Episode 20: Torture, Trump, and Tech – A Conversation with Alan Dershowitz
May 26, 2021
Alan Dershowitz joins Akhil and Andy for a discussion of a life spent in the law and the spotlight; President Trump; Israel and its Supreme Court; speech on campus; his new book, and much more.
For more than 50 years, any discussion of criminal defense attorneys, legal academics, and civil libertarians – as well as staunch advocates for Israel – included Professor Alan Dershowitz. Today he joins “Amarica’s Constitution” for a far-ranging conversation. Torture warrants, Trump’s misdeeds, the life of a principled advocate and his family, censorship in social media, campus speech, the Israeli Supreme Court – all fall under his gaze, and our scrutiny. We also discuss Prof. Dershowitz’s new book, “The Case Against The New Censorship.”
Show Notes:
Episode 19: Constitutionalists United – Special Guest Floyd Abrams
May 19, 2021
Amarica’s Constitution continues our parade of civil libertarian greats, and asks: What is the State of the First Amendment? as its champion, Floyd Abrams, appears as our special guest. The answers are sometimes surprising, indeed.
Our series on civil liberties, including especially the First Amendment and free speech, continues with perhaps its greatest advocate before the Supreme Court, Floyd Abrams. It’s natural to assume that Floyd would be an absolutist on such bedrocks as the case New York Times v. Sullivan – especially since he has represented The NY Times for years. But no, surprisingly, he expresses, to Akhil and Andy, certain abridgments of this case that he might consider if he were, say, on the bench. This and so much more, as a momentous career is celebrated and revealed, from one’s duty to one’s client to what it’s like to appear before the Supreme Court.
Show Notes:
Episode 18: Tinker to Amar to Strossen – Special Guest Nadine Strossen
May 12, 2021
Professor Nadine Strossen, the 17-year (and first woman) director of the ACLU joins a free-wheeling discussion of free speech, in the Constitution and beyond.
In the wake of the publication of The Words That Made Us, Akhil comes full circle, as his first book was The Bill of Rights. To complete that circle, Professor Nadine Strossen, the youngest person and first woman to lead the ACLU as its president (for 17 years!) joins Akhil and Andy for a discussion that ranges from the current Supreme Court case on cheerleaders’ (and all other students’) rights to the famous Tinker case; from Citizens United to The Godfather. And just what is wrong with The Sopranos?
Show Notes:
Episode 17: Voracious Horatius
May 5, 2021
Was there an election season crazier than 2020? Check out the Election of 1800! And, The Words That Made Us is published!
As Akhil and Andy celebrate the publication this week of The Words That Made Us, Akhil tells a story from the book – the crazy election of 1800 and the just-barely-peaceful transfer of power. And what is John Marshall up to? He’s everywhere: Secretary of State and Chief Justice at once, a pseudonymous scheming columnist, and in the end, the man with the Bible in his hand to swear in the eventual winner: his cousin.
Show Notes:
Episode 16: 18 Arguments for 18 Years
April 28, 2021
Professor Amar’s plans for judicial reform are presented, explained, and discussed before the Biden Commission begins its work.
The Biden Commission is in the news, with a mandate to produce ideas on judicial reform, especially at the Supreme Court level. It just so happens that Akhil has been writing about this for almost 20 years, and has fully formed ideas. How many ways would these changes make the Court better? We’ll count. Of course, the historical and constitutional background will also be explored and explained.
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Episode 15: Leaving The Field
April 21, 2021
As The Words That Made Us prepares to take the stage with its release, the founders leave their own stage – with one memorable death after another.
In the wake of the imminent release of The Words That Made Us, Akhil takes us to the end of the story – or was it? The deaths of America’s founders were all memorable in ways that reflected the character of each. This can’t be a coincidence, he maintains, and if it wasn’t, then what was it? The founders managed to leave their mark on the stage as they left it, and in so doing, and in some sense, they didn’t leave.