A Law Unto Yooself

The Ricochet Podcast

Ricochet

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Yoo returns to usher in SCOTUS opinion season, joining James and Steve for some friendly debates on law, politics and, most controversially, more than a few matters of taste. For our democrats in the audience, we've got chatter on California vote counting and Alabama map battles. News from the UK reminds us that the royalists are in even worse shape, as authorities there prove to be as confused in dealing with controversial speech as they are with violence (the real kind). John Bolton's deal with the DOJ and a couple death penalty cases concentrate the fellas' minds further on the subtleties—and unsubtleties—of hard justice. Thankfully, Scott Pelley's bad week brings a much-needed restorative laugh, and the gang finds something to agree on as they count down to the semiquincentennial. That's right: not even petty celebrities can rain on our Independence Day parade!

Sound this week: CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil says goodbye to Scott Pelley while Fox News’ Brit Hume finds it all amusing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	He didn't watch the competition, he said, because he knew who he was, a journalist who valued truth at all costs.
0:10.0	I never thought myself some great guardian of journalistic integrity who wasn't open to the ideas of others with whom I might at least at first disagree.
0:18.0	And I've never had a problem finding a way to do
0:21.0	the work in a way that would please me and please whatever boss I had or at least satisfied
0:25.3	them.
0:25.8	It's The Rickusay Podcast with John Yoo.
0:28.1	He's back.
0:29.0	So is Stephen Hayward.
0:29.9	I'm James Lillickson.
0:30.8	We're going to talk about absolutely everything.
0:33.7	So let's have ourselves a podcast.
0:37.1	Welcome, everybody. This is the Rickash
0:38.7	podcast episode number 792. How did we get to that many episodes? Well, because we're loved
0:46.3	over at Rickashay. And if you don't know why, you should go over there and see yourself.
0:49.3	I'll be telling you a little bit more about it to the end of the show for the 792nd time.
0:53.1	But at the meantime let's
0:54.2	have ourselves a podcast as we promised no charles c w cook he's off doing florida things but in
1:03.0	instead we have mc rib enthusiast and long-time ricochet friend john you john how you doing
1:09.3	good you've upgraded to america and got rid rid of these cheap British substitutes who don't even know their own language. Right. Okay. Well, Charles will never be back. And we have, of course, Stephen Hayward. And I believe the two of you were swanning about Europe just a while ago in Italy, standing up at conferences with badges and saying things before heading out to have caviar in a room with some other Davos types. Explain exactly what you were doing there and why we shouldn't hold you a contempt as part of the globe-trotting tecto-crattie who just trying to run our lives. Well, it's not quite that extravagant. It was all Steve's fault.
1:44.7	Yeah, well, actually, exactly a week ago right now at this hour that we're recording, John and I were out to a four-course dinner that took three and a half hours in the highlands of Sicily in the little town of Anna. It was great fun. Yep. And that's why I missed last week's episode, because I had the time change all wrong in my head.
2:02.7	Well, and here you are.
2:06.7	Gentlemen, so we have so many things to discuss.
	...

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