RadCasts

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump to remake American government, siding with the president again and again. But many of those rulings have lacked something fundamental: an explanation for why the most important judges in the country came to their decision.

Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, explains the justices’ increased use of the so-called shadow docket, and why it has sown confusion — and in some cases frustration — in courts around the country.

Guest: Adam Liptak covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments, for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The Supreme Court keeps ruling in Mr. Trump’s favor, but doesn’t say why.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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Lyse Doucet tells the history of Afghanistan in recent decades through the story of the Inter-Continental hotel, which opened in the capital in 1969. The BBC’s international correspondent stayed there frequently from the late 1980s, and she details how the Soviet occupation, civil war, US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban have all left their mark on 'The Finest Hotel in Kabul', and the people who worked there.

There’s plenty of pink champagne and fine dining in Michela Wrong’s study of the rise and fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, the charismatic dictator of Congo/ Zaire at the end of the 20th century. It’s 25 years since her biography, 'In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz', was published, and as the Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be on the brink of another civil war, she reflects on this latest cycle of violence.

There have been calls for international help in the DRC, but just how effective is military intervention in the long run? Ashleigh Percival-Borley served in Afghanistan in 2010 but had to watch from the sidelines as the US and UK abruptly pulled out a decade later, leaving a vacuum filled by the Taliban. Now, as a military historian and one of BBC Radio 4's researchers-in-residence, she’s interested in giving voice to women in war – not just as the victims, but as active participants. The New Generation Thinkers scheme, which puts research on radio, is a partnership between BBC Radio 4 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Producer: Katy Hickman Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez