Épisodes

  • Our Favorite Things, 2025

    Our Favorite Things, 2025
    Dec 22 2025
    It’s that time of year when Leah, Melissa, and Kate put on their influencer hats and recommend the things that made their days a little brighter in 2025. This year, they’re joined by two special guests: rockstar Strict Scrutiny intern Jordan Thomas to share some of his picks, and former Chair of the Federal Election Commission Ellen Weintraub to discuss two of democracy’s favorite things—independent agencies and the regulation of money in politics. Favorite things: WANTLeah: Cozy Earth Bubble Cuddle Blanket, Jones Road Just Enough Tinted MoisturizerKate: Aventura electric scooter, Grüns Superfood Greens GummiesMelissa: True Botanicals, e.l.f. Camo Liquid BlushJordan: Tea Tree Leave-In Conditioner, Pink Oil Moisturizer, NEEDLeah: Peloton stretching classes, Farmhounds dog treats; Badlands Ranch dog foodKate: custom bobbleheads & action figures, Lilly Allen’s tour, Strict Scrutiny’s upcoming West Coast tourMelissa: Caddis readers, Blackwing Matte pencils, As Ever RoséJordan: 2026 Evanescence and Korn tours, these headphones WEARLeah: Forme Power Bra, Argent, TheRealRealKate: Strict Scrutiny onesies, Cozy Earth Studio Wide Leg PantMelissa: Quince yak wool sweaters, Uniqlo White T-Shirt, Clearly Collective Collegiate Scarves, WaySoft Cashmere BeanieJordan: Crooked Con Merch, Mavi jeans READLeah: The Wedding People, Alison Espach; Julie Anne Long’s Pennyroyal Green series; Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflowers series; These Summer Storms, Sarah MacLean; Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V. E. Schwab; The God of the Woods, Liz Moore; Book of the MonthKate: The Power Broker, Robert Caro; Who Is Government? Michael Lewis; Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, Kate Conger & Ryan Mac; The Radical Fund, John Fabian Witt; Isola, Allegra Goodman; Heart the Lover, Lily King; Martyr! Kaveh Akbar; The History of Sound, Ben ShattuckMelissa: Matriarch, Tina Knowles; Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, Imani Perry; Jane Austen's Bookshelf, Rebecca Romney; Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid; The Book Club for Troublesome Women, Marie Bostwick; The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Kiran DesaiJordan: Lawless, Leah Litman; The Sirens' Call, Chris Hayes; Bad Law, Elie Mystal; Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, Zaakir Tameez; Just Shine! How to Be a Better You, Sonia SotomayorEllen: Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell Mysteries; Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson; The Black Wolf, Louise Penny; Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench; This Is Happiness, Niall Williams; Elizabeth Strout; Amor Towles Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 3/6/26 – San Francisco3/7/26 – Los AngelesLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 15 min
  • SCOTUS Is About to Turbocharge Presidential Power

    SCOTUS Is About to Turbocharge Presidential Power
    Dec 15 2025

    Leah, Kate, and Melissa recap the oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter, a case that could nuke the administrative state as we know it by giving Trump broad leeway to fire heads of independent agencies. They also cover the other arguments in cases involving campaign finance and the death penalty, and various and sundry bits of legal news including the antics of Judge Emil Bove and Trump’s ongoing game of U.S. attorney musical chairs.

    Favorite things:

    • Leah: At will? Whose will? By Don Moynihan (Can We Still Govern?)
    • Melissa: Trump’s Very Weird Night at the Kennedy Center Honors, Alexandra Petri (The Atlantic); A Flower Traveled in My Blood, Haley Cohen Gilliland
    • Kate: How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed, Megan Twohey and Isabella Kwai (NYT)

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 25 min
  • We Need To Talk About Trump’s Maritime Murders

    We Need To Talk About Trump’s Maritime Murders
    Dec 8 2025

    Kate, Melissa, and Leah are joined by Professor Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law to break down the blatant illegality of the administration’s murders of alleged “narcoterrorists” in the waters off South America. Then they dive into last week’s oral arguments, which featured cases involving “crisis pregnancy centers,” asylum claims, and whether internet providers are responsible for their users’ copyright violations.

    Favorite things:

    • Kate: This wild deposition; Disappeared to a Foreign Prison, Sarah Stillman (New Yorker), Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter’s White House slapdown
    • Leah: Dunking on this nonsensical op-ed; Republican Anger Erupts at Johnson as Party Frets About Future, Annie Karni (NYT); Hands Off Chicago
    • Melissa: WaySoft Cashmere Beanie; Ziwe interviews Eric Adams; Prince Harry on Colbert; Troublemaker; The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford, Carla Kaplan; Victoria (Netflix)

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 8 min
  • SCOTUS Greenlights Racial Gerrymandering in Texas

    SCOTUS Greenlights Racial Gerrymandering in Texas
    Dec 5 2025

    In this emergency episode, Leah, Melissa and Kate break down the Supreme Court’s shadow docket order allowing Texas to use racist and Republican-skewed district maps in next year’s midterms.

