The "Chicken Sh*t Bingo" Edition
Rational Security
The Lawfare Institute
4.8 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Senior Editors Anna Bower, Kevin Frazier, and Kate Klonick to talk through the week’s big news in national security, including:
- “The X Post Facto Rule.” The Justice Department and lawyers representing Anthropic faced off last week in a Northern California courtroom over whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s X post and som related communications amounted to an official order and if the Pentagon’s supply chain risk designation retaliated against the company’s First Amendment-protected views, among other issues. On March 26, Judge Rita Lin, in that case, stayed the supply chain risk designation, ruling that the Pentagon had, in fact, retaliated unlawfully against Anthropic. We’re also waiting for another related decision from a D.C. Circuit panel, expected to come down any time now. What should we make of Judge Lin’s ruling, and do we expect the D.C. Circuit to follow suit? And what does it all mean for AI companies and their relationship with the government?
- “Strait Outta Options.” Oil, gas, helium, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizer—the ongoing conflict with Iran has upended global supply chains, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed as critical infrastructure in neighboring Gulf states faces Iranian attacks. The U.S. has started to feel the first of its effects through rising costs and a trepidatious stock market, reminiscent of the supply chain shortages felt during the coronavirus pandemic. It's unclear how severe and how long they will last, but what could be some of the national security and political implications if the supply chain shocks continue? And what does it mean for the trajectory of the Iran conflict?
- “Space: The Financial Frontier.” NASA astronauts launched this week on the Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission to orbit the moon in more than half a century. It’s the biggest step to date in the new emerging space race, most specifically with China—one driven predominantly by private actors, the biggest of whom, SpaceX, is preparing to make an unprecedentedly large initial public offering in coming weeks. How should we feel about this new, very different space race compared to past ones? And what might it mean, both for good and ill?
In object lessons, Kate looks forward to filling the pages of her new notebook and ponders if she has so much to say that she’ll need another one. Anna wants immunity from ridicule for her love of Survivor. Scott is impatiently waiting for his chance to binge all of the new season of For All Mankind. And Kevin applauds boring AI—that is, using new technology to ease enduring human challenges.
To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.6 | Kevin, you are at like the almost one year mark. |
| 0:02.8 | You're like a full Texan now. |
| 0:04.0 | You don't have a signature drawl. Maybe you reek of barbecue and we can't tell over the inner waves. You got to get into Jiu Jitsu, Kevin. They've got some great Jits down there. Jets? Is that what we're calling it? That is what you call it. You know, I don't know if you did choose on the menu. We're getting into stand-up paddleboarding on Town Lake. So when you all visit, I've got a spare and we can, you know, go for a row, hang out. Oh, I like that. I like that. I do have a top 10 list now of breakfast tacos. So if I wreak of anything, it's just having way too many breakfast tacos. I will say the one time I got to visit Austin since starting at Lawfare, I think. I reached out to Bobby, Chesney, a wonderful friend of lawfare, obviously, Dean and U.T. Austin. I was going to ACL, and he had a plot, and he very kindly enjoyed me to join a plot, but I was there with a bachelor party with a bunch of friends, and I got just too drunk that I felt comfortable interacting with the Dean of UT Law School. I'm not irresponsible, but I'm like with a bunch of guys who |
| 1:00.0 | started drinking at 9 a.m. and it was like two in the afternoon. I'm like, I'm just like, |
| 1:03.2 | his kids are going to be there. I feel like this is not a good impression to be made. So I just skipped |
| 1:06.7 | it. So I feel bad. No, no. I will share one thing about Dean Chesney, who is a remarkable human being. In addition to being an excellent scholar, an incredible dean, he plays for a band at something called Chicken Shit Bingo. So you can go see the Dean of Texas Law jamming away with his buddies at chicken shit bingo in Austin. And this is my |
| 1:29.4 | sales pitch to all those students who are trying to decide which school to come to. Come to Austin, |
| 1:33.9 | come see your dean play in a band. Who needs, no offense to my former dean. Who needs, you know, |
| 1:39.4 | Shakespearean plays? That's boring. Come see your dean playing a band. God bless |
| 1:44.3 | America. |
| 1:45.8 | Does this bar feature bingo? |
| 1:48.7 | You said it's called chicken shit bingo? |
| 1:51.3 | Does it feature bingo? Can you play bingo at this bar? |
| 1:54.8 | You can play bingo. We are waiting for where the chicken will shit. |
| 1:59.7 | And that determines your bingo number. |
| 2:08.1 | Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Rational Security. |
| 2:13.5 | The show where we invite you to join members of the Lawfare team as we try to make sense of the week's big national security news. |
| 2:19.0 | We have a special April 1st episode for you today. No, I know we're not going to talk about made-up topics. It's all for real. But, you know, we're going to dig deep into some interesting, won't worky, tech-facing topics. I've got a wonderful tech-facing panel, plus Anna Bauer joining with us. I won't lump you in with that, Anna, but we're happy to have you to talk through some of these things that we are trying to make |
| 2:37.0 | sense of ourselves, and you're going to hear us do it in real time. Joining me for this episode |
| 2:41.7 | is the aforementioned Anna Bauer from her brick-lined, beautiful New York brownstone, |
| 2:47.6 | fireblazing, just perfect environment with the perfect backdrop, Anna Bauer. Anna, thank you for joining us once again on the podcast and dropping in for this special tech episode. It is a couple issues outside your lane, but one that's more solidly in your lane. We're excited to have you here with us for. Thanks for having me. And join us as well from New York filling out the New York contingent. We have Kate Cllonick, senior editor here at Lawfare. Kate, thank you for coming back on the podcast and digging into some of these tech-facing interesting topics we're going to dig into today. Always a joy. And joining us for the first time in a while because it's been too long is none other than Lawfare senior editor, Kevin Frazier, from the great state of Texas. He's taking the hat off. He's |
| 3:25.7 | taking the boots off. He's relaxing with us. I'm thrilled to have him. Kevin, thank you for joining us |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.