Evening Roundup, May 27
Featuring Austin Sarat; Eliza Orlins; Offsides with Pablo Torre & Dan Koh; Shalise Manza Young; Marvin Kalb; Nat Kendall-Taylor; Meredith Blake; and "Talking Feds"
A blow to our constitutional system
Supreme Court decisions about so-called independent regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission are seldom barn burners. They are generally too technical and filled with arcane jargon to hold the attention of anybody but the most dedicated court watchers.
Eliza Orlins responds to dismissive comments about the Diddy trial
New York City public defender Eliza Orlins explains why coverage of the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial is not "a waste of time" or "junk culture"—and how the attitude behind those comments minimizes abuse.
Offsides with Pablo Torre: The Real Reason Trump Is Attacking Harvard
Jen is still on vacation, but that doesn’t mean you’re not getting an episode of Offsides with Pablo Torre! Pablo is joined by Dan Arrigg Kohn to discuss Trump’s ongoing war against Harvard, continued chaos and incompetence at Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense, and more!
The Media is Questioning the Wrong President's Fitness
By Shalise Manza Young
Backwards-looking Biden talk is taking the spotlight away from our real and present crisis of leadership—which is just how Trump wants it.
No Shame, No Limits
By Marvin Kalb
Reading about President Donald Trump’s most recent escalation of his war against Harvard, I thought about a special moment in the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954, when Boston attorney Joseph Welch, in obvious dismay and disbelief, turned to GOP Senator Joseph McCarthy...
How to bring democracy home
Many political scientists have been voicing their concerns about the telltale signs they’re seeing of democratic decline, from chilling limits on speech, to attacks on law firms and universities, to failures of the legislative and judiciary branches to counterbalance executive overreach, which some are calling a constitutional crisis.
There was more to Paul Reubens than Pee-wee Herman
"I don't want this to be a legacy movie," says Paul Reubens in the opening shot of Pee-wee as Himself, a documentary that was well into production when he died in 2023. Completed posthumously, the two-part film is in fact, “a legacy movie,” a fascinating, heartbreaking exploration of the thorny relationship…
"Fight Fiercely, Harvard!"
Talking Feds is the only independent podcast honored with all three: a Webby Honoree, a Signal Award, and a W3 Award.
Hear why by listening to a terrific round table of Alisyn Camerota, Bill Kristol, and Mike Podhorzer join Harry on Talking Feds Substack to analyze a week in which only a couple things went right for Trump, but they were big-ticket items.
I called to thank Senator Bennet for his Stable Genius Act. I also promoted potential legislation I consider essential for the Democrats to initiate which I described as creating our budget- essentially proposing a budget that focuses on protecting our social network, detailing where Dems choose to spend money on protecting the health and welfare of our fellow citizens and paying for it by raising taxes on large corporations and the very wealthy. I know a proposal like this is never going anywhere with this Congress but is essential in letting the public know where we Dems want to spend money.
What do you think and, if this interests you, how to promote the idea?
The Diddy trial might have been informative and useful if it had occurred many years ago when Diddy first proved he was unfit for human company. All these years of his getting away with crimes has reduced this whole scene to the level much below farce. It's all trash.