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    36 min
  • December Preview: SCOTUS Doubles Down on Its BS

    December Preview: SCOTUS Doubles Down on Its BS
    Dec 1 2025

    Kate, Leah, and Melissa kick off the show by speaking with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin about First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, whose wonky exterior masks an under-the-radar abortion case. Then they preview the rest of December’s oral arguments, which include cases about the future of the administrative state as we know it, campaign finance, and judicial review of asylum cases. Finally, some legal news, including the dismissal of the James Comey and Letitia James indictments.

    Favorite Things:

    • Leah: A Battle with My Blood, Tatiana Schlossberg (The New Yorker)
    • Kate: Death by Lightning (Netflix)
    • Melissa: Studio Museum in Harlem; Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love: A Cookbook, Samin Nosrat

    Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026!

    • 3/6/26 – San Francisco
    • 3/7/26 – Los Angeles

    Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

    Buy Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

    Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 10 min
  • Boy Math, Boy Law, Man Problems

    Boy Math, Boy Law, Man Problems
    Nov 24 2025

    Leah, Melissa, and Kate dive into the raging legal battles over redistricting ahead of next year’s midterms, Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s massive oopsies in her prosecution of James Comey, developments with L’Affaire Epstein, and other assorted legal quagmires and outrages from the Trump administration. Then, Kate chats with University of Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday about her book We the Men: How Forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality. Check out Leah’s review of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s book, Listening to the Law, for the Los Angeles Review of Books here.

    Favorite things:

    • Kate: Lux, Rosalía; The Unraveling of the Justice Department, Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser (NYT); Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy; The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990, Jonathan Mahler
    • Leah: Mature, Hilary Duff; The Pop-Tarts Bowl; Cupcakin’ Bake Shop in Berkeley
    • Melissa: Judith Browne Dianis & Alexei Navalny win the inaugural Kettering Democracy Prize; Meghan’s Moment, Kaitlyn Greenidge (Harper's Bazaar); Meet the Veteran Who Chases ICE on a Scooter, Isabela Dias (Mother Jones)

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 46 min
  • The Agonies of Brett Kavanaugh

    The Agonies of Brett Kavanaugh
    Nov 17 2025

    Kate and Leah run through the latest legal news, including updates on the SNAP benefits case, the email dump that revealed Jeffrey Epstein's deep ties to the establishment, and the political persecution of Representative LaMonica McIver. Then they catch up on the past couple weeks of oral arguments at the Supreme Court, which featured bad signs for a prisoner seeking damages after a flagrant violation of his religious rights, some relaxing detours into civil procedure, and Brett Kavanaugh’s deeply felt sense of injustice over…lawsuits against military contractors.

    Favorite Things:

    • Leah: Broken Country, Clare Leslie Hall; Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy; First Lie Wins; Dopamine, Robyn; Joyce Carol Oates on X; In Matt Gaetz Scandal, Circumstances Left Teen Vulnerable to Exploitation, Michael S. Schmidt (NYT)
    • Kate: The Preventionist (Serial, NYT); Everybody Scream, Florence + The Machine; The Long Christmas Dinner, Symphony Space; A Year On From Trump’s Victory, Resistance Is Everywhere, Rebecca Solnit (Guardian)

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    1 h et 17 min
  • Will SCOTUS Say No to Trump’s Tariffs?

    Will SCOTUS Say No to Trump’s Tariffs?
    Nov 10 2025

    Live from Crooked Con in Washington, Leah, Kate, and Melissa unpack the surprisingly not-awful oral arguments for Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which put the president's tariffs in the hot seat. Then the hosts are joined by Representative LaMonica McIver of New Jersey to discuss the bogus charges against her for “assaulting” federal agents while conducting an oversight visit of an ICE detention center. Finally, friend of the pod Steve Vladeck joins Leah to break down the 3D chess behind Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Friday night order granting an administrative stay in a case about the funding of SNAP benefits. Read Steve’s excellent piece on the subject here, and enter Leah’s Lawless giveaway here.

    Favorite Things:

    • Kate: Judge Sara Ellis’s reading of Chicago by Carl Sandburg; How to Be a Good Citizen When Your Country Does Bad Things, M. Gessen (NYT); The 25 Young(ish) New Democrats to Watch, Matt Stieb and Kaleigh Rogers (New York Magazine)
    • Leah: Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Speech
    • Melissa: The Can’t Win Victory Fund

    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


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 31 min