As the gang conspiracy trial of rapper Young Thug and his famed rap collective, YSL, extends past 20 days in Atlanta, we’re bringing you a conversation about the use of rap lyrics in court.

Despite a groundswell of activism and legal opposition against the legal admissibility of Young Thug’s lyrics, a judge ruled in November that lyrics from Young Thug and other YSL artists can be used by the state against them as evidence pointing to the gang’s existence and the members’ attitudes towards the crimes they are charged with.

We’re revisiting an episode from our archive about how the use of an artist’s creative work in court allows for implicit bias to run roughshod on rappers’ lives and lead to wrongful convictions. Joining us to discuss the evolution of this practice is Erik Nielsen, professor at the University of Richmond and co-author of the book “Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America.” We are also joined by New Orleans rapper, songwriter, and former member of the 504boyz, Mac Phipps who experienced firsthand how the use of lyrics on trial can lead to a wrongful conviction.

This week, At Liberty is coming to you live from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, hosting a discussion with queer and transgender storytellers. The conversation delves into the challenges they face while navigating an onslaught of bills targeting trans people nationwide and censoring their narratives. This dialogue follows a recent decision by the Utah state House to advance HB 257, a bill that would criminalize trans people for using the bathroom—a stark example of the many threats against the trans community that have surged in recent years.

Nationwide, 22 states have banned gender-affirming care for trans minors, and over 300 new anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in 2024. We're fighting back in the legislatures and the courts, but this is also a fight in the public discourse, one that demands us to fight back in cultural organizing. We must own our narratives and tell our stories because the queer and trans community will not be invisible.

In this episode, we're joined by Lío Mehiel, an actor, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist known for starring in the films “Mutt” and “In the Summers,” both of which premiered at Sundance. We’re also joined by Jules Rosskam, a filmmaker, artist, and educator who has directed several films including “Transparent,” “Against a Trans Narrative,” and the recent Sundance premiere “Desire Lines." Last, but certainly not least, we have Gillian Branstetter, our very own communications strategist for the ACLU's LGBT and HIV project. Together, we spoke about the efforts threatening queer and trans storytelling, and how we persist in spite of them.

If you want to join us and the ACLU of Utah in fighting back against HB 257, sign this petition: https://secure.everyaction.com/Ql111CGWmUiOqyG_qjNrWw2

This year marks the 51st anniversary since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, protecting the constitutional right to abortion in 1973. Unfortunately, this anniversary is marred by the overturn of Roe by the Supreme Court in 2022, resulting in the continued denial of the power to make personal medical decisions during pregnancy for millions of people in states across the country. In 2024, our fight for reproductive freedom continues. In the last several weeks, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear two abortion-related cases this term, potentially impacting access to medication abortion and whether people can receive care when facing medical emergencies.

This fight requires all of us, and today we’re excited to speak with two advocates about what we can all do to advance reproductive rights in our communities. First up, we have actor and writer Busy Philipps, who is joining the ACLU as an artist ambassador for reproductive freedom. You may recognize Busy from shows like “Freaks and Geeks,” “Girls 5Eva,” and “Busy Tonight,” and the new remake of the movie “Mean Girls.” Offscreen, Busy has engaged in years of advocacy with the ACLU in states like Ohio and Texas. She joins us today to share her journey as an activist alongside J.J. Straight, the ACLU’s national campaigns director for reproductive freedom, who has led many of our state and nationwide fights for abortion access and been busier than ever since the overturn of Roe. Together, we’ll discuss what the new year has in store for reproductive freedom and our continued fight for bodily autonomy at large.

Last year, states passed a record number of bills restricting health care, athletics, public accommodations, expression, and educational materials for trans people — trans kids, more specifically. With the turn of a new year, the situation continues to grow dire.

Laws threatening access to gender-affirming care went into effect in several states on January 1, 2024. The ACLU is calling on the Supreme Court to block a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans people under the age of 18, and to reject a case concerning a transgender student’s access to restroom facilities that correspond with their gender identity at an Indiana school.

As this unprecedented surge in attacks on the trans community rages on, we need to stay vigilant in watching what’s happening and fighting back. Joining our host Kendall Ciesemier, to update us on what’s going on and what’s to come is Chase Strangio, the ACLU’s deputy director for trans justice with the LGBT & HIV Project.

