Best Democracy Docket Podcasts (2025)

1
Democrats’ Plan to Stop the SAVE Act, DOGE | Sen. Alex Padilla 28:49

1h ago28:49

28:49

California Senator Alex Padilla foiled Republicans’ attempt to pass the SAVE Act this week. Sen. Padilla joins Marc Elias to discuss protecting voters’ information from DOGE, his experience expanding ballot access as California’s secretary of state and the work Senate Democrats are doing to fight voter suppression. -Sign up for our free newsletters…

1
Lawfare Daily: Phil Reitinger and Komal Bazaz Smith on Civil Society and Strengthening Internet Security 42:33

5h ago42:33

42:33

Global Cyber Alliance’s President and CEO Phil Reitinger and Chief Business Officer Komal Bazaz Smith discuss with Justin Sherman critical cybersecurity issues facing core internet infrastructure, including the role of small, often under-appreciated, and frequently underfunded nonprofits in keeping the internet secure and functioning. They talk abo…

1
Rational Security: The “Bridle and Groomed” Edition 1:13:35

3m ago1:13:35

1:13:35

This week, Scott sat down with a particularly baritone cast of Lawfare colleagues—co-host emeritus Benjamin Wittes, Foreign Policy Editor Dana Stuster, and Senior Editor (aka Legal Correspondent) Roger Parloff—to discuss the week’s biggest national security news stories, including: “Let’s Sheikh On It.” President Trump completed a surprisingly hist…

1
Lawfare Daily: Page Hedley and Gad Weiss on OpenAI’s Latest Corporate Governance Pivot 47:02

19m ago47:02

47:02

Page Hedley, Senior Advisor at Forecasting Research Institute and co-author of the Not for Private Gain letter urging state attorneys general to stop OpenAI’s planned restructuring, and Gad Weiss, the Wagner Fellow in Law & Business at NYU Law, join Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Senior Editor at Lawfare, and Alan Roze…

1
Lawfare Daily: Ukraine War Update with Francis Farrell 54:35

21m ago54:35

54:35

Despite the frenzy of U.S.-led diplomacy around reaching a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the front line has been far from quiet. In fact, the war is now deadlier than ever before. To unpack the recent front line developments, Lawfare’s Ukraine Fellow Anastasiia Lapatina talks with Francis Farrell, a reporter at the Kyiv Independent who…

1
Why Trump is the “Most Corrupt” President Ever | Rep. Greg Landsman 33:37

23m ago33:37

33:37

Ohio Congressman Greg Landsman joins Marc Elias to discuss why Trump is the most corrupt president ever, how the Republicans' budget would gut healthcare for millions and how to remove extremism from Congress. -Sign up for our free newsletters: https://hubs.ly/Q03jcbrc0/ -Become a member of our premium content: https://hubs.ly/Q03jcl0-0t -Support o…

1
Lawfare Daily: Nayib Bukele's Crackdown on Dissent in El Salvador 51:24

9m ago51:24

51:24

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has made a lot of headlines recently in the United States for his partnership with the Trump administration. Bukele has helped enable President Trump’s scheme to remove supposed Venezuelan gang members from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, housing these detainees in the notorious CECOT prison. In court, the…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, May 16 1:33:23

3d ago1:33:23

1:33:23

In a live conversation on May 16, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Roger Parloff and Lawfare Legal Fellow James Pearce to discuss legal challenges against President Trump’s executive actions, including the Friday hearing in the Abrego Garcia litigation, the Supreme Court’s …

1
Will the Courts Let Trump End Birthright Citizenship? 1:44:06

5d ago1:44:06

1:44:06

May is supposed to be the calm before June’s opinion storm in SCOTUS-land, but not in Trump’s America. Melissa, Kate, and Leah kick off the show with the latest news, including Stephen Miller’s habeas suspension fantasies and the president’s blatant disregard of the emoluments clause when it comes to free jumbo jets. Then, the hosts are joined by p…

1
Lawfare Archive: Human Rights Abuses in Saudi Arabia with Joey Shea 28:06

1d ago28:06

28:06

From September 26, 2023: On August 21, the Human Rights Watch released a report detailing systematic abuses of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers at the Saudi Arabia-Yemen border. Researchers interviewed dozens of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers and found that Saudi border guards had used explosive weapons on them and shot migrants at clos…

1
Lawfare Archive: Christina Koningisor on Secrecy Creep 39:09

2d ago39:09

39:09

From January 4, 2022: Government secrecy is pervasive when it comes to national security and foreign affairs, and it’s becoming more and more common for state and even local governments to invoke government secrecy rationales that in the past, only the president of the United States and the national intelligence community were able to claim. While …

