Executive Functions Chat

Caleb Nelson on Slaughter and the “Dictatorial Presidency”

Jack interviews Caleb Nelson, the Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, about his working paper, “Against the Dicta

The Politics of Tit-for-Tat

Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith discuss Jack’s October 19 piece on Senator Elissa Slotkin’s recent viral remarks at the University of Chicago, where she said she wanted acco

Francis Fukuyama Reflects on His Career and the Challenges Facing Liberal Democracy

Bob Bauer interviews Francis Fukuyama, the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and author of The End of Histo

Scrambling to Regulate a Sensitive Dual-Use Technology

Jack interviews attorney and historian Catherine Grace Katz about her new book, Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War. They discuss how

AI, Elections, and the Liar’s Dividend

Bob interviews Nate Persily, the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and co-director of the Stanford Law AI Initiative, about artificial intelligen

Election Administration Under Pressure

Bob Bauer interviews Tammy Patrick, Chief Executive Officer for Programs at the Election Center and former Federal Compliance Officer for the Maricopa County Elections De

Advertising the President on the Taxpayer’s Dime

Jack and Bob discuss the legality of the three advertisements praising President Trump that have recently aired with the tag “Paid for by the U.S. Government” and were re

Is Trump Media’s Early-Access Feed Lawful?

Jack Goldsmith interviews John Coates, the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School and former general counsel of the Securities and Exchan

SCOTUS Leaves the Ballot-Mail Rule Blocked

Bob Bauer discusses the Supreme Court’s order declining to stay the injunction against the Postal Service’s ballot-mail rule, issued the previous evening over a brief con

Republican Pushback on the Administration's Election Program

Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith cover three sites of Republican pushback against the administration's election interventions: the Missouri dispute over which congressional m

Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Bioweapons in the Age of AI

Jack interviews Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and formerly Assistant to the President for Homeland Sec

The Postal Service and the 2026 Elections

Jack and Bob discuss litigation over the Trump administration’s executive order on the Postal Service and election integrity, and the recent final rule that the Postal Se

States’ Protection of Their Elections

Bob speaks with Danielle Friedman, Legal Director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, about the Initiatives’ recently pu

Jeh Johnson on Presidential War Powers and Congressional Retreat

Jack Goldsmith interviews former Homeland Security Secretary and Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson about the article he co-authored in the Journal of National Security

Trump and the Midterms

As the 2026 midterms approach, Jack and Bob give a big-picture overview of the Trump administration’s efforts to use federal law enforcement and executive power to influe

Sai Prakash on Slaughter and Cook

Jack speaks with University of Virginia School of Law Professor Saikrishna Prakash about the implications of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump

The God Test

Jack chats with Robert Wright about his forthcoming book, The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. They discuss why Wright views AI through

Attorney General Todd Blanche?

Bob and Jack discuss President Trump’s nomination of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the current acting attorney general, to become Attorney General. They review Bl

What Exactly is Bill Pulte’s New Job as Acting Director of National Intelligence?

Following President Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, Bob Bauer asks Avril Haines, who held the position during the

The Anti-Weaponization Fund and Tax Immunity Gambits

Bob and Jack discuss the Justice Department and IRS “settlement” with President Trump and his family, which created a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” for Trump a