Amicus Plus

Even though the smokeless cigar bar has one of those hastily handwritten “Gone fishin’” signs hanging in the window, Dahlia and Mark are setting down their fly rods for a quick chat with the Pluskateer Nation. They deliver a heartfelt expression of gratitude—yes, while wearing chest waders and vests with 27 pockets—and urge everyone to participate in an upcoming event for By the People, our series about popular constitutionalism. Here’s your homework: Tell us what you’re doing to reclaim the constitution for yourself, your loved ones, your neighbors, and your community. Send us your story at amicus@slate.com.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.

With Amicus on a brief summer break, we’re bringing you the second installment of Slow Burn’s latest season, Becoming Justice Gorsuch.When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016, the Supreme Court appeared to be headed for a 5-4 liberal majority. Instead, a staggering blockade by Senate Republicans and a shocking electoral upset helped steal a seat and clear the way for today’s conservative supermajority. In Episode 2, we examine Neil Gorsuch’s politically fraught path to power and his time on the bench so far, including the unpredictability that has made him the high court’s wild card.A housekeeping note: This season was produced before the end of the most recent Supreme Court term. Next week, host Susan Matthews joins Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern to discuss the blockbuster decisions handed down in June—and Gorsuch’s role in them.

The smokeless cigar bar is closed for a summer vacation, so Amicus is revisiting a conversation from five years ago that couldn’t be more relevant today. In 2021, Dahlia Lithwick sat down with Judge Edward M. Chen and Don Tamaki, members of the legal team that overturned Korematsu v. United States, the 1944 Supreme Court case involving a man convicted of resisting the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Chen and Tamaki discussed the overlooked context, corruption, and cover-up that enabled the internment policy—and how the Supreme Court has yet to fully contend with the legacy of Korematsu. The documentary discussed in this episode is Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066.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.

Our friends over at the Slate podcast Slow Burn are good at taking events that we think are settled history, then unlocking a new understanding of those stories through interviews, archives, and fresh analysis. They’ve reexamined Supreme Court history several times in recent years, including a new season about Neil Gorsuch we’re featuring on Amicus for the next three weeks.Becoming Justice Gorsuch explores the early years of Donald Trump’s first high-court appointee and his precedent-shattering path to power. It’s a must-listen if you want to understand this 6-3 Roberts court, how it came to be, and where it’s headed. In Episode 1, you’ll hear how Gorsuch’s worldview was shaped by his iconoclastic mother, his reaction to life on a liberal college campus, and young conservative movements of the 1980s. You’ll also hear a familiar voice, with Slow Burn host Susan Matthews interviewing Amicus co-host Mark Joseph Stern.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.

This week in the smokeless cigar bar: Before Dahlia and Mark hit the road for much-deserved breaks, they dig deep into the scorching Amicus inbox to compile a mixtape full of Pluskateer bangers, with hits like “Whatever Happened to Emoluments?”, “Who Really Writes Supreme Court Opinions? [feat. Tha Clerx]”, and that throbbing-bass trap anthem that’s been rattling car trunks throughout this past term: “Where Do the Supreme Court’s Originalists Get Their Fake Facts From?”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.

In the final episode—for now—of our series on reclaiming constitutional power for every American, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern urge you to consider the many ways you can make constitutional meaning in your life, your community, and your profession. Joining us to imagine what that has looked like historically and what it might look like tomorrow is New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, our former Slate colleague who possesses an uncanny, award-winning knack for applying historical context to modern-day events. He sits down with Dahlia and Mark to give the long view of the modern Supreme Court’s monopoly on constitutional understanding; its gradual (and problematic) professionalization; his own wishlist for structural reform at the high court, and a bracing reminder that there is a tremendous amount to be done to claw back the Framers’ vision of a constitution by the people.We want to hear from you! Tell us what you’re doing in your life to assert ownership of the Constitution. What are you doing to expand fundamental freedoms to you, your loved ones, and your neighbors? Write to us at amicus@slate.com, and we might be in touch with you for a special Amicus event in September.  By the People is Slate’s end-of-term project exploring the ways in which ordinary Americans have shaped the meaning of the Constitution beyond the rulings of the Supreme Court. You can read the full package of articles accompanying this series at slate.com/bythepeople.

With the AC units working overtime in a sweltering smokeless cigar bar, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern focus on two specific blasts of hot air from the past week. First up: the Trump administration’s emergency request for the Supreme Court’s permission to implement an assault on mail-in voting—and ensure chaos ahead of the midterm elections. Next, the hosts discuss what to make of the snag in Todd Blanche’s bid for confirmation as U.S. attorney general. Later: Shirin Ali is one of many fabulous Slate writers who are contributing to our By the People project. She joins Mark and Dahlia to talk about interviewing the families of activists killed while fighting for voting rights in the 1960s—and what those survivors had to say about today’s siege on polling places and mail ballots.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.

Long before the Supreme Court handed down the landmark Obergefell ruling on equal marriage in 2015, activists were canvassing door-to-door, courting any lawmaker who would listen, and losing at the local level—a lot. Their scrappy determination helped convince family members, neighbors and eventually the rest of the country that the Constitution's guarantees of liberty and equality applied to same-sex couples. In Episode 3 of By the People, equal marriage campaign architect Marc Solomon joins Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern to trace the movement’s "quixotic" beginnings in 2001. As this series continues to explore how ordinary Americans—not just nine justices—can interpret and enforce the Constitution, the campaign for equal marriage offers examples and tools that dedicated citizens can use to make constitutional meaning.The episode also confronts an uncomfortable question: If popular pressure can produce a ruling you love, like Obergefell, it can produce one you might not, like the court’s decision to enshrine an individual right to bear arms in 2008’s D.C. v. Heller. Dahlia and Mark discuss what happens when popular constitutionalism is retrofitted as originalism, and why no constitutional win, no matter how  popular, is ever truly permanent.By the People is Slate’s end-of-term project exploring how ordinary Americans have shaped the meaning of the Constitution outside the Supreme Court. You can read the full package of articles accompanying this series at slate.com/bythepeopleThe justices publish their opinions a few dozen times a year. Dahlia and Mark share theirs every week. Slate Plus gets you all of it: Amicus ad-free with a weekly bonus segment, and no paywalls anywhere on Slate. Join now. Visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.