Strict Scrutiny

By Strict ScrutinySociety & Culture News Government Philosophy

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on Philosophy
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Typical duration
84 min
per episode
If it hooks
46%
finish an episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

Strict Scrutiny episodes

July 28, 2025Can Trump Sue His Way Out of the Epstein Mess?
Kate and Leah break down the week’s legal happenings, including Trump’s flailing efforts to manage the Epstein fallout, the latest abomination from the shadow docket, and the legal quagmire surrounding Trump lackey Alina Habba’s appointment as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Then, they speak with law professors—and former clerks for David Souter—Allison Orr Larsen and Erin Delaney about the late justice’s legacy.
Hosts’ and guests’ favorite things:
Kate: The Power Broker, Robert Caro; Will to Resist: What Dartmouth Teaches Harvard About Protecting American Freedom, Bruce Swartz (Just Security)
Leah: The Palace of Rogues Series, Julie Anne Long
Allison: Tucci in Italy (National Geographic); Marjorie, Taylor Swift
Erin: How to Hide an Empire; A History of the Greater United States, Daniel Immerwahr
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 33 min
July 21, 2025SCOTUS Enables Government Destruction
Melissa and Kate run through the latest legal news, including the Court greenlighting the dismantling of the Department of Education. Then, they speak with NYU law professor Rachel Barkow about her book, Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration.
Hosts’ favorite things:
Kate: Legalistic Noncompliance, Leah Litman and Dan Deacon (University of Michigan); Trump’s Plans to Put Emil Bove on the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Toobin (NYT); Bonus 167: The Case for Not Writing, Steve Vladeck (One First)
Melissa: Wedding People by Alison Espach; What Reading 5,000 Pages About a Single Family Taught Me About America, Carlos Lozada (NYT); The Kent Family Chronicles, John Jakes; Emily in Paris walking tour
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 31 min
July 14, 2025Hunger Games for Legal Hackery
Katie Phang, independent journalist and trial lawyer, joins Leah to run through the week’s legal news–and there’s a lot of it! They unpack, as KBJ puts it, “this Court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture” and break down the latest thirstiness from the judges angling to be Trump’s next SCOTUS pick. Then, all three hosts are joined by Strict Scrutiny’s official roadie, Chris Hayes, to talk about his book, The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource.
Hosts’ and Guests’ Favorite Things:
Chris: What we won on Election Day, Zohran Mamdani
Kate: Mamdani, Trump and the End of the Old Politics, Ezra Klein & Chris Hayes (NYT); Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, Rutger Bregman
Melissa: Dirty Dancing; Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch & Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice, Andrea Freeman
Leah: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V.E. Schwab; Bone Valley: A True Story of Injustice and Redemption in the Heart of Florida, Gilbert King; Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tour
Katie: A Lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz! (Katie’s Substack)
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 39 min
July 07, 2025A Term for the Rich, the Reactionaries, and the Ruthless
With July upon us and bad decision season (mercifully) over, Leah, Kate and Melissa take a step back to recap this year’s SCOTUS term. They highlight some of the overarching themes, break down the biggest opinions, and look back at the moments they’ll remember forever–whether they want to or not.
Hosts’ favorite things:
Melissa: KBJ’s footnote 12 in Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida; Seven Chaotic Months in the Life of a New Federal Judge, Emily Bazelon and Mattathias Schwartz (NYT); This Is the Real Impact of the Supreme Court’s Planned Parenthood Decision, Linda Greenhouse (NYT); When Rational Basis Review Bit (HLR)
Leah: A New Kind of Judicial Supremacy, Steve Vladeck (One First); With the Big, Beautiful Bill, You Can Now Sponsor a Billionaire of Your Choosing, Alexandra Petri (Atlantic); Samuel Alito Takes Pride in Gay-Bashing, Elie Mystal (The Nation); A Court Without the Range, Sherrilyn Ifill (Sherrilyn’s Newsletter); ‘A Culture of Disdain’: The Supreme Court’s Actions Speak Louder Than Its Words, Kate Shaw (NYT); Andor (Disney+); Virgin, Lorde; Trump Fragrances
