Hello and welcome to Amica's Slate Supreme Court podcast.

I'm Dalia Lithwig and I cover the Court for Slate.

On the last regular episode of this show, you may recall that we talked about how little

play the Supreme Court was getting in this presidential election despite how really

important it is.

Well, what a difference a couple of weeks can make.

The surprise death just last weekend of associate justice, Antonin Scalia, has really sent

shockwaves through the country, not only reshaping the contours of this election but potentially

shifting the ideological balance of the court and triggering a constitutional game of chicken

between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate.

Now, however, this all plays out, you can be sure that we are at the very beginning of

a democratic and constitutional soap opera that will represent the perfect dramatic capstone

to Justice Scalia's larger-than-life career in persona.

You have by now surely heard many very, very smart people teasing out the possibilities

for what happens next and what's sure to be a very long process of replacing Justice

Scalia on the bench.

You've also probably heard a lot of partisan bickering about who he was, what his legacy

is, and how you should feel the way I feel about Justice Scalia all the time.

We thought on today's episode of Amicus, we'd stay away from some of that and stick

to the facts.

So, we're going to set aside the political gamesmanship, we're even going to set aside the ideological

yelling, and we're going to spend a little time instead, reflecting on who Antonin Scalia

...