: Burning Things Down

Red States are flexing their muscles and imposing their will on the other states through their coordinated redistricting efforts. And if they deploy their Guard troops to other blue cities beyond D.C., the only real precedent would be the era before the Civil War when the South tried to force more slave states on the union. Meanwhile, the infighting at the CDC over the Covid vaccine seems to be upsetting Trump, but what can he do about it? He's only the president. And in China, a new axis of authoritarians is creating a post-American world order, thanks to voters putting Trump back in office. Plus, his faux golf outings and declarations of perfect health are very Soviet, and Giuliani wants people to think 'America's Mayor' is back—this time as Batman.

JVL joins Tim Miller.
show notes

Bad Faith - Episode 505 Promo – “One of the Bravest Things I’ve Ever Seen a Comedian Do” (w/ Sana Saeed)

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Former Al Jazeera journalist Sana Saeed joins Bad Faith to discuss comedian Adam Friedland's viral interview with Zionist Representative Ritchie Torres and the internet's harsh reaction to Sana and other critics who questioned whether the enthusiastic reaction to this particular interview is reflective of the disproportionate value the West places on the feelings of Jewish people versus the Arab victims of Israel's genocide. Also, Sana digs into Taylor Lorenz' viral story exposing a number of liberal content creators as paid mouthpieces for the DNC and ends with Kshama Sawant's takedown of Rep. Adam Smith's rhetorical shift "left" on Palestine.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Pod Save America - Why is JD Vance so Annoying?

Pod Save America hits 1,000 episodes, and to celebrate, Favreau, Lovett, Tommy, and Dan sit down in studio to answer your questions. Among them: Why is JD Vance so grating? Should more Democrats take Newsom's lead on social media? And who would you rather be trapped in an under-sea habitat with—Don Jr., Stephen Miller, or Marjorie Taylor Greene? Plus, ranking the media platforms that matter in a preview of our subscription-only show: Inside 2025.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

The Source - The book on saving the Amazon that murder couldn’t silence

The Amazon rainforest is known as the “lungs of planet Earth,” but what happens when deforestation in Brazil continues? One journalist tried to alert the world to this coming crisis. Dom Phillips was writing the book “How to Save The Amazon” when he was murdered. His colleagues refused to let Phillips' work die—and they completed his book.

1A - 1A Presents: Milk Street’s Summer Lollapalooza

We love talking about food at 1A. From the latest cookbooks to answering your questions about your favorite foods.

As a holiday weekend treat and a fond look back at summer, we bring you highlights from an episode of Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio Podcast. The team discusses grilling and answer listener questions.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

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The Daily - Sunday Special: This Summer in Culture

Welcome to the Sunday Special, running now through the end of the year. Every Sunday, Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, will talk with a rotating cast of Times critics and culture and lifestyle reporters about “the fun stuff”— pop culture, movies, TV, music, fashion and more.

On today’s inaugural episode, Gilbert sits down with Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic at The Times, and Madison Malone Kircher, an internet reporter at The Times, to recap their cultural highs and lows of this summer.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Gist - Governor Wes Moore on Baltimore’s Historic Drop in Homicides, Plus Laura Loomer’s Lunacy

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has overseen one of the steepest homicide drops in America. Baltimore, long plagued by 300-plus murders a year, has seen killings fall more than 40 percent since 2023. In this archived conversation, Moore explains how a data-driven, all-of-the-above approach—boosting local police, investing in technology, and supporting victims—helped reshape the city’s fight against violent crime.

Plus: Mike Pesca’s spiel takes on the bizarre press orbit around Laura Loomer, a figure whose influence is as erratic as her antics. From dog food taste-tests to Shakespeare protests to depositions about Arby’s, coverage of Loomer often reveals more about the media’s hunger for spectacle than about her. Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

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The Daily - ‘The Interview’: Arundhati Roy Knows Where America Is Headed

The acclaimed writer has a new memoir, and a warning.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.