“Imagine that you, at age fifteen, have been sentenced to social death, life without parole, in a space nine feet by seven—the size of a freight elevator—where for twenty-two to twenty-four hours a day you are trapped; where in a deadly daily routine you sleep, wake up, shit, piss, eat—food slipped through a slot as if you were an animal, where you are denied the possibility of human contact except as physical or mental abuse; where visual and sensory stimuli—the stuff of life—are only a memory or a dream; where who you are is defined only by your willingness or unwillingness to be disciplined and punished. Imagine life without hope in a brutal hellhole of sameness designed to break your spirit and challenge your sanity.”

This is an excerpt from Ian Manuel’s 2022 memoir “My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope and Redemption” where Manuel recounts his real life experience spending 26 years in prison—18 of those years in solitary confinement—before advocacy efforts from the Equal Justice Initiative led to his release in 2016.

Since his release, Manuel has made waves as an activist, poet, and motivational speaker. His memoir recounts his journey from his teenage years to the present. He joins us today to talk about juvenile life without parole, solitary confinement, and restorative justice.

For a special year-end holiday episode, we’re bringing you our third edition of “ACLU kids take over At Liberty.” Kids of ACLU staff spoke to their parents about what they do at work and how they fight for civil rights and civil liberties. They also had some hot takes about how they can do better — at everything. We hope you enjoy it.

2023 is coming to a close, and we have weathered so much this year. At the ACLU, we continue to fight for civil rights and civil liberties across the country. We’re prying open every opportunity for abortion access and reproductive health care following the overturn of Roe, blocking trans health care bans nationwide, filing lawsuits to curb the rise in book bans and educational censorship, and advocating for racial equity after the elimination of affirmative action and continued attacks on voting rights. So today, we're highlighting some of the most notable episodes from the year, which also happen to be some of our favorites. We’ll chat about what we enjoyed, how they came to be, and where the issues we reported on stand today. We hope you enjoy it.

Free speech is one of the hallmarks of a functioning democracy and one of our fundamental constitutional rights. At the ACLU, we know that it's precisely in times of crisis and fear when free speech, open debate, and peaceful dissent are most important.

Over the last few months, as the world continues to witness the catastrophe in Israel and Palestine, protests in support of Palestine are being silenced and censored on college campuses.

In early November, the ACLU sent out an open letter to the administrative leaders of each state's public college system that reached over 650 colleges and universities, expressing our strong opposition to any efforts that stifle free speech on college campuses, and urging universities to reject calls to investigate, disband, or penalize pro-Palestinian student groups for exercising their free speech rights.

In Florida, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues already issued an order in consultation with Governor Ron DeSantis to deactivate Students for Justice in Palestine chapters in the state. In response, we and our partners at the ACLU of Florida and Palestine Legal are suing Governor DeSantis and Florida university system officials on behalf of the University of Florida’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to block the deactivation order from taking effect.

Joining our host, Kendall Ciesemier, to discuss this important lawsuit are Shaiba Rather, the Nadine Strossen fellow with the ACLU’s National Security Project and Tyler Takemoto, the William J. Brennan fellow with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

On January 21, 2017, a day after the inauguration of former President Donald Trump, activist and journalist Raquel Willis approached the podium at the inaugural Women’s March in Washington, D.C. to share her story at what became one of the largest single-day marches in U.S. history. With this momentous platform, Willis was determined to galvanize the crowd to support liberation for all women, namely Black trans women like herself.

Not even three minutes into her speech, after calling out the erasure of trailblazing women of color from feminist history, Willis’ microphone was cut off. Unfortunately, this silencing was something that she knew all too well through her work in supposedly progressive movements and newsrooms. This experience only fueled her fire to make intersectionality the baseline of all liberation efforts.

Willis has made waves in her work as the former executive editor of Out Magazine and national organizer for the Transgender Law Center, demonstrating her dedication to uplifting the voices of transgender people of color. In her new memoir, “The Risk It Takes To Bloom: On Life and Liberation,” her voice takes center stage. The book explores Willis’ history and journey with identity, education, grief, community, and remembrance. Her recount honors not only her past and present, but that of the trans community worldwide. Today, Willis joins our host, Kendall Ciesemier, to shed light on her story and vision for the future of liberation.

The holiday season is upon us. This week, we are revisiting our conversation with author and activist Glennon Doyle. In this conversation, Doyle and host Kendall Ciesemier discuss how to bring loved ones into our understanding of equity and justice through the use of storytelling, imagination, and conversation. It’s an episode fit for such a time as this and we hope you enjoy.