Pushkin.

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history.

So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on theHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

From Pushkin Industries, this is deep background, the show where we explore the stories behind the stories in the news.

I'm Noah Feldman. This season, we're exploring power.

Power in the legal system, power in the media, the power of personality, you name it.

This is not our usual kind of episode.

It's still about power, but in an unusual way.

This past February, the New York Times released a documentary called Framing Britney

Spears, a film about Britney's rise to stardom and the conservatorship, a legal form of guardianship

she's been in since 2008. The film brought renewed scrutiny to Britney's conservatorship and also to conservatorship more broadly.

In a remarkable twist, some House Republicans are now calling for national conservatorship reform.

Here to help us understand conservatorship law and what happened to Britney Spears is Adam Streisand. He's a trial attorney and,

really, in truth, an attorney to the stars. He's always involved in high-profile litigation

and private wealth disputes of large magnitude. If you saw the documentary, you will know who he is.

In the run-up to the conservatorship application,

Britney Spears met with Adam, and she hired Adam.

That means in legal terms, he was her lawyer.

He then went into court where the judge determined that Britney Spears was unable in legal terms to hire her own

attorney and to pick her own attorney and therefore gave her a court appointed attorney who represents

...