Kate: Trump’s Big Win in His Escalating War on the Press, Bob Bauer (Executive Functions); USAID study (The Lancet); Is the Supreme Court the Best Way to Get Justice? Alexis Coe (NYT); Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America, Irin Carmon; We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, Jill Lepore
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 40 min
June 30, 2025SCOTUS Strengthens Conservative War on Education
Leah, Melissa and Kate roll up their sleeves and unpack last Friday’s huge day at the Court, starting with Mahmoud v. Taylor, the case that tested Sam Alito’s ability to comprehend picture books. They also break down the outcomes of cases involving age verification for adult entertainment and the nondelegation doctrine. If you missed last Friday’s emergency episode on the birthright citizenship case, you can find it here.
Hosts’ favorite things:
Melissa: Jackson and Sotomayor dissents (Mahmoud v. Taylor, Trump v. CASA, Inc.); Outrageous (BritBox); Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Kate: Green-Wood Cemetery’s Living Dead, Paige Williams (New Yorker); Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu); Chris Hayes’ lecture at the Chautauqua Institution
Leah: KBJ and Sotomayor dissents; The 21 Best Croissants in New York City Right Now, Mahira Rivers (NYT); YELLOW, Washington, D.C.
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 2 min
June 27, 2025SCOTUS Clears the Way for Trump’s Lawlessness
In an emergency episode, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down today’s radical decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., which gives this administration carte blanche to pursue its heinous agenda by curbing the judiciary’s ability to issue nationwide injunctions.
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
52 min
June 26, 2025SCOTUS Deals Massive Blow to Health Care Access
In this emergency episode, Melissa, Leah and Kate are joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, to unpack today’s ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. They talk about what this could mean for patients and the devastating ripple effect it will have across the country. Also covered: the rest of today’s opinions and the Court’s cruel shadow docket order on “third country removals.”
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
54 min
June 23, 2025Ketanji Brown Jackson Sounds the Alarm
First, Leah is joined by international law expert Bec Ingber to lay out legal issues around the use of force (aka bombing Iran). Then, Leah is joined by two guest hosts–former legal journalist Mike Sacks and Georgetown Law’s Steve Vladeck–to break down last week’s opinions from the Court. Everyone’s up to their old tricks: Coach Kavanaugh makes sports metaphors, Clarence Thomas concurs (shudder), and Sam Alito feels his feelings. Through it all, Ketanji Brown Jackson shows us what the court could–hopefully–one day be.
Hosts’ favorite things:
Leah: The release of Mahmoud Khalil
Mike: Leah’s book, Lawless!
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 39 min
June 18, 2025SCOTUS Upholds Tennessee Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
In this emergency episode, Chase Strangio of the ACLU joins the pod to talk about today’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti. Then, Kate, Leah, and Melissa dive deep into the opinion, the various flavors of awful found in the concurrences from the majority, and what this decision might mean more broadly for the future of sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause.
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
39 min
June 16, 2025Can Trump Mobilize the Military Without California's Consent?
Melissa, Kate, and Leah can smell the fascism in the air as President Trump forces troops on California protesters. They discuss how he is (yet again) pushing the boundaries of authoritarianism, provide an update on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, and unpack another flurry of Supreme Court Opinions. Then, they talk trans rights with Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice and staff attorney with the ACLU. Finally, a bit of fun with a game about iconic breakups–political and otherwise. This episode was recorded live from Sony Hall in New York City.
Hosts’ favorite things:
Kate: “How 2000s Culture Messed Us Up”, (The Culture Study Podcast); “Delay, Interfere, Undermine”, T. Christian Miller and Sebastian Rotella (ProPublica); Federalizing the California National Guard, Steve Vladek (One First)
Leah: This Is What Autocracy Looks Like, Michelle Goldberg (NYT); Argent, who dressed the hosts for the show
Melissa: What the Hell Is Posse Comitatus Anyway? Elie Mystal (The Nation); The Better Sister (Prime Video); Sarah Sclarandis’ shoes
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
1 hr 43 min