Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Bad History Will Kill America
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 July 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
The Supreme Court just wrapped the term with a blitz of extremely consequential decisions, and the smoke hasn’t cleared yet. (In fact, it’s looming like a dark storm cloud over our Fourth of July and America 250th festivities…) In this week’s episode, cohosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern focus on two of the term’s bleakest legacies: first, the court’s catastrophically bad use of history and second, the demise of independent agencies. They discuss the court’s 6–3 decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which was rooted in shoddy originalism and reckless disregard for how an accountable democratic government actually functions. Meanwhile, the dissenters in Trump v. Barbara would have weaponized bogus history to end birthright citizenship for millions.
To unpack this, Dahlia and Mark sit down with two law professors: Sam Bagenstos of the University of Michigan and a former general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Jed Shugerman of Boston University (whom Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson cited this week). They deconstruct the myriad ways in which the high court ultimately embarrassed itself, history, and truth, with decisions that will affect millions of Americans for years to come.
Slate Plus members! Don't miss the Amicus Plus Breakfast Table on Friday, July 10th at noon EDT. Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick will be in conversation with Professors Steve Vladeck, Sherrilyn Ifill, and Niko Bowie. Our Pluskateers can sign up to be in the live, online audience for this special end-of-term conversation. Go to slate.com/breakfasttable to sign up for online access. (Psst: Submit your questions now to amicus@slate.com)
This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court. The best way to support our work is by joining Slate Plus. (If you are already a member, consider a donation or merch!)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Amicus listeners, it's Dahlia. |
| 0:02.5 | And Mark. |
| 0:03.5 | And we want you to join us for a true amicus tradition. |
| 0:08.2 | The 250th annual Amicus breakfast table. |
| 0:14.9 | Okay, it hasn't actually been that many, but the breakfast tables are great. |
| 0:26.5 | It's me and Mark live with a super smart panel of legal experts in conversation. |
| 0:33.1 | We're going to dig into what happened during the Supreme Court term, and there's a lot to talk about. |
| 0:43.8 | We're inviting Slate Plus members to join our live audience for this taping and the exclusive Q&A that follows from the comfort and the safety of your own laptop. |
| 0:45.3 | July 10th at noon Eastern. |
| 0:50.4 | To register and to join Slate Plus if you haven't already, go to slate.com slash breakfast table. That's slate.com slash breakfast table. This is Amicus Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the Supreme Court. |
| 1:05.7 | I'm Dahlia Lathwick. |
| 1:06.7 | And I'm Mark Joseph Stern. |
| 1:09.6 | We have independent agencies that guarantee safety at work, that protect the right to organize, |
| 1:16.1 | that guarantee safety of consumer products. |
| 1:18.6 | We have independent agencies that prohibit discrimination. |
| 1:21.6 | Well, none of these are independent agencies anymore. |
| 1:24.6 | This is more power than King's had. |
| 1:26.9 | And by the way, on the 250th anniversary of the |
| 1:29.8 | nation's founding, it's helpful to remember that among the things that the revolutionaries didn't |
| 1:34.7 | like, it was royal power. Okay. |
| 1:41.8 | Happy birthday America. We are feeling every moment of those 250 years after the week that we just had, right, Mark? |
| 1:51.2 | You know, Dahlia, this whole Opinion Paloosa season has felt even more exhausting and chaotic than other recent terms. |
... |
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