1
This is a “Dangerous Moment” for All of Our Civil Rights | Sen. Chris Van Hollen 39:34

3d ago39:34

39:34

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen joins Marc Elias to discuss his trip to El Salvador to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration's attacks on the rule of law and why all of our civil rights are at risk. -Sign up for our free newsletters: https://hubs.ly/Q03jcbrc0/ -Become a member of our premium content: https://hubs.ly/Q03jcl0-0t -Support …

1
Lawfare Daily: What Trump’s Middle East Trip Means for Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, with Joel Braunold 1:10:07

3d ago1:10:07

1:10:07

For today’s episode, Lawfare General Counsel and Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sat down with Contributing Editor Joel Braunold, the Managing Director of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, for the latest in their series of podcast conversations delving into the latest developments relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and r…

1
Rational Security: The “Doodle Ordinance” Edition 1:17:14

4d ago1:17:14

1:17:14

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Natalie Orpett, Tyler McBrien, and Daniel Byman to talk through the week’s big national security news, including: “Borderline Behavior.” A major flare-up over the disputed region of Kashmir took place this past week, leading to a major exchange of hostilities between the nuclear powers of India …

1
Lawfare Daily: How China Might Coerce Taiwan 36:12

8d ago36:12

36:12

For today's episode, Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman talked with Evan Braden Montgomery and Toshi Yoshihara, both Senior Fellows at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, to discuss their recent Lawfare article, "Beijing's Changing Invasion Calculus: How China Might Put Taiwan in its Crosshairs." Together they discuss how Ch…

1
Lawfare Daily: Cullen O’Keefe on the Impending Wave of AI Agents 37:52

5d ago37:52

37:52

Cullen O’Keefe, Research Director at the Institute for Law and AI, joins Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and a Contributing Editor at Lawfare, and Renée DiResta, Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown and a Contributing Editor at Lawfare, to discuss a novel AI governance framework.…

1
Lawfare Daily: Ukraine Peace Negotiations with Mykola Bielieskov 55:43

6d ago55:43

55:43

Donald Trump was confident he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine in a matter of days or weeks. It’s now been more than three months since Trump’s reelection, and even a short-term ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia remains elusive. Why did Trump fail? And what can really force Russia to stop the war? To answer these and many other questions, Lawfa…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, May 9 1:38:47

7d ago1:38:47

1:38:47

In a live conversation on May 9, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Roger Parloff, Lawfare Legal Fellow James Pearce, and Lawfare contributor Preston Marquis to discuss the status of the civil litigation against President Trump’s executive actions, including the order for the…

1
The Supreme Court’s ‘Lawless’ Era 1:36:01

12d ago1:36:01

1:36:01

Drop everything and read! This week, the hosts celebrate the release of Leah’s book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. Just how did the vibes get so rancid? What is Sam Alito’s…whole deal? And where does Taylor Swift factor in? The answers to these questions (and more!) are in the book. T…

1
Lawfare Archive: Intimidation of State and Local Officeholders with Maya Kornberg 48:55

8d ago48:55

48:55

From February 22, 2024: As a new report on the intimidation of state and local officeholders from the Brennan Center for Justice points out, “The January 6 insurrection at the Capitol seemed to mark a new peak in extremist intimidation targeting public officials. But it was hardly the only act of political violence to break the period of relative s…

1
Lawfare Archive: Christine Fair on Developments in Kashmir 46:07

9d ago46:07

46:07

From August 27, 2019: On August 5, the Indian government announced that it was revoking “special status” for the states of Jammu and Kashmir, enshrined in Article 370 of its constitution. Since then, the government has instituted a lockdown in the Kashmir valley, hundreds of people have been detained, there have been mass protests, and tens of thou…

1
Lawfare Daily: Ben Brooks on the Rise of Open Source AI 44:36

10d ago44:36

44:36

Ben Brooks, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center and former head of public policy for Stability AI, joins Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Contributing Editor at Lawfare, to discuss a sudden and significant shift toward open-sourcing leading AI models and the ramifications of that pivot for AI governance at home an…

1
Lawfare Daily: Resisting Democratic Backsliding 49:51

11d ago49:51

49:51

In recent years, political scientists have given a great deal of attention to “democratic backsliding”—the slow erosion of democracy by aspiring authoritarians. The events of the last several months in the United States—with attacks from the Trump administration on the press, higher education, and any center of power outside the White House—make th…

1
Rational Security: The “Shaving Face” Edition 1:06:35

12d ago1:06:35

1:06:35

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin “The Beard” Wittes and Anastasiia (and Ava) Lapatina to discuss the week’s biggest national security news stories, including: “A Waltz on Thin Ice.” Weeks after the SignalGate controversy, Mike Waltz is out as National Security Adviser and set to be nominated as U.N. Ambassador. Secreta…

