Episode 179: Active Participants in Our Own Liberation

ACS recently completed our 2025 National Convention Series, taking a deep dive into states' responses to the pressing issues of immigration, democracy and voting, economic and racial justice, and transgender rights. This week, we bring you brief excerpts from that series, highlighting perspectives from a diverse set of experts on the stakes of this moment and what we can do in response.

Host: Lindsay Langholz

Guest: Aura Bogado

Guest: Alina Das

Guest: Marina Multhaup

Guest: Kylar W. Broadus

Guest: William McGinty, Assistant Attorney General, Washington State Office of the Attorney General

Guest: Dawn Blagrove,

Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org

Episode 178: 'Irreparable Harm': A Supreme Court Term Review

The Supreme Court recently wrapped up its 2024-2025 term and the ACS Policy and Program team is here to break down the headline cases, those that may have slipped under your radar, and several that came and went via the shadow docket.

Guest: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

Guest: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org

Episode 177: The Legal System's Role in Political Violence

The country has recently experienced a series of escalating instances of political violence, perpetrated by individuals as well as state actors wielding governmental power.  Christopher Wright Durocher is joined by Lindsay Langholz to discuss the ways in which our legal system is being weaponized against disfavored groups and the toll that political violence takes on our rights and our communities.

 

Episode 176: Checks and Balances Upside Down

In these first months of his second term, President Trump has fired or attempted to fire thousands upon thousands of federal workers.  Notable among those affected by this unprecedented flexing of executive authority are leaders of independent agencies.  Peter Shane joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss two recent cases that have significant implications on our system of checks and balances and just how far the president is allowed to go when it comes to control over independent agencies.

Link:  Lawfare

Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org

Episode 175: Defending Academic Freedom

In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has escalated intimidation efforts against Harvard University and other private colleges, by canceling billions in federal funding and threatening to revoke tax-exempt status unless the schools make major changes to their hiring and teaching practices.  Andrew Manuel Crespo joins Taongal Leslie to discuss the legal strategies behind the administration's attacks on higher education and how the academy can defend its independence.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Guest: Andrew Manuel Crespo, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law at Harvard University and General Counsel of AAUP-Harvard Faculty Chapter

Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org

Episode 174: The New Civil War Over Reproduction

Far from satisfied with Dobbs, the antiabortion movement is energized and taking aim at their next objective - fetal personhood. Mary Ziegler, author of Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction, joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the antiabortion movement’s historical aims, where they are focused three years after the fall of Roe v. Wade, and how President Trump’s second term factors into those plans.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program, ACS

Guest: Mary Ziegler, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law

Link: Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction, by Mary Ziegler

Link: Trump’s New Abortion Pill Decision Was a Big Surprise. Here’s What It Really Means., by Mary Ziegler

Link: Pregnancy Justice

Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org