1
Lawfare Daily: Alexis Loeb on Kleptocracy and National Security 45:55

12d ago45:55

45:55

In her recent Lawfare article, Alexis Loeb—a former deputy chief of the Jan. 6 Capitol Siege Section at the U.S. Department of Justice and a current partner at Farella, Braun, and Martel—discussed Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memo dismantling the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. On today’s episode, Loeb joined Lawfare Associate Editor Olivia …

1
Lawfare Daily: Digital Forgeries, Real Felonies: Inside the TAKE IT DOWN Act 47:59

13d ago47:59

47:59

The TAKE IT DOWN Act is the first major U.S. federal law to squarely target non‑consensual intimate imagery (NCII) and to include a component requiring tech companies to act. Long handled via a patchwork of state laws, it criminalizes NCII at the federal level—both authentic images and AI-generated digital forgeries—and requires that platforms remo…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, May 2 1:36:54

14d ago1:36:54

1:36:54

In a live conversation on May 2, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Scott Anderson, and Roger Parloff and Lawfare Legal Fellow James Pearce to discuss the status of the civil litigation against President Trump’s executive actions, including the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, the decision by a judge …

1
Will SCOTUS Sign Off on Religious Charter Schools? 1:43:17

19d ago1:43:17

1:43:17

Is this the term when the Court says “see ya” to the Establishment Clause? Leah, Melissa and Kate consider that question in their recap of this week’s religious charter school case, Oklahoma Charter School Board v. Drummond. Also covered: Advocate Lisa Blatt’s run-in with Neil Gorsuch during oral arguments for a disability rights case, opinions con…

1
Lawfare Archive: Anne Applebaum on the Twilight of Democracy 39:28

16d ago39:28

39:28

From July 27, 2020: Anne Applebaum is a columnist, writer, historian and most recently, the author of "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lore of Authoritarianism," a book that explores why authoritarian ideologies are on the ascendance in countries as diverse as Poland, Hungary, Spain, the United States and Great Britain. Benjamin Wittes spoke w…

1
Lawfare Archive: Greg Johnsen and Scott Anderson on the Fight Against the Houthis 50:19

17d ago50:19

50:19

From January 16, 2024: Over the last two months, Houthi militants have waged more than 27 attacks against merchant shipping and U.S. and partner forces in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, purportedly in response to the war in Gaza. These attacks have significantly disrupted global shipping and surged the Middle East into…

1
Lawfare Daily: Social Security, the ‘Death Master File,’ and Immigration Enforcement 51:49

18d ago51:49

51:49

As the Trump administration seeks to escalate its immigration crackdown, the government has turned to a concerning source of information for data on immigrants: the Social Security Administration. Reports indicate that Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative and the Department of Homeland Security successfully pushed Social Security officials to provide access…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Crisis in Kashmir 34:14

19d ago34:14

34:14

For today's episode, Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman interviewed Tanvi Madan, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, to discuss the April 22 terrorist attack in Kashmir. Madan explains how the crisis has evolved, the escalation options available to India, and the limited influence of the United States, China, and other powers to c…

1
Rational Security: The “Keeping It 100” Edition 1:12:48

19d ago1:12:48

1:12:48

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Molly Reynolds and James Pearce to talk through the week’s big national security news, including: “Rounding the ‘Feels Like It’s Been a Century’ Mark.” As President Trump comes to the end of his second first 100 days in office, he and his supporters are laying claim to FDR’s mantle as the presid…

1
Lawfare Daily: Andrew Bakaj on Whistleblowing and DOGE’s Activities at the NLRB 34:07

20d ago34:07

34:07

Andrew Bakaj, Chief Legal Counsel at Whistleblower Aid, joins Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Contributing Editor at Lawfare, to discuss a declaration by a National Labor Relations Board employee Daniel Berulis that DOGE facilitated the exfiltration of potentially sensitive information to external sources. The two also …

1
Lawfare Daily: The President, Congress, and the Power of the Purse 48:25

21d ago48:25

48:25

In today’s episode, Molly Reynolds, Senior Fellow at Brookings and Senior Editor at Lawfare, sits down with Matt Lawrence, Associate Professor of Law at Emory; Eloise Pasachoff, Professor of Law at Georgetown; and Zach Price, Professor of Law at UC Law San Francisco to discuss a new paper on “Appropriations Presidentialism,” or how the executive br…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, April 25 1:34:17

22d ago1:34:17

1:34:17

In a live conversation on April 25, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Scott Anderson, and Roger Parloff, Lawfare Legal Fellow James Pearce, and Lawfare Contributor Preston Marquis to discuss the status of the civil litigation against President Trump’s executive actions, including the arrest of …

1
Can Religious Parents Veto Books in Public Schools? 1:40:02

26d ago1:40:02

1:40:02

Kate and Leah recap oral arguments in two big cases the Supreme Court heard this week. The first is about LGBTQ+ inclusive reading materials in public schools, and the second is about the Affordable Care Act's mechanism for ensuring preventative care. There are also developments in the Alien Enemies Act litigation, and a devastating, if predictable…

1
Lawfare Archive: The Legislative Dog That Hasn’t Barked 48:01

22d ago48:01

48:01

From April 11, 2022: The period after Watergate and President Nixon's resignation saw an unprecedented barrage of congressional efforts at reforming the executive branch. The period after Donald Trump's departure from office has seen no comparable spree of legislative action—at least not yet. In a recent Lawfare article, Quinta Jurecic and Andrew K…

1
Lawfare Archive: The Spymasters with Chris Whipple 52:02

24d ago52:02

52:02

From September 16, 2020: What is the proper relationship between the CIA director and the president? How should directors handle arguably illegal orders? How important is the director's role as the nation's honest broker of information during times of crisis? To get at these questions, David Priess sat down with Chris Whipple, a documentary filmmak…

1
Lawfare Daily: Cybersecurity Challenges and Opportunities 32:03

25d ago32:03

32:03

For today's episode, Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman interviewed Michael Sulmeyer, who was the top Defense official for all aspects of cyber policy in the Biden administration. Sulmeyer discusses the cyber threat landscape, different roles and missions, how Artificial Intelligence might be leveraged, and the key role of allies in cyberde…

1
Lawfare Daily: Ideological Exclusions and Deportations with Julia Rose Kraut 52:40

25d ago52:40

52:40

On today’s episode, Julia Rose Kraut, author of the book “Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States,” joins Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien to talk about that book, originally published in 2020, and how it can help us make sense of the Trump administration’s recent immigration and deportation p…

1
Rational Security: “The More You DOGE” Edition 1:22:19

26d ago1:22:19

1:22:19

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Anna Bower, Tyler McBrien, and Kevin Frazier to talk through the week’s big national security news, including: “Aliens vs. Predators.” Despite forceful legal pushback—including by the U.S. Supreme Court—the Trump administration is working hard to continue its campaign to remove foreign aliens it…

1
Lawfare Daily: Mikhail Zygar on Putin, the Russia-Ukraine War, and Press Freedom 50:18

27d ago50:18

50:18

On today's episode, Mikhail Zygar, a renowned Russian journalist living in exile in the U.S., the author of multiple books on Vladimir Putin, and the author of The Last Pioneer substack, joined Lawfare Associate Editor Olivia Manes to discuss his experience as the founder of one of the last independent Russian media channels, TV Rain. They talked a…

1
Lawfare Daily: Chris Hughes on His New Book, ‘Marketcrafters’ 41:44

28d ago41:44

41:44

Chris Hughes, author of “Marketcrafters” and co-founder of the Economic Security Project, joins Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Contributing Editor at Lawfare, to discuss his book and its implications at a time of immense economic uncertainty and political upheaval. The duo explore several important historical case stud…

1
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, April 18 1:34:29

29d ago1:34:29

1:34:29

On April 18 at 4 pm ET, Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wittes sits down with Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Roger Parloff and Lawfare Legal Fellow James Pearce to discuss the status of the civil litigation against President Trump’s executive actions, including Judge Boasberg's finding of probable cause for contempt in the …

1
Are Trump Administration Officials in Criminal Contempt? 1:33:09

1M ago1:33:09

1:33:09

Leah, Melissa and Kate join forces to dig through the Trump administration’s latest affronts to the law and the possibility that its officials could be held in criminal contempt. They also react in real time to the Court’s decision to take up the question of birthright citizenship and cheer Harvard’s stand against the administration. Finally, they …

1
Lawfare Archive: 'The President Who Would Not Be King' 55:06

30d ago55:06

55:06

From January 26, 2021: Jack Goldsmith sat down with Michael McConnell, the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of the new book, "The President Who Would Not Be King: Executive Power Under the Constitution." They discussed…

1
Lawfare Archive: The Israeli Judicial System on the Brink 52:40

1M ago52:40

52:40

From March 6, 2023: Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany are both Israeli legal scholars and longtime Lawfare contributors. Shany is a professor of international law at the Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem. Cohen is a professor at Ono Academic College. They are both scholars at the Israel Democracy Institute, and together they are also co-authors…

1
Lawfare Daily: Trump's Attack on Law Firms 50:01

1M ago50:01

50:01

In recent weeks, President Trump has embarked on a campaign of extortion against law firms, pushing major firms to either reach agreements with the White House or face executive orders in retribution. A number of major firms have chosen to negotiate—agreeing to deals that are already under pressure as the White House seeks to extract more. Four fir…

1
Lawfare Daily: Roger Parloff and Anna Bower Talk Abrego Garcia 43:05

1M ago43:05

43:05

On April 15, Judge Paula Xinis held a hearing in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man deported by accident to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Lawfare Senior Editors Roger Parloff and Anna Bower covered the hearing live and debriefed on it with Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wittes immediately afterwards. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawf…

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